Pandemic illuminates need to bridge digital divide, give access to disabled
mohua....@timesgroup.com Before the virus came along, Ninad Pawar (25)-living with severe visual impairment since birth--would spend three days a week at his favourite haunt, the National Association for the Blind at Worli Seaface where he would browse braille and talking books, check job resources and practise Excel and Powerpoint at the computer lab. The overnight shift to an all-virtual mode during the pandemic tossed out Pawar's routine and along with that a safe space for a young person with a disability. Most people with vision or hearing loss are digitally savvy, using screen-reader or speech-to-text tools on their phones and laptops to read, write or communicate. So, the lockdown was no bother at first for Pawar, until he realised he was sitting on the wrong side of the digital divide - be it at a webinar, ordering groceries on a delivery app or watching a webshow on an Indian OTT platform. "I was attending an online college meet for a history project on natural heritage spaces where a majority of the presentation was made using videos and slideshows. Earlier we'd be taken to these places where I'd touch and feel the space to experience it. There's no way for me to understand what is being shown or discussed online now. Also, no one really explains the visuals," said Pawar, who urged his brother to guide him through video conferences. "While webinars and live streams boomed, persons with hearing and vision impairments were impeded from fully accessing web conferences. The visually impaired could listen to a conversation but not follow the presentations due to lack of adequate screen reader access (software that speaks aloud the text on screen) or audio descriptions. For the deaf - who need sign language interpretation - closed captioning or subtitles were missing," explained heritage architect and accessibility consultant Siddhant Shah. The 30-year-old had been working on making cultural heritage accessible for the disabled through his initiative 'Access for All' until the pandemic heightened the stakes of what more needed to be done to make the new normal inclusive. "Our primary project in the pandemic has been to provide sign language and closed caption guides on Covid-related information across India," said Shah, who has also been working on the "access audit" (accessibility appraisal of an environment, facility or service for persons with disability) for 10 educational, cultural and corporate institutions across the country keen on easing their digital access. "MNCs that wanted us to devise a digital inclusion toolkit, rely heavily on user interface and such digital exclusion they'd never witnessed before." Shah helped facilitate sign language interpreters for various online lit fests and webinars that arts organisations like the India Culture Lab and Art X Company in Mumbai or Khoj in Delhi hosted in the lockdown. He also integrated an AI-powered accessibility widget on their web pages that allow users to adjust the font; have the text read aloud; and change the display to dyslexia-friendly alternatives. "Even in non-pandemic times, the disabled experienced social isolation but the new digital environment makes participation limited or impossible," said Shah. Online food delivery is one such example. "The delivery apps are not compatible with assistive technologies and increased dependency on caregivers. Also, their focus on graphics makes it challenging for the visually impaired to comprehend or navigate the multiple tabs that open up in the absence of alt-text or sound guides." Accessible entertainment - art and heritage spaces opening their exhibits to tactile or virtual experiences or web shows that are audio-described and captioned - is an idea that the disabled have clamoured for, for years. "Although international web streaming services now come with accessible features, the Indian ones lack those settings especially at a time when it's a primary source of at-home entertainment," said Shah, who recently petitioned Clubhouse, the new voice-based social networking app, to alert them to deaf users. "With audio emerging as the next wave of social media, we need to advocate for alternative sources." Despite the obstacles, Shah remains hopeful of what the pandemic has illuminated. "Organisations stepping forth to democratize digital access is a promising start since the ask for accessibility here isn't as high as it's in the West. I have faith that the disabled community, too, will no longer settle for the way things were." Rafiul Alom Rahman, founder of The Queer Muslim Project, with a sign language interpreter during a webinar by India Culture Lab -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/004501d77709%244ccea0e0%24e66be2a0%24%40gmail.com.
