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----- Original Message -----
From: Nilesh Singit's Blog: Disability News Wolrdwide
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 2:19 PM
Subject: [New post] Online library opened to address shortage of Braille books
New post on Nilesh Singit's Blog: Disability News
Wolrdwide
Online library opened to address shortage of
Braille books
by Nilesh Singit
On the occasion of Louie Braille’s 203rd
birthday, also known as World Braille Day, a special function was organised by
the National Institute of the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) and Xavier’s Research
Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) at the Ali Yaver Jung National
Institute for the Hearing Handicapped in Bandra Reclamation.
A major initiative designed to boost the
education of the visually challenged, in the form of the Online Braille Library
was launched. Union minister for social justice and empowerment, Mukul Wasnik
was the chief guest.
K Ramkrishna, general secretary of the National
Association for the Blind, said, “There are 2,82,800 visually challenged people
seeking education in the country. Out of that, only about 29,000 get a regular
supply of Braille books,” he said. He added that even though India has a
Braille printing capacity of 13 crore pages annually, only about 2 crore
Braille pages get printed every year.
The reason for this disparity, said Ramkrishna,
was the extra cost of printing in Braille. “Because of the extra pages, special
paper and cost of editing a page in Braille is six and a half times more
expensive to print than a normal page.”
After this sobering perspective, the website was
formally launched. Dipendra Manocha, director of the NGO Sakham, spent some
time going through the various features of the website which would alleviate
some of the problems outlined by Ramkrishna. The website would grow to have
12,000 books in 13 different languages.
Wasnik said that his own ministry had made its
website accessible to the visually challenged and that the finance ministry had
followed suit. “I’ve asked all other ministries to do the same, but it will
take some time,” he said.
DNA Published Date: Jan 05, 2012
Nilesh Singit | January 5, 2012 at 14:19 | Tags:
Blind, UNCRPD | Categories: Accessibility, Advocacy, Disability, Disability
Studies, Technology, WCAG | URL: http://wp.me/pyosb-jr
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