Twenty-two-year-old Ritu L lives in Bangalore, Karnataka. At the age of two, she started losing her eyesight due to a condition called Diabetic Retinopathy. Her parents still put her in a mainstream school, so she wouldn’t feel isolated or left out. However, in Class 7, Ritu faced another challenge when she underwent cataract surgery for one eye. This further deteriorated her vision. 
Following this, she was heavily dependent on her classmates and mother to help her study, as she could not read and write on her own. She engaged the services of a scribe to write her examinations.

Eighteen-year-old Surand Sen was born blind into a low-income family in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Due to lack of awareness about educational facilities for blind children, he was sent to a regular school in the village.

A person without digital skills is termed illiterate in today’s technologically driven world. From studying and working, to socializing and engaging with the outside world, all takes place online. Thanks to tech innovations, persons with blindness and vision impairment are also able to digitally engage with various services.
They can use screen reading software to operate smartphones and computers, in order to read, write, browse, navigate, et cetera. However, not everyone has the access to digital skills or devices that can empower them to thrive in a mainstream environment.