For the first time, Navraj Dhakal, a visually impaired person, touched Braille cells that allow visually impaired people to read by feeling the raised dots at a stall operated by Bright Star Society, an organization that works for the blind, at CAN Info-Tech 2014.

After Dhakal learned about its benefits, he decided to buy the device. But when he heard the price--Rs 260,000--he realized that it was beyond his means. But he was more disappointed to know that Braille cells are not available in Nepal.

But what frustrated him the most was the fact that there are no electronic device designed to be visually impaired-friendly in Nepal´s market.
“I had heard about Braille cells but had never got a chance to feel it,” shared Dhakal. “This stall provided me an opportunity to feel it closely and I also came to know about its benefit. But they are too expensive. On top of that all electronic devices made for people like us have to be imported from foreign countries.”

A student of BA first year at Ratna Rajya Campus, Dhakal believes that Braille cells are very useful for visually impaired students. But the unavailability of such devices makes him sad. “First, the government should have provided such devices as they are really expensive. But today, even if we are willing to buy it, the devices are not available,” added Dhakal.

According to him, the government had assured them several times to provide electronic devices and other facilities, but till date nothing has been done. “The technology has made several things possible even for people who are blind, but our government has failed to ensure that such technologies are within our reach.”

Like Dhakal, thousands of people visited the stall of Bright Star Society, where different electronic devices for visually impaired people are on display. Many of them were attracted toward the devices, but returned disappointed after knowing that they are not available in Nepal.

Sushil Adhikari, president of Bright Star Society, himself a visually impaired, said that today they are using laptops with the support of Jaws software which reads the content that are displayed on the computer screen. Similarly, they have been using talk´s software which spells the word that has been pressed.

According to Adhikari, visually impaired people are capable of doing so many things just as a physically fit person, but lack of such devices has made things difficult for them.

SOURCE: My Republica