'Smart cane', developed by I.I.T. in consultation with the National Association for the Blind, is a boon for the country’s nine million visually impaired people. Besides easy commutation, it will also enable safe exit during an emergency.
The Islamabad Cricket Association of the Blind had a five wicket win over team Punjab(India) on 24th April. This is the home team’s second consecutive win in the series.
Zeeshan Abbasi (102) and Anees Javed (86) starred for Islamabad as they overhauled Punjab's score of 320 in the 21st over. The visitors made 320 for seven in the stipulated 35 overs. Garpreet Singh and Maninder Singh scored 96 and 90 runs, respectively.
Now the hosts lead the series 2-0. In the first match, they defeated Punjab(India) by eight wickets.
For more than 50 years, both visually impaired and sighted people have found friendship and a helping hand in the ‘Friendly Circle for the Blind’. But the group’s monthly gatherings could soon become thing of the past as it has only 10 members now.
Based in the U.S., the group was found in 1953 to offer blind people an outlet to get out of the house and meet people. It had nearly 100 members then.
British Computer Society charity Ability Net and the Royal National Institute of the Blind, have launched a scheme that accredits websites accessible to people with disabilities.
The See it Right with UseAbility scheme will involve human testers with a variety of disabilities rather than just automated testing. Organisations that act on all the recommendations from the assessment can display an accessibility logo.
A five-day exhibition of art and craft products made by visually impaired children was held in Mumbai from December 7, 2005. It was organised by Happy Home and School for the Blind.
Inaugurated by actor Victor Banerjee, the exhibition highlighted the abilities of visually impaired children. "This is organised so that the public can learn about the abilities of the visually impaired children. They just need an opportunity to be independent and lead a meaningful life as contributing citizens," said Meher Banaz, principal of the school.
B.N.P. Paribas, France's largest bank is to make its A.T.M. services accessible for visually impaired people. Financial technology provider, Diebold has supplied 265 voice-enabled Opteva cash machines to the bank and these will be installed in its branches through the second quarter of 2006. The service will be available in six languages.
Diebold, a global leader in the financial self-service industry, has provided text-to-speech technology through its partnership with Nuance Communications, a global leader in speech and imaging solutions.
A slew of changes have been suggested to the Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.), Delhi and Ministry of Tourism, Government of Delhi, for its Bus Rapid Transit system. The proposed changes aim to provide a passenger-friendly transport system for all.
I.I.T.- Delhi's, Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme and RITES have been entrusted the task of planning and designing the system.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (C.N.I.B.) has released a study, which indicates that many blind, visually impaired educated people live in poverty because they can not find work. Many of the barriers they faced 30 years ago still exist.
Disabled passengers have won new rights of access to airline travel in the European Union (E.U.). The European Parliament has adopted measures to ensure E.U. airports help disabled travellers with less mobility.
A report by the United Kingdom (U.K.) Cabinet Office’s e-Government Unit found that disabled people could not browse 97 per cent of official government sites in Europe, mainly because they ignored several known techniques for making the websites accessible.
It seemed to be a never ending struggle, for 50-year old visually impaired, U.N. Singha, until he got justice from the Commissioner Disabilities, Uttar Pradesh (C.D.U.P.), office for inclusion of his initial temporary services period for counting towards the seniority.
The two-year struggle which Singha thought had come to an end, is not over yet. The State government and Lucknow University has decided to appeal against the decision of the C.D.U.P. This means that Singha will have to fight another round.
Statistics released by the Ghana Eye Foundation (G.E.F.) at its launch in late 2005 indicate that out of the total population of 18.8 million (2000 census) in the country, 200,000 people are completely blind while 600,000 people are visually impaired.
Seventy-five per cent of the cases of blindness and visual impairment were due to avoidable and preventable reasons.
Cataract, glaucoma, trachoma, childhood blindness, refractive errors and low visions as well as diabetes and sickle cell retinopathy were cited major causes of visual impairment and blindness among Ghanaians.
Society’s attitude towards disabled persons is changing gradually. People are less likely to see someone with a disability as someone to be pitied; there is increased recognition that disabled persons have talents that can be useful to both the employer and the employee.
Madhubala is one such example. At 23, she is like any other working girl: enthusiastic and hard working. She clearly doesn’t let her blindness come in the way of her efficiency.
Dr. Eli Peli, lead investigator of the study at S.E.R.I. had found that by increasing the contrast of details of certain sizes television watching could be made more enjoyable for people with low vision.
The information from the study will aid in the development of an electronic device that will help millions with low vision due to macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases.
Children with disability will now have a better chance to secure fair marks in the 10th and 12th standard class, thanks to the decision taken by the Council of the Indian School Certificate Examinations (C.I.S.C.E.). The council has decided to allow disabled children under the I.C.S.E. to use computers and Braille keyboards in examinations with immediate effect.
Visual impairment is no deterrent in enjoying the thrills and adventure of mountaineering. The fact will be proved by 10 visually impaired students of the Ramkrishna Mission Blind Boy’s Academy (R.K.M.B.B.A.), as they set out to conquer the 3,636 metre high Sandakphu peak.
On December 2, 2005, National Federation of the Blind (N.F.B.) in Baltimore, U.S.A. hosted an interactive opportunity for a select group of blind students to explore the sun through a new and exciting book Touch the Sun.
The book allows blind and visually impaired students to experience images of the sun and solar activity by feeling transparent raised textures bonded to the pictures.
Page Accessibility Labs (P.A.L.) offers the experience of its visually impaired test specialists to conduct website accessibility testing. Their work ensures websites are as convenient as possible for visually impaired users.
To access the computer and the internet, visually impaired people require special hardware or software known as assistive technologies. The experience is quite different from that of a non-visually impaired user.
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