The Centre for Internet and Society
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International Accessibility Summit of Shaastra 2017
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/events/international-accessibility-summit-shaastra-2017
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is partnering with IIT, Madras for a summit on international accessibility. The summit will be held at IIT in Chennai from December 31, 2016 to January 3, 2017. Nirmita Narasimhan will be the panel moderator this event.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This year’s Summit strives to bring about a change in society by addressing an issue that is taken for granted by most people: Accessibility.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Climbing stairs, listening to a lecture, reading a billboard, expressing dissent are some activities that most of us tend to perform quite effortlessly. Turning a “blind eye” to a “lame joke” is something that comes naturally to a lot of us. We crib to no end when people refuse to talk to us in a language we understand because it makes us feel like an outsider. If there is one thing that human beings hate, it is the feeling of being excluded or pitied upon, as this is a constant reminder of what one cannot do.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Accessibility is an attempt to get rid of this exclusion in various important spheres – physical environments, public spaces, the digital realm, education, employment, technology, transport. It is concerned with the removal of barriers, to set the record straight on what causes a disability: not an individual’s inability to do something but the society’s tendency to throw unnecessary obstacles. Accessibility is a spectrum - it means usability, it means removing limitations and tapping opportunities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The <b> International Accessibility Summit of Shaastra 2017</b>, IIT Madras, a 4 day-long event to be held between <b>31st December, 2016 to 3rd January, 2017</b>, is a platform for multiple stakeholders in the field of Accessibility and Assistive Technology to come together and share their knowledge. It is a chance for students from various fields of study to meet and ideate on how to make India truly accessible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To know more about International Accessibility Summit, please watch the teaser.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Video</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DT7H16f_1pU" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/events/international-accessibility-summit-shaastra-2017'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/events/international-accessibility-summit-shaastra-2017</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibilityEvent2016-12-18T02:21:22ZEventBest Practices in Digital Accessibility
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/best-practices-in-digital-accessibility
<b>Nirmita Narasimhan will be part of a discussion on the best practices in digital accessibility to be organized by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) on 19 December 2016 in Bengaluru. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">IIMB is also inviting few select panel members who work in organizations to talk about specifics such as their tangible activities, success stories, and needs.The outcome of this discussion will be featured in the journal - IIMB Management Review. Nirmita will be attending as a special audience invitee.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/best-practices-in-digital-accessibility'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/best-practices-in-digital-accessibility</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-12-16T22:35:44ZNews ItemMost popular smartphone apps inaccessible to disabled: Study
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/et-telecom-december-7-2016-most-popular-smartphone-apps-inaccessible-to-disabled-study
<b>Booking cabs, buying food and making payments online seem like they're just a swipe and a tap away, but for millions of disabled Indians, these apps are not designed for them to use.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published by <a class="external-link" href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/most-popular-smartphone-apps-inaccessible-to-disabled-study/55846636">ET Telecom</a> on December 7, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Booking cabs, buying food and making payments online seem like they're just a swipe and a tap away, but for millions of disabled Indians, these apps are not designed for them to use.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to a study conducted by Centre for Internet and Society last month, many of the most-commonly used mobile apps for food delivery, online payments, grocery shopping and transportation were not accessible to the visually challenged. The study covered 22 popular apps. The 2011 census puts the number of disabled in the country at 26 million, while advocacy groups say the real figure is closer to 150 million. Last year, India recorded nearly nine billion downloads of mobile-based applications last year.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"The national policy for universal electronic accessibility says that all IT products and services should be accessible. However, the government is still unable to implement it. Several government apps are inaccessible," said Nirmita Narasimhan, policy director at CIS. CIS's survey of some key government mobile-based applications like MyGov, EPathshala and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official app found them to be severely lacking. The illiterate, aged and those not proficient in English would also struggle with the apps, the study found. The guidelines for government websites laid out accessibility standards in 2009. The 2013 national policy on universal electronic accessibility clearly upholds equal rights "ensuring that accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts are adopted and adhered to."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, most commonly-used app fail to follow this. All 22 of the apps studied were privately-owned but not all were fully compliant with universal standards. Of taxi-hailing apps Meru, Ola and Uber, only Uber was completely accessible to the disabled. The others had mis-labelled or unlabeled buttons and graphics.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When it came to food delivery, Zomato was the best at replicating the user experience for disabled people. Swiggy and Foodpanda were difficult for new users, and Freshmenu was completely inaccessible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Of the marketplace apps, <a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/amazon">Amazon</a> and Snapdeal were the only accessible ones. <a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/myntra">Myntra</a> and Flipkart had incorrectly labelled buttons and misleading graphic tags, which made them impossible for the disabled to use. For instance, customers would be able to select the product they wanted to buy but had no way of choosing the quantity, the study said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Online grocery delivery apps Grofers and Zop Now were hard for the disabled to use, while Big Basket was relatively better though pages change during orders. Online payment portals Paytm, Oxigen and FreeCharge were relatively accessible, the study found.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"Designers, developers and industries need to realize that there are more people out there who use this technology. The market is much bigger and they should work towards being inclusive," said Narasimhan of CIS.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Albinder Dhinda, co-founder of grocery delivery service Grofers, said their app meets all accessibility requirements. "However, the disability tools provided by <a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/google">Google</a> Play Store or the <a href="http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/app+store">App Store</a> often don't benefit the user and are hard for them to use. We are trying to make it better. Things like online payments won't be accessible to the disabled as those apps are supported by third-party sites, and don't fall within our settings. We're trying to make it better. We're three years behind the US, in the playground they made. It'll be a while before we reach their level," he said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The national policy for universal electronic accessibility says that all IT products and services should be accessible. However, the government is still unable to implement it. Several government apps are inaccessible</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The national policy for universal electronic accessibility says that all IT products and services should be accessible. However, the government is still unable to implement it. Several government apps are inaccessible</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/et-telecom-december-7-2016-most-popular-smartphone-apps-inaccessible-to-disabled-study'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/et-telecom-december-7-2016-most-popular-smartphone-apps-inaccessible-to-disabled-study</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-12-10T05:12:25ZNews ItemEnglish gottila,job illa
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-7-2016-regina-gurung-english-gottila-job-illa
<b>Quoted as the ‘golden boy of Karnataka’, after winning two gold medals for India in Special Olympics in 2003 in Dublin, once Aslam Pasha quit his last job as a night watchman a week back.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Regina Gurung was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2016/dec/07/english-gottilajob-illa-1546702--1.html">published in the Indian Express</a> on December 7, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Even as government services allow disability and sports quota, guess what is keeping this man from being employed? The Queen’s language.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Born and brought up in Bengaluru, Aslam was conceived at home to a home maker mother and a fish stall owner father. Hindi is the only language he can speak and read. Despite being born without functional legs, his love for sports was not hindered. He started participating in wheelchair racing competitions and became fond of shot put.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Tracing and reminiscing his past glories, he tells City Express the beginning and abrupt end of his golden career.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While in his teens, he says, he went to Hubli to participate in a wheelchair racing and shot put competition. After his win there, he was taken to Delhi and introduced to the Special Olympics Committee. He made it to the Special Olympics in Dublin in 2003 and secured two gold medals as a part of the eight-member team.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On his return to the country, he was welcomed with great warmth and was felicitated. He says he even met APJ Abdul Kalam, the then President of India, and received `2 lakh as a reward. He gave the entire sum to his parents. They live in a slum near Soda Factory. His popularity was short lived. Sooner than he realized, people forgot him. He wondered what more could he do with his life. The calls from the committee stopped, he was clueless on what to do next.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In his late 20s, he started applying for various jobs but was rejected for having ‘no communication skill’.“I have been looking for a job from over three years now. I even did a one-year course on data entry at Intel, but everything is useless as I don’t know English,” says Aslam.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">‘’Do you mention that you are a gold medalist?” asked City Express.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Yes I do but I always get the same reply… “You don’t know English, so what is the use?” Aslam replies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Aslam did not complete his education since he was always keen on sports, says Neel Lama, Aslam’s school’s friend.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Following Olympics training, most athletes drop out of educational institutions,” says Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director of Centre for Internet and Society, who heads the accessibilty and inclusion programme.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Aslam used to go for his night watchman duty in hiding, after his parents fell asleep.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“They tell me it is okay, but I know the difficulties they face,” says Aslam. G N Nagaraj, founder of Karnataka State Disabled and Care Giver’s Federation questions that when cricketers and other Olympians are showered with sponsors, why is the Paralympian who is “five times more deserving”, not offered a job?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On Saturday, Aslam Pasha, had gone to an institution to enroll himself in an English language speaking course.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">He was told that he needs to pay `24,000 for the course that also includes the auto fare of the tutor. “How can I pay so much to learn English and then look for a job?” questions Aslam. “But still I desperately want to learn the language,” adds the 30 something Aslam.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“A wheel chair accessy (person who uses wheel chair) is considered 75 per cent disabled and those who are more than 75 per cent disabled can avail for a government pension of `1,200 per month,” says Nagaraj who is working towards the passage of the Rights of Persons with Disability bill.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“The procedure is tiring. A disabled person is expected to travel some 40-50 km and the office stays open from 10am to 12 noon only, so many don’t claim it,” Nirmita adds, who is also visually challenged herself.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“I had approached other institutions, but for reasons unknown they don’t approve of my enrollment, probably because of looks. I had to lie to the English instituition that I would be going to England, and only they they agreed,” Aslam says.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-7-2016-regina-gurung-english-gottila-job-illa'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-7-2016-regina-gurung-english-gottila-job-illa</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-12-10T04:47:11ZNews ItemA world apart
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/hindu-businessline-november-27-2016-meera-siva-a-world-apart
<b>On the eve of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we look at their legal rights relating to financial matters.</b>
<p>The article by Meera Siva was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/portfolio/people/differentlyabled-people/article9391821.ece">published in the Hindu Businessline </a>on November 27, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Be it the right to education, rights in the work place, legal entitlements or fair compensation, people with disabilities are often left holding the short end of the stick. Sometimes, there are no specific rules or policies as in the case of providing insurance coverage. But more often, even though guidelines are laid out, they remain only in theory.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Take the case of Nagarjuna Akula, a Chartered Accountant working in a public sector company in Maharashtra. “I applied for a home loan in 2014 and it was approved. They wanted me to take a standard insurance with a one-time premium of about ₹38,000. But it was rejected by SBI Life Insurance. I did not protest this issue, but often think about the repercussions to the family in the long term, in case of an eventuality,” he says.<br /><br />Akula also had to battle to get special conveyance allowance given to disabled people. “I have been working here for nearly four years but was not given the higher rate of conveyance allowance. The reason given was that I do not require physical assistance,” he says. The issue is finally sorted out now, but he lost the allowance for earlier periods.<br /><br />Akula says that in some cases rules may need to be changed to accommodate persons with disabilities. “The CA Institute exempts members with disabilities from meeting continuing education credit requirements. But I wish the ICWA Institute would also consider the issue, as classes may be held in higher floors without lift facility in some places,” he says. He notes, happily, that the Institute heeded his request to give additional time during exams for persons with disability.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Compensation, an uphill battle</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Fighting cases in courts, not easy for anyone, is particularly daunting for those with disabilities. And often, due to lack of rules, they end up having to fight long legal battles to get any form of compensation to cover their huge medical expenses. Ketna Mehta, Management editor, educationalist and Founder Trustee of Nina Foundation, Mumbai, gives many examples. “Many spinal injuries happen due to accidents. One young person we helped was having food after college at a small eatery under a tree. The tree branch broke and hit his head and he suffered spinal cord injury. There is no way for the victim to get any payment from the Brihanmumbai Metropolitan Corporation for the surgery and rehabilitation,” she laments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Likewise with Martin Tharail, a 25-year old from Kerala who worked at a BPO in Mumbai. He met with a bike accident and become a quadriplegic; his parents were retired and the family was unable to get the ₹15-20 lakh compensation from the truck owner. “The case is still pending, though he is no more,” says Mehta. She also narrates the woes of a 26-year old paraplegic girl who lost her parents and lives with her younger brother who is in college. She is fighting a court battle to inherit her parent’s property. “She goes to the court for the hearings with support from our volunteers. There are no proper wash-rooms for the disabled and it costs money to make travel arrangements, get a helper to be with her in the court,” says Mehta.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Triple whammy</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The state of women with disability needs special attention as they suffer from discrimination due to three reasons — gender, disability and poverty. Abha Khetarpal, President, Cross the Hurdles, a non-profit that works for rights of persons with disabilities, notes that most Indians consider disability as “karma of past life.” She says that women with disabilities need provisions with regard</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">to their rights over their own bodies. “They are at much greater risk of violence, often by their caregivers; provisions are needed to ensure ways to seek redressal without fear,” she says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Sometimes women are cheated in marriages — an already married man marries a woman with disability. He abandons her due to fear of punishment for bigamy and adultery when the truth comes to light,” she explains. Since the second marriage is considered null and void by law, the woman is left all alone and faces society’s stigma; she has to survive without much support. Khetarpal suggests that the law should consider the whole scenario before giving any judgement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mehta notes that persons with disabilities, mainly women, are divorced after an accident that leads to a permanent disability. “The reason is not stated explicitly and the disabled person often accepts the fate without fighting. The sad part is that they are not given fair financial compensation, given the extra expenses they have to incur throughout their life,” she notes.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Need changes</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Initiatives such as the “Accessible India” campaign do not deliver impactful results. The “Persons with Disability Act” of 1995 does not have punitive measures if there is failure in compliance. The National Trust Act of 1999 and The Mental Health Act of 1987 have not been able to bring about meaningful sensitisation. A new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill has been pending for many years now.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A study conducted by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), a Bengaluru based non-profit think tank, found that 97 per cent of over 5,800 government websites tested have at least one known accessibility issue and can be said to be inaccessible. Government schemes, even when they exist, are for name-sake only, says Mehta. “The government provides a disability pension of ₹800 per month, which is not given in a timely way. In Mumbai, what can you cover with this amount?” she asks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mehta suggests that there must be a separate department to handle all aspects — education, scholarship, loans, insurance and availing benefits — rather than having to run helter-skelter to many departments. “There must be one agency and one file for a person with disability,” she insists. Also, the disabled are not aware of what they are entitled to. “Why not give information in a simple format when someone gets a disability certificate?” she suggests.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/hindu-businessline-november-27-2016-meera-siva-a-world-apart'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/hindu-businessline-november-27-2016-meera-siva-a-world-apart</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-12-01T15:24:12ZNews ItemNo country for the disabled
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-1-2016-no-country-for-disabled
<b>A 26-year-old electrical engineer is forced to hide his disability, for fear of losing his job. His current employer is unaware that he uses an artificial limb.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2016/dec/01/no-country-for-the-disabled-1544323--1.html">published in New Indian Express </a>on December 1, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">‘I hide my disability to keep my job’</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b></b>Sameer (name changed) had applied for a job in a well-known company about four months ago. He had informed the HR of the company that he had lost his left leg, in a road accident, and wears an artificial limb. The company did not have a problem with it, at least not until they sent him an offer letter with a joining date.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“I was called for interviews and they selected me for the job,” he says. “I got the offer letter with a joining date and resigned from my previous company after getting the letter. But when the doctor gave my medical certificate for company insurance, they changed their mind. The certificate mentioned that I am physically fit and capable of doing the job but added that I wear an artificial limb. After that, they simply refused to proceed with the offer.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">He also received a written explanation that he is not being considered for the job because he uses an artificial limb. “I have five years of experience. When I contacted them again saying that they cannot deny the job after offering me the letter, they said they have ‘sympathy’ for me. When I insisted that the job will be great for my career, they said they will get back to me in two to three days but I didn’t hear from them again,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sameer had to request his previous company to ignore his resignation letter and keep him. Fortunately, they agreed. He adds, “I kept looking for better job opportunities. I even thought of starting a business of my own but did not have enough funds. I am the only earning member in my family. My father passed away sometime ago. My mother and two younger brothers are dependent on me.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Except for a few of his seniors, no one in his current organisation knows of his disability. He says, “Only a few seniors know because I told them about it. It is not easy to make out that I am using an artificial limb. I can walk fine, do all the chores like an able person. Even when someone comes asking what’s wrong with my leg as I limp a little, I tell them that I had an injury.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sameer has completed B Tech and did a diploma in electrical engineering. He adds, “None of my friends whom I lived with, during my graduation and diploma course, know that I use an artificial limb. Until I detach the limb in front of someone, no one gets to know.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">He lost his left leg in an accident when he was three. He says, “I can walk on any terrain, ride bikes and also play badminton for two to three hours without any problem. I am on no medication or therapy. I tried to convince the employers saying all this, but it came to naught.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Provisions for disabled in law</b><br />The Persons with Disability Act 1995 states that the appropriate governments and local authorities shall by notification formulate schemes for ensuring employment of persons with disabilities, and such schemes may provide for the training and welfare of persons with disabilities; the relaxation of upper age limit; regulating the employment; health and safety measures and creation of a non-handicapping environment in places where persons with disabilities are employed; the manner in which and the person by whom the cost of operating the schemes is to be defrayed; and constituting the authority responsible for the administration of the scheme.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Inclusive workplace</b><br />The non-discrimination chapter of the Act also states that no promotion shall be denied to a person merely on the grounds of his disability.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Disabled kid? No admission</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mita Sarkar, a mother of a six-year-old girl who has cerebral palsy (CP) had to approach around ten private schools for her daughter’s admission. She heard the same response from every school she approached: “Education is for all and we accept all children, but we are not equipped to school your child”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mita says, “When Monali was seven months old, she had a traumatic brain injury. She lost more than half of her brain cells. Now her condition is similar to kids with cerebral palsy.” She has right side hemiparesis - a weakness in the right side of the body. She has difficulties with motor coordination, walking, speech and attention span.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“But according to her doctors, psychologist and therapists, her intelligence level is good and she can continue a regular school curriculum with some facilitation and acceptance from the schools, teachers and peers,” says the mother.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With her tireless pursuit to seek admission for her daughter, Mita finally struck gold with a private school. Monali is currently in LKG.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Inclusive Education</b><br />Though the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act 1995 and Right to Education states that children with disabilities have equal rights to education and can be admitted in a normal schools, many schools seem to make an excuse that they do not have enough manpower and resources for admitting children with special needs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>The PWD Act recognises CP as a disability.</b><br />The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, a programme started by the government for universalisation of elementary education also states that equity, to mean not only equal opportunity, but also creation of conditions in which the disadvantaged sections of the society - children of SC, ST, Muslim minority, landless agricultural workers and children with special needs, etc. - can avail of the opportunity. Access, not to be confined to ensuring that a school becomes accessible to all children within specified distance but implies an understanding of the educational needs and predicament of the traditionally excluded categories - the SC, ST and others sections of the most disadvantaged groups, the Muslim minority, girls in general, and children with special needs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director of the Disability Access vertical of Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), says, “Inclusive education is a good model, provided there are good staffs and resources available. The staff should get equal pay as that of other teachers. It is a good method to sensitise normal children about the disability issue as well.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Separate Wing for Disabled Children </b><br />Advocate C V Sudhindra believes the Act that allows inclusive education may not be a practical proposition. He explains, “Children with disability will find it difficult to adjust in a classroom with abled children. It could be demoralising for them. They would mingle with abled children and understand what skills they are deprived of. It is a burden on the institution to have facilities for special children. The needs for every disability vary. You need have not just a trained teacher but also other facilities like toilets. It affects the normal functioning of a school.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">He adds a separate school is ideal for them. He cites an example, “You cannot accommodate people with disabilities in the Olympic competition. That is why we have Paralympic competition. The Act should be in tune with reality and should not affect the regular affairs of the people.”</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-1-2016-no-country-for-disabled'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-december-1-2016-no-country-for-disabled</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-12-01T14:29:30ZNews ItemPopular apps are inaccessible to millions of disabled: Study
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/economic-times-arpita-raj-november-21-2016-popular-apps-are-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled
<b>According to a study conducted by Centre for Internet and Society last month, many of the most-commonly used mobile apps for food delivery, online payments, grocery shopping and transportation were not accessible to the visually challenged.</b>
<p>The article by Arpita Raj was <a class="external-link" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Most-popular-apps-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled-says-study/articleshow/55532892.cms">published by the Times of India </a>on November 21, 2016 and also mirrored in <a class="external-link" href="http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/popular-apps-are-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled-study/55534138">ET Brand Equity</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p>Booking cabs, buying food and making payments online seem like they're just a swipe and a tap away, but for millions of disabled Indians, these apps are not designed for them to use.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to a study conducted by <a href="http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/centre+for+internet+and+society">Centre for Internet and Society</a> last month, many of the most-commonly used mobile apps for food delivery, online payments, grocery shopping and transportation were not accessible to the visually challenged. The study covered 22 apps.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The 2011 census puts the number of disabled in the country at 26 million, while advocacy groups say the real figure is closer to 150 million.Last year, India recorded nearly nine billion downloads of mobile-based applications last year.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“The national policy for universal electronic accessibility says that all IT products and services should be accessible. However, the government is still unable to implement it. Several government apps are inaccessible,“ said <a href="http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/nirmita+narasimhan">Nirmita Narasimhan</a>, policy director at CIS. CIS's survey of some key government mobile based applications like My Gov, E Pathshala and Prime Minister <a href="http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/narendra+modi">Narendra Modi</a>'s official app found them to be severely lacking. The illiterate, aged and those not proficient in English would also struggle with the apps, the study found. The guidelines for government websites laid out accessibility standards in 2009. The 2013 national policy on universal electronic accessibility clearly upholds equal rights “ensuring that accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts are adopted and adhered to.“</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, most commonly-used apps fail to follow this. All 22 of the apps studied were privately owned but not all were fully compliant with universal standards. Of taxi-hailing apps Meru, Ola and Uber, only Uber was completely accessible to the disabled. The others had mis-labelled or unlabeled buttons and graphics.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When it came to food delivery, Zomato was the best at replicating the user experience for disabled people. Swiggy and Foodpanda were difficult for new users, and Fresh menu was completely inaccessible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Of the marketplace apps, Amazon and <a href="http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/snapdeal">Snapdeal</a> were the only accessible ones. Myntra and <a href="http://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/flipkart">Flipkart</a> had incorrectly labelled buttons and misleading graphic tags, which made them impossible for the disabled to use. For instance, customers would be able to select the product they wanted to buy but had no way of choosing the quantity, the study said. Online grocery delivery apps Grofers and Zop Now were hard for the disabled to use, while Big Basket was relatively better though pages change during orders. Online payment portals Paytm, Oxigen and FreeCharge were relatively accessible, the study found.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Designers, developers and industries need to realize that there are more people out there who use this technology .The market is much bigger and they should work towards being inclusive,“ said Narasimhan of CIS.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Albinder Dhinda, co founder of grocery delivery service Grofers, said their app meets all accessibility requirements. “However, the disability tools provided by Google Play Store or the App Store often don't benefit the user and are hard for them to use. We are trying to make it better. Things like online payments won't be accessible to the disabled as those apps are supported by third party sites, and don't fall within our settings. We're trying to make it better.We're three years behind the US, in the playground they made. It'll be a while before we reach their level,“ he said.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/economic-times-arpita-raj-november-21-2016-popular-apps-are-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/economic-times-arpita-raj-november-21-2016-popular-apps-are-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-11-30T15:52:13ZNews ItemThe Quest for Education – Persons with Disabilities, Severely Challenged
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/your-story-nirmita-narasimhan-november-24-2016-quest-for-education-persons-with-disabilities-severely-challenged
<b>Education is the fundamental building block of development; it leads to an improved quality of life, employment, social acceptance and inclusion, national development and intellectual growth.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Published in <a class="external-link" href="https://yourstory.com/2016/11/education-persons-with-disabilities-severely-challenged/">Your Story</a> on November 24, 2016</p>
<hr />
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The right to education and the current census figures</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Over the past decade, multiple efforts and initiatives associated with policy and programme towards achieving the goal of education have taken place. However, there are still millions of children with disabilities and students who are struggling to access basic and higher education and for whom economic independence appears to be an elusive dream.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The 2011 census figures show that the literacy rates for persons with disabilities are much lower than that of the non-disabled population of the country and even within that, certain disabilities and women across disabilities have a lower percentage. The overall literacy rate for persons with disabilities is 59 percent compared to 74 percent for the general population. The literacy level of women with disabilities in urban areas is 61 percent, which is 9 percent lower than their male counterparts. While women with disabilities in rural areas are worse with a literacy rate of 38 percent, 20 percent lower than disabled males. And people with multiple disabilities fare the worst, with a 35.8 percent literacy rate. Their education needs in terms of content, technology, training and support remain unfulfilled.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Challenges faced by the disabled</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The issues faced by children with different disabilities vary. For instance, in the case of children with print impairment, there is need for aggressive implementation of schemes to provide assistive technology since most disabled students do not have access to technologies in most states. Students who are blind are dependent upon Braille materials, which often do not reach them before half the school term is over. And this only supports the bare minimum need in terms of reading and not any extra knowledge building requirements. In some states, laptops are being distributed; however, these are unaccompanied by any training requirements, so it is unclear how many students are really able to use their devices. In places where these devices are available, they are mostly provided to students from the ninth standard.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Thus, in some states, laptops are being distributed; however, these are unaccompanied by any training requirements, so it is unclear how many students are really able to use their devices. In places where these devices are available, they are mostly provided to students from the ninth standard. Thus, transition becomes difficult and they find it hard to write their own exams. So while their sighted counterparts are experimenting with technology from a much earlier age, they are introduced to it at a much later stage, by which time their colleagues are far ahead of them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Children with hearing impairments also face many challenges. They are isolated from mainstream communication as well; there are only around 250 sign language interpreters in India and sometimes one person has to cater to the requirements of an entire state. Hence, they grow and are educated in isolation without proper means of integration in inclusive schools. The physical environments in most schools also tend to be inaccessible for those with mobility impairments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is a rather dismal scenario content wise too. The course content put out by different boards is not in accessible formats, so organisations serving the blind have to convert them into an accessible format. There is a strain on resources. In the case of regional language content, the expense of typing out Telugu or Tamil is high and often increases the cost of the book 10-fold. Just converting the basic course syllabus for any one subject for a BA course can run into lakhs. Hence, there is very limited access to books.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The third challenge is the lack of trained manpower and resources to provide an enriching reading experience for a child with a disability. Children not only have to deal with restrictive resource conditions, but also difficult social conditions and stigma at school. Attitudinal changes need to occur and a lot of this begins at home and school. Consider this, in a rural setting; students in a class have access to a teacher full time during school hours. But there may be only one special needs teacher catering to students with multiple disabilities across several schools. So instead of having more support, a student with disability has to actually deal with severely limited support.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Often these teachers are ironically paid much lesser than other teachers, considering that they actually need more skills and patience to teach children with disabilities. Only in the field of disability does one encounter a situation where a specialisation is undervalued and under paid, whereas in all other genre of professions like medicines, one has to do a generalisation before a specialisation. What sort of prospects then do we offer children with disabilities? What we need is resource centres at each college and school, or if that is not possible, then at least resource centres at district level coordinating support in an appropriate manner with adequately paid and skilled teachers.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Promoting technology</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Promoting use of technology and open source software and imparting training at an early age will go a long way in making students with disabilities self-sufficient and independent. And of course, the issue of content is of primary importance. All boards must embrace accessible standards such as EPUB 3.0 for publications and WCAG 2.0 for their websites and make course content available in accessible formats. Exemption of certain topics should be replaced by facilitating learning using innovative methods and tools. Importantly, there also needs to be focus on providing education targeted towards profession and gainful employment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Clearly, there is a long way to go before we can talk of inclusive education for children with disabilities; there is a severe shortage of even exclusive or special education. To improve the situation, individual piecemeal efforts alone will not make a difference. It is essential to have a systemic approach to inclusive education, with sufficient implementation and infrastructural support, if we are to progress to a point where every child with disability is encouraged to learn and be prepared for a world of employment, independence and dignity.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/your-story-nirmita-narasimhan-november-24-2016-quest-for-education-persons-with-disabilities-severely-challenged'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/your-story-nirmita-narasimhan-november-24-2016-quest-for-education-persons-with-disabilities-severely-challenged</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaAccessibility2016-11-30T15:38:55ZBlog EntryDisabled kid? sorry, no admission!
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-november-28-2016-akhila-damodaran-disabled-kid
<b>Mita Sarkar, a mother of a six-year-old girl who has cerebral palsy (CP) had to approach around ten private schools for her daughter's admission. She heard the same response from every school she approached: “Education is for all and we accept all children, but we are not equipped to school your child”.</b>
<p>The article by Akhila Damodaran was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2016/nov/28/disabled-kid-sorry-no-admission-1543568.html">published in the New Indian Express</a> on November 28, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Mita says, “When Monali was seven months old, she had a traumatic brain injury. She lost more than half of her brain cells. Now her condition is similar to kids with cerebral palsy.” She has right side hemiparesis – a weakness in the right side of the body. She has difficulties with motor coordination, walking, speech and attention span.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“But according to her doctors, psychologist and therapists, her intelligence level is good and she can continue a regular school curriculum with some facilitation and acceptance from the schools, teachers and peers,” says the mother. With her tireless pursuit to seek admission for her daughter, Mita finally struck gold with a private school. Monali is currently in LKG.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Inclusive Education</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Though the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act 1995 and Right to Education states that children with disabilities have equal rights to education and can be admitted in a normal schools, many schools seem to make an excuse that they do not have enough manpower and resources for admitting children with special needs. The PWD Act recognises CP as a disability.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, a programme started by the government for universalisation of elementary education also states that equity, to mean not only equal opportunity, but also creation of conditions in which the disadvantaged sections of the society - children of SC, ST, Muslim minority, landless agricultural workers and children with special needs, etc. - can avail of the opportunity. Access, not to be confined to ensuring that a school becomes accessible to all children within specified distance but implies an understanding of the educational needs and predicament of the traditionally excluded categories - the SC, ST and others sections of the most disadvantaged groups, the Muslim minority, girls in general, and children with special needs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director of the Disability Access vertical of Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), says, “Inclusive education is a good model, provided there are good staffs and resources available. The staff should get equal pay as that of other teachers. It is a good method to sensitise normal children about the disability issue as well.”</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Rights not being Implemented</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">G N Nagaraj, President, The Karnataka State Disabled and Caregivers Federation says there are no proper facilities available for special children. “There are no sufficient special educators for such children. The attendance is poor. How many disabled children are passing SSLC? If the government is spending so much, what is finally happening? We filed an RTI three years ago to find the number of disabled students who passed SSLC and we learned that it is only around thousand from all over Karnataka who have passed SSLC,” asks Nagaraj.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Separate Wing for Disabled Children</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">But the advocate C V Sudhindra believes the Act that allows inclusive education may not be a practical proposition. He explains, “Children with disability will find it difficult to adjust in a classroom with abled children. It could be demoralising for them. They would mingle with abled children and understand what skills they are deprived of. It is a burden on the institution to have facilities for special children. The needs for every disability vary. You need have not just a trained teacher but also other facilities like toilets. It affects the normal functioning of a school.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">He adds a separate school is ideal for them. He cites an example, “You cannot accommodate people with disabilities in the Olympic competition. That is why we have Paralympic competition. The Act should be in tune with reality and should not affect the regular affairs of the people.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ruby Singh, an activist who is the founder of ALFAA, agrees with the advocate. She says the Bill can encourage parents to get their children educated and get employed. “When the government can allocate land and subsidy to schools, it can also allocate funds for a special wing with good resources and where more courses and opportunities are created for special children. The services should switch from charity mode to rights mode,” she says.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-november-28-2016-akhila-damodaran-disabled-kid'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/new-indian-express-november-28-2016-akhila-damodaran-disabled-kid</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-11-30T15:28:17ZNews ItemMost popular apps inaccessible to millions of disabled, says study
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/times-of-india-november-21-2016-most-popular-apps-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled
<b>Booking cabs, buying food and making payments online seem like they're just a swipe and a tap away, but for millions of disabled Indians, these apps are not designed for them to use.
</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Arpita Raji was <a class="external-link" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Most-popular-apps-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled-says-study/articleshow/55532892.cms">published in the Times of India</a> on November 21, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to a study conducted by <a class="key_underline" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Centre-for-Internet-and-Society">Centre for Internet and Society</a> last month, many of the most-commonly used mobile apps for food delivery, online payments, grocery shopping and transportation were not accessible to the visually challenged. The study covered 22 apps. <br /> <br /> The 2011 census puts the number of disabled in the country at 26 million, while advocacy groups say the real figure is closer to 150 million.Last year, India recorded nearly nine billion downloads of mobile-based applications last year. <br /> <br /> "The national policy for universal electronic accessibility says that all IT products and services should be accessible. However, the government is still unable to implement it. Several government apps are inaccessible," said <a class="key_underline" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Nirmita-Narasimhan">Nirmita Narasimhan</a>, policy director at CIS. CIS's survey of some key government mobile based applications like My Gov, E Pathshala and Prime Minister <a class="key_underline" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</a>'s official app found them to be severely lacking. The illiterate, aged and those not proficient in English would also struggle with the apps, the study found. The guidelines for government websites laid out accessibility standards in 2009. The 2013 national policy on universal electronic accessibility clearly upholds equal rights "ensuring that accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts are adopted and adhered to." <br /> <br /> However, most commonly-used apps fail to follow this. All 22 of the apps studied were privately owned but not all were fully compliant with universal standards. Of taxi-hailing apps Meru, Ola and Uber, only Uber was completely accessible to the disabled. The others had mis-labelled or unlabeled buttons and graphics.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When it came to food delivery, Zomato was the best at replicating the user experience for disabled people. Swiggy and Foodpanda were difficult for new users, and Fresh menu was completely inaccessible.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Of the marketplace apps, Amazon and <a class="key_underline" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Snapdeal">Snapdeal</a> were the only accessible ones. Myntra and <a class="key_underline" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Flipkart">Flipkart</a> had incorrectly labelled buttons and misleading graphic tags, which made them impossible for the disabled to use. For instance, customers would be able to select the product they wanted to buy but had no way of choosing the quantity, the study said. Online grocery delivery apps Grofers and Zop Now were hard for the disabled to use, while Big Basket was relatively better though pages change during orders. Online payment portals Paytm, Oxigen and FreeCharge were relatively accessible, the study found.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"Designers, developers and industries need to realize that there are more people out there who use this technology .The market is much bigger and they should work towards being inclusive," said Narasimhan of CIS.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Albinder Dhinda, co founder of grocery delivery service Grofers, said their app meets all accessibility requirements. "However, the disability tools provided by Google Play Store or the App Store often don't benefit the user and are hard for them to use. We are trying to make it better. Things like online payments won't be accessible to the disabled as those apps are supported by third party sites, and don't fall within our settings. We're trying to make it better.We're three years behind the US, in the playground they made. It'll be a while before we reach their level," he said.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/times-of-india-november-21-2016-most-popular-apps-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/times-of-india-november-21-2016-most-popular-apps-inaccessible-to-millions-of-disabled</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-11-21T02:47:43ZNews ItemWhere Are There So Few Books For The Print-Impaired?
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-november-3-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-where-are-there-so-few-books-for-print-impaired
<b>India publishes approximately 90,000 books each year in 24 different languages. We have over 16,000 publishers, and are one of the top nations for English book publishing in the world. Clearly we are a nation which values and fosters a culture of reading and passing on knowledge in different domains ranging from literature, to yoga, language, education, science, fiction and many others. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This article was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/nirmita-narasimhan/where-are-there-so-few-books-for-the-print-impaired/?utm_hp_ref=in-">published in the Huffington Post</a> on November 3, 2016.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We are also the world's second most populous nation with an extremely large population with disabilities, including persons with print impairments. However, the total number of books accessible to the print impaired in India is only 19,000, a fraction of what is available yearly to the general public. How is it that despite our prowess in publishing and technology, persons with print impairments in India remain deprived of access to books and other forms of information which are key to an inclusive and fulfilling life?</p>
<blockquote class="quoted" style="text-align: justify; ">There are presently approximately 19,000 books converted till date, a pathetic contrast to the 90,000 books published just in India every year.</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Before going further into this question, let us understand the term "print disability". Very broadly, print-impaired persons are those who cannot access printed material due to some form of disability, such as blindness or low vision, dyslexia, autism etc. For these persons to be able to read, the material needs to be converted into some other format such as Braille or accessible electronic formats which can be read using some assistive device like a screen reader or e-book reader, fitted in a laptop, mobile or stand alone device. For assistive technology to be able to read the content, it needs to conform to universal standards such as Unicode for Indic font or EPUB 3.0.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">The challenges</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Until 2012, one of the biggest hurdles to access printed content for the print-disabled was the fact that they had to obtain permission from the copyright holder of the work, every time they wanted to convert a book into audio/ Braille/ other formats. This was often unsuccessful, time consuming and required resources beyond the means of most blindness organizations, who could convert only a bare minimum of books, mostly excerpts from school text books for their readers. After over a decade of sustained advocacy, the Government included section 52 (1)(zb) in the Indian Copyright Act, a fair use exception which permitted conversion of copyrighted works into any accessible format for the benefit of a person with a disability on a non-profit basis. For profit, conversion is permitted on certain terms. This considerably opened up the world of books for persons with print impairments in India. In September 2016, the <a href="http://www.worldblindunion.org/english/news/Pages/The-Treaty-of-Marrakesh.aspx">Marrakesh Treaty for the Visually Impaired</a> also came into force, which means that cross-border sharing of accessible books can happen between countries which have ratified the Treaty.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, despite these measures, the availability of books remains abysmal. While the legal issues have been sorted out to a large extent, the practical situation is harder to deal with and there are significant hurdles in creation and dissemination as well as equipping users to read accessible books.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Firstly, organizations serving the print-impaired do not have the bandwidth to undertake large scale conversions of each and every book that gets published. At present, organizations have to spend considerable time and resources converting content into an accessible electronic format before they can make it available to end users. Consider this, the cost of typing out one page of a regional language like Telugu is approximately ₹30 So it would cost ₹3000 to type out a 100-page Telugu book, in addition to the price already paid to purchase the book. Apart from the unaffordability, the lack of equipment and personnel necessitates conversion being carried out in a very limited manner and mostly for books which are critical for studies and in high demand, since state boards do not provide accessible versions of school text books.</p>
<blockquote class="quoted" style="text-align: justify; ">The simplest way to address accessible book creation would be for publishers to adopt EPUB 3.0 and ensure that books are "born accessible"...</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While the Daisy Forum of India, along with the Government of India recently opened an online accessible digital library called the <a href="https://library.daisyindia.org/NALP/welcomeLink.action">Sugamya Pustakalaya</a>, it needs to be populated with accessible content. There are presently approximately 19,000 books converted till date, a pathetic contrast to the 90,000 books published just in India every year. Even international organizations such as Bookshare which have been expending millions to convert books in different countries have only succeeded in making 500,000 accessible books available in all, and these too are not equally available to persons in every country due to copyright issues.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The other challenge is to equip each and every print-impaired person with a device such as a laptop or mobile phone on which he/ she can read and work with the book. Of course, merely providing devices is pointless—appropriate training in how to use them is essential.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are also issues of inadequate distribution networks to reach out to print impaired persons in urban and remote parts of India, which still need to be addressed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Apart from the challenges specific to creating and disseminating accessible books, other digitization activities can also add to the problem. For instance, the <a href="http://www.dli.ernet.in/">Digital Library of India project</a>, a spectacular effort to digitize books of all genres, is said to have a library of 550,603 books including several really old manuscripts and historical books. However, all of these are scanned and saved as inaccessible image files, rendering them of no use to the print-impaired.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Another problem is in the case of Indian language content which is often created in a nonUnicode font, making it unreadable for persons using screen readers.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">How can we improve the situation?</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The simplest way to address accessible book creation would be for publishers to adopt EPUB 3.0 and ensure that books are "born accessible" since they anyway produce a digital file of a book before bringing it out in print. This would obviate the entire cost, time and effort spent on conversion. Also, selling accessible e-versions to the print impaired could be a huge business opportunity for publishers, considering the large market for such books in India and globally. More information on this can be obtained from <a href="http://www.accessiblebooksconsortium.org/portal/en/index.html">Accessible Book Consortium</a> or by writing to <a href="mailto:info-india@bookshare.org">BookShare</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We also need to ensure all digitization activities consider accessibility requirements and create resources that conform to accessibility standards.</p>
<blockquote class="quoted" style="text-align: justify; ">We have the law, the technology, the books and the people, but need a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders... to bring all of these together.</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On the technology front, an NGO-driven project over the past four years has now made text to speech available for several Indian languages using the open source text to speech engine e-Speak, which works with both laptops and Android phones. The government, with institutions like the IIT, is also driving initiatives to develop text to speech and optical character recognition (OCR) software for Indian languages. However, there is some way to go before these become available to end users.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To sum up, we have the law, we have the technology, the books and the people, but need a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders—the government, publishers, educational institutions and NGOs—to bring all of these together, so that every print-impaired person in India can enjoy the right to read.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-november-3-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-where-are-there-so-few-books-for-print-impaired'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-november-3-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-where-are-there-so-few-books-for-print-impaired</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaAccessibility2016-11-04T01:20:57ZBlog EntryTech for the blind: How app developers can help end the ‘disturbing touchscreen trend’
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/first-post-naina-khedekar-october-10-2016-tech-for-the-blind-how-app-developers-can-help-end-the-disturbing-touchscreen-trend
<b>At their introduction, touchscreens was so refreshing and how we had rushed to get those touch devices. Meanwhile, there was a separate world that came crashing down with the advent of touch enabled phones. Just like me, I’m sure not many may have thought how touchscreens almost ended the messaging ability of visually impaired. Now, with services moving from phone calls to online (services and apps), it’s getting more difficult.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Naina Khedekar was published in <a class="external-link" href="http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/tech-for-the-blind-how-app-developers-can-help-end-the-disturbing-touchscreen-trend-339542.html">First Post</a> on October 10, 2016.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We met Nirmita Narasimhan, a Policy Director at The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in Bengaluru, who has been instrumental in putting in place policies such as the copyright to benefit visually impaired. Nirmita is visually impaired herself, but that didn’t stop her from completing her law from Delhi University, and alongside she also completed her MA, M.Phil and PHD. While she is not writing policies or engaged in her passion for classical singing, she is busy playing a full time mom to two sons. But, it wasn’t easy, as back in 1995, when she was planning to pursue higher studies there weren’t many digital resources, and the ones like JAWS carried an outrageous price tag of $1000!</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Lack of digital resources and struggle to study</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita grew up in Delhi and it was at the age of nine that she started developing the vision problem. Her vision kept deteriorating and as a student in a mainstream school, she struggled with studies. Her parents had to read out everything to her; and there was also a stage when she used to enlarge everything and photocopy it. But, she finished her 10th and 12th grades with the help of a writer, and without any resources for electronics or digital books.<br /><br />She then went on to learn German. However, soon realised that a translator cannot be dependent on someone else to read and look at the dictionary at all times. “You can’t have a career as a translator or interpreter if you need someone who knows German to constantly sit beside you and read to you all the time,” she explained. So, that put an end to her German sojourn.<br /><br />She then decided to study law, and says, probably was one of the only students to have passed without reading a single book from the library. She relied on notes and had to choose 5-6 questions as each answer needed a lot of reading. She completed law from Delhi University and simultaneously pursued per passion for music.<br /><br />It was after that reality dawned when no one was ready to offer her a job. After knocking all doors, from top firms to single advocates, she found it very difficult. She then started working for a blind advocate, but it wasn’t real work and she wasn’t getting paid for it. She later moved to Bengaluru, and after some research work with a law firm, she joined CIS.<br /><br />“CIS was a turning point. So, all the problems that I faced are the ones I want to fix, she said.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Introduction to software that could read out to users</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It was in her final year of studies around 2001, when a neighbour pointed out an article that spoke about a new software that reads out to users at the National association for the blind. Nirmita said the software was called Kurzweil 1000 wherein you could scan your books and it could read out to you. But books had to be of really good quality and the software cost Rs 50,000. After a long debate and financial crisis, she decided to go with it, as that was the only way to move ahead.<br /><br />She was excited with the free CD that was bundled called Literature 3.O that had 2000 books and kept her awake nights reading these books. Later, she also started using JAWS.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">‘Disturbing’ trend of touch phones</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It was around 2013, when the rest of the world was planning which touch smartphone to buy, it was a disturbing trend with mobile phones at least when blind and low visually persons are concerned. “Keyboards were gone. We got touch phones and it was a nightmare. There was nothing to feel. I am not comfortable text messaging even today. There is a screen reader on Android called Talkback, which is very good, but it works above a certain version, and all devices above that are touch phones. Moreover, it isn’t quite enough when you are outdoors and the voice input just doesn’t work,” she said.<br /><br />Blackberry had a QWERTY but screen reader was not that great and the iPhone wasn’t affordable, she adds. “Everyone was rushing to the market to buy second hand keyboard phones, but they didn’t support good reading technologies.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Affordable software for blind, and support from leading OS makers</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Easy availability, price and customer support have been a hindrance when it comes to software to assist blind. And the next agenda for Nirmita is building just that.<br /><br />In 2012, they got funding for a project to develop text to speech in Indian language and work at enhancing a screen reader dubbed non visual desktop access (NVDA). “It’s an open source project, a good solution that is scalable. People cannot afford JAWS and that will make it difficult for them to ever start using screen readers,” she added.<br /><br />Moreover, support for languages is another problem. JAWS only supports English and Hindi, and is a closed system with lack of India support.<br /><br />It was also a struggle earlier as the project is for a social cause and not a full-fledged company, and required special skill set as the open source works with Windows. “After a long time, we now have a team in IIT Delhi and there has been some work and improvement. Many of us have begun shifting to NVDA, and under hat project we have started undertaking training so that we can teach others. 10- 15 organisations run these training and we supports numerous regional languages including Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati and more. So, still need refinement, but at least there’s something, she adds.<br /><br />“Now, we need to scale it, improve and train more people. The software can work on Android smartphones, irrespective of the display,” she said.<br /><br />While there is an app for everything, and many standalone apps have been built for the visually impaired, Nirmita calls in for universal app design. A principle that every time a product is built, designed or developed, it can be done in a way considering the blind. Yes, why a separate app, when developers can add support for the blind. Nirmita talks about the hindrances when trying to book a taxi from Ola and the inability to place orders from BigBasket. A set of standard rules could help iron out the creases. In govt procurement bills, accessibility should be made mandatory.<br /><br />Google and Apple OSes lead in the market, and if these OS makers add a mandate on how the same app should also assist the blind, a lot can change. “What is specially made is useful, but if what is made in an accessible manner then there won’t be two worlds,” she adds.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Copyright policy and other initiatives</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The copyright policy may mean nothing to many of us, but for people with disability it was a big turning point. Some years ago the law said you cannot convert a book into any other format for people with disability, unless you get the permission of the publisher. So, if one lakh books were published in India, only minuscule 500-600 books were converted into braille or audio formats and these were usually text books.<br /><br />“We started campaigning that we have a right to read. We should be able to pick and convert any book we want. Whatever people are reading and talking in news we should be able to access it and children should get access to all such books, “she said.<br /><br />Nirmita explains how this isn’t a difficult task anymore, thanks to technology. It is simpler to convert and access these books. Yes, the problem of expensive technology still exists, but she along with a tech team has also begun working on that with new affordable software that could make it affordable for all. After struggling for almost 3-4 years, it was in 2012 that the new law was passed, allowing anyone with reading disabilities to convert any book into a format that helps them.<br /><br />Meanwhile, she is also working on how all websites should be accessible by all including the blind. With the emergence of e-governance, it is important for everyone to follow a standard that will help this happen. Explaining further, she said that there are standards for digital accessibility called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and it came up with guidelines for Indian govt websites and a part of those dealt with accessibility. They have divided it into advisory and mandatory. And, accessibility comes under mandatory.<br /><br />Another initiative involved was teaming up with Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) |”Whenever you pay a telephone bill, a part of it goes to USOF and they are supposed to use it for communities underserved and in rural areas. We teamed up to assist visually impaired, and a pilot scheme was launched, “she explained further. However, it was a chase for the project and the output wasn’t as they had expected.<br /><br />Though copyright has solved the problem, we are still converting our own books, she added. There hasn’t been help. Opening an online digital library, wherein every time a publisher publishes a book, they can give a digital format that can help blind, which can then be shared with others.<br /><br />People in villages still use Braille. There also need to be training to teach them. And, the primary way to reach in rural areas with resource centres associated with organisations. Technology has made many things simpler, and a few standards could definitely help bridge the gap.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/first-post-naina-khedekar-october-10-2016-tech-for-the-blind-how-app-developers-can-help-end-the-disturbing-touchscreen-trend'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/first-post-naina-khedekar-october-10-2016-tech-for-the-blind-how-app-developers-can-help-end-the-disturbing-touchscreen-trend</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-10-10T12:46:15ZNews ItemMobile Apps Are Excluding Millions Of Indians Who Want To Use Them
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-september-22-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-mobile-apps-are-excluding-millions-of-indians-who-want-to-use-them
<b>If someone were to ask you how many apps you use in a day, you might need to stop and count. You use apps to book cabs, to order groceries, make payments online, buy diapers, connect with friends... the list goes on. In fact apps, are becoming so intrinsic to daily life that without one handy you may have to think twice about how to complete a transaction.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/nirmita-narasimhan/mobile-apps-are-excluding-millions-of-indians-who-want-to-use-th/">Huffington Post</a> on September 22, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Apps are uncomplicated, easy to use, at your finger tips and quick. So logically, everyone who has a smartphone should be using them, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Much as they would like to, millions of persons living with disabilities are unable to use apps to fulfil their daily living needs. This is because most apps are not accessible to users with a visual disability.</p>
<div class="desktop-only ad_spot" id="entry_paragraph_2" style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<blockquote class="pull-quote" style="text-align: justify; "><span class="quote">With about 30% of the blind population of the world living in India, it's imperative for service providers to give more thought to universal design and accessibility standards. </span></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In order for an app to be accessible for a blind user, it should be readable by a screen reader -- software which reads out whatever appears on the screen. For it to function effectively, elements on web pages and applications should be properly labelled, otherwise the software will be unable to decipher what it is, not having any cognitive abilities like human beings. It will merely read out the element out as "button" or "graphic".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Here I will look at five very popular apps relating to food, groceries, transportation and mobile bill payment and banking to see how accessible they are for people with disabilities. These apps were tested using Talk Back, an open source Android screen reader.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">1. Swiggy</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The first app we looked at was Swiggy, which is used to order food from nearby restaurants. Here, the first screen, which shows the discounts/offers available, uses a graphics banner without alternative text, which cannot be deciphered by a screen reader. Another issue is inaccessible navigation. For instance, though we can select a food category like "soup", choosing a particular type of soup is not possible as the focus simply stays on the main category. This means a screen reader cannot read the rest of the information, making it impossible for a visually challenged person to order food.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">2. Big Basket</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Then we tried Big Basket to order some groceries. One of the issues we found included unlabelled banners; also, the continuous scrolling of the banner, which makes the screen reader try to constantly read the next unlabelled graphic, renders the app practically unusable. When we navigated to the list of products available, only their names were readable and the focus could not be shifted to information like price and quantity. This means the user can add items to the basket, but has no way of knowing the price or deciding the quantity, which obviously makes the app a no-go.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">3. Ola</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The taxi-hailing app Ola is fairly accessible, with some scope for improvement. The button to pinpoint the location is not labelled, and while trying to select a cab category the focus moves away automatically if there is no action in a few seconds. Hence, a person with vision impairments may need some assistance to use the app.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">4. MyAirTel</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This app for Airtel customers was found to have limited usability, with several accessibility issues. Many buttons, including <i>Settings </i>and <i>Information</i> are not labelled and hence are not readable by screen readers. The offers and discounts banner is also not labelled and keeps on moving, sending the screen reader into a loop saying "graphic". However, viewing unbilled/billed amounts and paying bills is easy, as those screens are well labelled and use minimal graphic controls.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">5. ICICI - Pockets</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This digital wallet app from ICICI bank was tested using an ICICI bank internet banking login and unfortunately found to be completely inaccessible for a person using a screen reader. There is no screen reader support and consequently no auditory feedback when using slides or touching the screen. One can tap and access the menus/options but they are not focusable and are not announced by the screen reader.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Over the past few years we have seen how corporates have embraced technological innovations and helped better the lives of common Indians. However, a more inclusive approach will help people with disabilities to enjoy the best technology has to offer, and lead a more independent life. It would be pertinent to mention at this point that the inaccessibility of apps is not a phenomenon which is particular to the ones reviewed above, but a common feature across stakeholder groups, including private and government agencies. With about 30% of the blind population of the world living in India, it's imperative for service providers engaging consumers through information and communication technologies to give more thought to universal design and accessibility standards. It would truly make a difference in the lives of many Indians.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-september-22-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-mobile-apps-are-excluding-millions-of-indians-who-want-to-use-them'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-september-22-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-mobile-apps-are-excluding-millions-of-indians-who-want-to-use-them</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaAccessibility2016-09-24T16:01:45ZBlog EntryAn Overview of Accessibility Work (2008 - 2016)
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/cis-accessibility-work-overview
<b>India has an estimated 70 million disabled persons who are unable to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. The disabled need accessible content, devices and interfaces facilitated via copyright law and accessibility policies. CIS campaigns for change in this area. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The progress made over the years can be accessed below:</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Publications</h2>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/front-page/blog/e-accessibility-handbook"><span>E-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities</span></a> (Nirmita Narasimhan, G3ict and ITU; November 23, 2010): The handbook was compiled and edited by Nirmita Narasimhan. Nirmita also contributed to the original toolkit.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility/universal-service-disabilities.pdf"><span>Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities</span></a> (CIS, G3ict and Hans Foundation; December 27, 2011). Nirmita Narasimhan was a co-author.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/web-accessibility.pdf">Web Accessibility Policy Making</a> (CIS, G3ict and Hans Foundation; February 28, 2012). Nirmita Narasimhan was a contributor.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/making-mobile-phone-and-services-accessible-for-persons-with-disabilities.pdf"><span>Making Mobile Phones and Services Accessible for Persons with Disabilities</span></a> (ITU and G3ict; August 2012). Nirmita Narasimhan was a co-author.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility-of-government-websites-in-india"><span>Accessibility of Government Websites in India: A Report</span></a> (CIS and Hans Foundation; September 26, 2012). Nirmita Narasimhan was a co-author.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/unesco-global-report"><span>Opening New Avenues for Empowerment</span></a> (UNESCO; February 2013). Nirmita Narasimhan was the project coordinator from Asia Pacific.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/inclusive-financial-services.pdf"><span>Inclusive Financial Services for Seniors and Persons with Disabilities: Global Trends in Accessibility Requirements</span></a> (G3ict and CIS; February 2015). Nirmita Narasimhan was a co-author.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities"><span>National Compendium of Laws, Policies and Programmes for Persons with Disabilities</span></a> (CIS and Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India; January 3, 2016). Nirmita Narasimhan was one of the contributors.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>Reports</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="https://nivh.gov.in/Ar_English_2011-12.pdf">NIVH Annual Report 2011-12</a> (NIVH; 2012)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/inclusive-disaster-and-emergency-management-for-persons-with-disabilities"><span>Inclusive Disaster and Emergency Management for Persons with Disabilities</span></a> (Nirmita Narasimhan and Deepti Samant Raja; September 17, 2013). The report was submitted to the National Disaster Management Authority of India for their action. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/banking-and-accessibility-in-india-report">Banking and Accessibility in India: A Report</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; August 12, 2013)</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/accessibility-of-political-parties-websites.pdf"><span>Accessibility of Political Parties Websites in India</span></a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; March 24, 2014).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/enabling-elections"><span>Enabling Elections</span></a> (Nirmita Narasimhan and Centre for Law and Policy Research; March 2014).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>Policy Submissions and Feedback</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS worked with the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and civil society and industry partners such as the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), Microsoft Corporation, National informatics Centre (NIC), etc., to formulate and implement a <a href="http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/NPE_Notification.pdf"><span>National Electronic Accessibility Policy</span></a> to ensure that all Indian information and communication technologies and electronic infrastructure (including the Internet) and research which is publically funded, is accessible to persons with disabilities. Nirmita Narasimhan was part of the policy drafting committee. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility-new-telecom-policy-2011">Accessibility in the New Telecom Policy 2011</a>: CIS made a submission to the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India on December 9, 2011. CIS was one of the 27 organisations that sent a joint letter requesting that accessibility for persons with disabilities be included specifically within the goals and objectives of the policy.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Pilot Project Scheme - Access to ICTs and ICT Enabled Services for Persons with Disabilities in Rural India: CIS worked with USOF of India to design a <a href="http://www.usof.gov.in/usof-cms/usofsub/Concept%20paper_USOF%20Scheme_PwDs_A.G.Gulati.pdf"><span>scheme to launch projects for persons with disabilities</span></a>. CIS prepared a background paper for the USOF, compiled a comprehensive global report which was later <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/universal-service-for-persons-with-disabilities"><span>published</span></a> in cooperation with G3ict and helped to convene a stakeholders meeting in September 2011 to launch the scheme and invite project applications.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-to-rights-of-persons-with-disablities-bill-2014"><span>Comments to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014</span></a> (Nirmita Narasimhan and Anandhi Viswanathan; October 30, 2014). The comments were submitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee in October 2014.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS joined hands with Daisy Forum of India member Arushi in Bhopal to <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/govt-of-mp-initiates-ict-accessibility-in-public"><span>submit a request for a notification mandating that all communication by the Government of Madhya Pradesh should be accessible to persons with disabilities</span></a>. The state government issued a <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/notification-by-mp-govt.pdf">notification in Hindi</a> requesting all departments to comply with WCAG 2.0 and use Unicode font. Nirmita Narasimhan drafted this submission.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/accessible-ict-procurement"><span>Accessible ICT Procurement</span></a>: CIS along with 20 other organisations petitioned the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of India to bring in accessibility considerations within the draft Procurement Bill.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-to-gigw">Comments to the GIGW</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; April 30, 2015): CIS submitted its comments to the National Informatics Centre for making Indian government websites conform to the notified standards of the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/accessible-ict-procurement">Recommendations on Accessible ICT Procurement</a> (Pranesh Prakash; May 9, 2016). CIS along with 20 other organisations petitioned the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information Technology to bring in accessibility considerations within the draft Procurement Bill. </li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>WIPO</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO and regularly participates in the meetings of the Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) held in Geneva. CIS is actively involved in matters being discussed there such as the TVI. As part of its work, CIS provides comments at the SCCR and advises the Indian government on these matters through policy briefs, research and interactive discussions and meetings. CIS has given several statements on <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-statement-sccr24-treaty-visually-impaired"><span>Treaty for the Visually Impaired</span></a> and prepared an <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-analysis-july2011-treaty-print-disabilities"><span>analysis</span></a> of the consensus document on an international instrument on limitations and exceptions for persons with disabilities with the Third World Network which was widely circulated amongst the negotiators at the SCCR. CIS’ statements at the SCCR in June 2013, <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-statement-sccr24-broadcast-treaty">July 2012</a>, <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/sccr-23-broadcast-cis-statement">December 2011</a>, <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/sccr-22-broadcast-cis-statement">June 2011</a>, and <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/sccr-cis-statement">November 2010</a> are available on the CIS website.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS took part in the WIPO Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities in Marrakesh, Morocco, June 17 to 28, 2013. The conference concluded with the adoption of the <a href="http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=241683"><span>Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled</span></a>. CIS's Closing Statement at Marrakesh on the Treaty for the Blind <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/cis-closing-statement-marrakesh-treaty-for-the-blind"><span>can be seen here</span></a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the national level CIS has been campaigning for right to read, attending meetings with ministries such as the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and giving feedback on the Copyright Amendment Bills. Earlier this year, CIS gave a detailed analysis of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blog/analysis-copyright-amendment-bill-2012">Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2012</a> examining the positive changes and the negative ones.</p>
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Events</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/events/announcement-of-national-workshop-on-web-accessibility"><span>National Workshop on Web Accessibility</span></a> (Organized by CIS and Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment; September 25-26, 2009).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-national-conference-ICTs"><span>National Conference on ICTs for Differently Abled / Under privileged Communities in Education, Employment & Entrepreneurship — NCIDEEE 2009</span></a> (Loyola College, Chennai, December 1 – 3, 2009): The event was co-organised by Dr. A. Albert Muthumalai S. J, Principal, Loyola College, & Prof. J. Jerald Inico, Faculty In-charge, Resource Centre for the Differently Abled (RCDA), Loyola College, in association with NASSCOM, Computer Society of India and CIS.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">CIS organized Right to Read campaigns in the 4 metro cities of <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-chennai">Chennai</a> <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign-kolkata">Kolkata</a>, <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/right-to-read-campaign">Delhi</a> and <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/mumbai-phase-of-right-to-read-campaign">Mumbai</a>. The campaign has gathered thousands of supporters and has succeeded in bringing the problems of the print disabled to the notice of policy makers and the general public.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/edict-report"><span>EdICT 2010</span></a> (New Delhi, October 27 to 30, 2010): CIS in collaboration with G3ict, UNESCO, ITU, WIPO, The Deafway Foundation, DEF and SPACE and with the support from Hans Foundation and the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology organised this event. Twenty-nine experts made presentations on a variety of topics, ranging from discussing challenges and solutions in educational institutions, to technology development and policy formulation and implementation. A total of 77 participants attended this event. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/websites-accessibility-evaluation-methodologies"><span>Websites Accessibility Evaluation Methodologies at Twentieth International World Wide Web Conference</span></a> (Hyderabad, March 30 – 31, 2011): CIS co-organised this with G3ict and W3C. The panel discussed web accessibility evaluation methodologies and their challenges and technical survey methodologies alternatives. The panel was moderated by Nirmita Narasimhan and featured four speakers — Shadi Abou Zahra, Neeta Verma, Srinivasu Chakravartula and Glenda Sims.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/itu-tutorial-delhi">ITU Tutorial on Audiovisual Media Accessibility</a> (India International Centre, New Delhi, March 14 – 15, 2012): In cooperation with the ITU-APT Foundation of India, CIS hosted a two-day Tutorial on Audio Visual Media Accessibility from March 14 to 15, 2012 at the India International Centre, New Delhi, India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/events/girls-in-ict-day"><span>Girls in ICT Day</span></a> (Organized by CIS and Mithra Jyothi; Bangalore; April 25, 2013). </li>
</ul>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Internet Governance Forum</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>CIS has been organising workshops and participating regularly at IGF events since 2008 on topics like accessibility, access to knowledge, openness, internet governance, freedom of expression, etc. Details given below:</p>
<ol> </ol>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">IGF 2008, Hyderabad, India: CIS joined the Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards and also contributed to the authoring of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/dcos-agreement-on-procurement">Agreement on Procurement in Support of Interoperability and Open Standards</a>. CIS is now a part of the DCOS secretariat. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">IGF 2009, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt: Nirmita Narasimhan presented on Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective at the <a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposals2009View&wspid=110">Global Internet Access for Persons with Disabilities</a> workshop organised by ITU and EBU on November 16. CIS also co-organised the workshop on ‘Content Regulation, Surveillance and Sexuality Rights – Privacy, Agency and Security’, together with the Association for Progressive Communications, Women’s Networking Support Programme and the Alternative Law Forum.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">IGF2010, Vilnius, Lithuania: At the UNESCO Open Forum, Anja Kovacs presented the research study <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/files/30853/12852529733Open_Forum_-_Anja_Kovacs_-_disabilities.pdf/Open%2BForum%2B-%2BAnja%2BKovacs%2B-%2Bdisabilities.pdf">‘Exploring ICT-enabled Education Initiatives for Persons with Disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region</a>’. The study was undertaken by CIS in cooperation with G3ICT and UNESCO. Besides this, CIS co-organised these workshops: <a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposals2010View&wspid=85">Freedom of Expression or Access to Knowledge: Are We Taking the Necessary Steps towards an Open and inclusive Internet?</a> with the Center for Technology and Society, Brazil, ‘<a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposals2010View&wspid=73">Sexual Rights, Openness and Regulatory Systems</a>’, with the Association for Progressive Communications and the Alternative Law Forum, <a href="http://cis-india.org/events/open-standards">Open Standards: Ensuring Accessibility and Inclusiveness</a> with the World Wide Web Consortium and the workshop on <a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/index.php/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposals2010View&wspid=154">Data in the Cloud: Where Do Open Standards Fit In?</a></li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">IGF 2011, Nairobi, Kenya: <a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=Workshops2011View&wspid=184">Use of Digital Technologies for Civic Engagement and Political Change: Lessons Learned and Way Forward</a> and <a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=WSProposals2011View&wspid=121">Open Spectrum for Development in the Context of the Digital Migration</a>. These workshops were organized by CIS.</li>
</ul>
<ol> </ol></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h2>Awards</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita Narasimhan was awarded the <a href="http://cis-india.org/advocacy/accessibility/blog/national-award"><span>National Award</span></a> for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government of India on December 3, 2010 on the occasion of the World Disability Day. The award was presented by Smt. Pratibha Patil, President of India under the Role Model category. The award function took place at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi and was telecast live on Doordarshan.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita Narasimhan received the <a href="http://cis-india.org/news/nirmita-nivh-award"><span>NIVH Excellence Award</span></a> from Justice AS Anand (retd), former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, on International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped in Dehradun on December 3, 2011. The Tribune <a href="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111204/dplus.htm#3">covered the award ceremony</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/girls-in-ict-day-2013-in-delhi"><span>Girls in ICT Day 2013</span></a> (organized by ITU-APT Foundation of India with support from CMAI - Association of India Communication and Infrastructure, FICCI Auditorium, Tansen Marg, New Delhi, May 7, 2013). Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan got a felicitation for her contribution and achievements in the field of Information and Communication Technology. The honour was conferred during the celebration of this event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Nirmita Narasimhan won the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/nirmita-narasimhan-gets-ncpedp-mphasis-universal-design-award">NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award</a> in the "Persons with Disabilities" category. The awards aim to raise awareness about accessibility.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>Articles and Interviews</h2>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility-in-higher-education"><span>Technology for Accessibility in Higher Education</span></a>: Nirmita Narasimhan wrote an article in Enabling Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and Workplace - Role of ICT and Assistive Technologies. The IIMB Journal was brought out on the occasion of the conference ‘never-the-less’.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/business-case-for-web-accessibility"><span>The Business Case for Web Accessibility</span></a>: NASSCOM Foundation published "Understanding Web Accessibility — A Guide to create Accessible Work Environments". In this handbook on web accessibility, Nirmita Narasimhan authored a chapter titled “The Business Case for Web Accessibility”. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/barriers-to-access-connected-world"><span>Barriers to Access in a Connected World</span></a>: Hans Foundation published its Annual Review of 2011. Nirmita Narasimhan wrote an article in it. She wrote that accessibility is an imperative to achieve a truly inclusive and participatory society and every individual, corporation, organization and government has a crucial role to play in nurturing it.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/news/interview-with-nirmita"><span>Girls in ICT Portal</span></a> (November 28, 2011): ITU interviewed Nirmita and published her profile on their website.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/dataquest-august-5-2016-an-india-where-the-disabled-have-a-choice">An India Where the Disabled have a Choice</a> (Dataquest, August 5, 2016). Nirmita Narasimhan spoke to Dr. Archana Verma about the problems faced by the disabled while using technology.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/factor-daily-august-31-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-we-tested-18-government-apps-most-are-not-fully-accessible-to-disabled">We Tested 18 Government Apps, and Most are not Fully Accessible to the Disabled</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; Factor Daily, August 31, 2016). </li>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-september-22-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-mobile-apps-are-excluding-millions-of-indians-who-want-to-use-them">Mobile Apps Are Excluding Millions Of Indians Who Want To Use Them</a> (Nirmita Narasimhan; Huffington Post; September 22, 2016).<br /><br /></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>Media Coverage</h2>
<p>Nirmita Narasimhan gave inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/dfi-and-cambridge-university-press"><span>DFI and Cambridge University Press join hands for getting print access to the “print impaired”</span></a> (The Bookseller; November 27, 2009).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/news/WIPO-Proposals-for-Disabled"><span>WIPO Proposals Would Open Cross-Border Access To Materials For Print Disabled</span></a> (IP Watch; May 28, 2010).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/news/times-of-india-city-mumbai-madhavi-rajadhyaksha-december-20-2012-disability-groups-in-india-welcome-progress-on-treaty-for-blind-persons"><span>Disability groups in India welcome progress on treaty for blind persons</span></a> (The Times of India; December 20, 2012).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/news/ip-watch-feb-16-2013-catherine-saez-indian-users-perspective-on-wipo-negotiations-on-treaty-for-visually-impaired"><span>Indian Users’ Perspective On WIPO Negotiations On Treaty For Visually Impaired</span></a> (IP Watch; February 16, 2013).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/the-times-of-india-may-29-2016-how-tech-brings-self-reliance-to-students-with-disabilities"><span>How tech brings self-reliance to students with disabilities</span></a> (The Times of India; May 29, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/livemint-august-9-2016-sachi-p-mampatta-amritha-pillay-ritika-mazumdar-how-indias-top-firms-are-faring-in-employing-women-and-persons-with-disabilities">How India’s top firms fare in employing women and persons with disabilities</a> (Livemit; August 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/using-technology-to-address-issues/article8987393.ece">Using technology to address issues</a> (The Hindu; August 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/your-story-sourav-roy-august-31-2016-india-has-a-long-road-ahead-in-becoming-a-disabled-friendly-country">India has a long road ahead in becoming a disabled-friendly country</a> (Your Story; August 31, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2>NVDA and eSpeak</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Hans Foundation is funding CIS to do a project on developing a text-to-speech software in 15 Indian languages over a period of two-and-a-half years. Following are the monthly programmatic reports indicating the progress made in the project:</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Monthly Reports</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>2014</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td></td>
<th></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-update-march-2014">March</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-update-april-2014.pdf">April</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-update-may-2014.pdf">May</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-update-june-2014.pdf">June</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-update-july-2014.pdf">July</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-update-august-2014.pdf">August</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/september-2014-nvda-report.pdf">September</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/october-2014-nvda-report.pdf">October</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/november-e-speak-nvda-2014-report.pdf">November</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/december-2014-nvda-report.pdf">December</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>2015</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/january-2015-nvda-report.pdf">January</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-report-february-2015.pdf">February</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/march-nvda-e-speak-report.pdf">March</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-april-2015-report.pdf">April</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/may-2015-report.pdf">May</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-june-2015-report.pdf">June</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/july-2015-report.pdf">July</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/august-2015-nvda-report.pdf">August</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/september-2015-nvda-report.pdf">September</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/october-2015-report">October</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/november-2015-report.pdf">November</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/december-2015-report">December</a></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><b>2016</b></p>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/January%20Report%202016.pdf">January</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/february-2016-report.pdf">February</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/march-2016-report.pdf">March</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/april-2016-report">April</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/May%20Report%202016.pdf">May</a></th><th><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/june-2016-report/view">June</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/july-2016-report">July</a></th><th><a class="internal-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/august-report-2016">August</a></th><th></th><th></th><th></th><th></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<h3>Training Programmes</h3>
<p>Following are the reports of the training programmes that were conducted across several locations in India:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-basic-computing-with-nvda-and-e-speak-in-hindi">15 days Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Hindi</a> (April 10; 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-basic-computing-with-use-of-nvda-e-speak-gujarati">15 days Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Gujarati</a> (April 16, 2015).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>15 days Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Oriya (April 30, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-espeak-tamil-computing-with-nvda-at-tiruchirappalli">eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA</a> (May 4 – 8, 2015). </li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-basic-computing-with-use-of-nvda-espeak-assamese">Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Assamese</a> (May 9 – 10, 2015). </li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/espeak-indian-languages-during-tot-conducted-by-enable-india">Training in the Use of eSpeak for Indian Languages during TOT</a> (May 11 – 20, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-espeak-tamil-computing-with-nvda-training-workshop">Tamil Language</a> (May 25 – 29, 2015). </li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-use-of-espeak-hindi-on-windows-and-android-platforms">Training on the Use of eSpeak Hindi on Windows and Android Platforms</a> (May 28, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-30-days-summer-course-on-basic-computer-competencies-and-language-proficiency">Report on 30 Days Summer Course on Basic Computer Competencies and Language Proficiency</a> (May 1 – 30, 2015). </li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-using-espeak-tamil-with-nvda-training-tirunelveli">Tamil Computing with NVDA Training Workshop</a> (Organized by NVDA team: Anne Jane Ask with Higher Secondary School for the Visually Impaired, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli; June 3 – 7, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-using-espeak-tamil-with-nvda-training-tirunelveli">Report on eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training Workshop in Tirunelveli </a>(Organized by NVDA team; Anne Jane Askwith Higher Secondary School for the Visually Impaired, Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli; June 3 - 7, 2015). </li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-espeak-marathi">Training in eSpeak Marathi</a> (Organized by NVDA team; National Association for the Blind; Nashik; June 22 - 23, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-e-speak-marathi">Training in eSpeak Marathi</a> (Organized by NVDA team; SIES College, Sion, Mumbai; June 28, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/training-in-espeak-marathi">Training in eSpeak Marathi</a> (Organized by CIS; Atmadepam Society; August 22 – 23, 2015). </li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/training-in-e-speak-hindi">Training in eSpeak Hindi</a> (Organized by NVDA team; Jeevan Jyoti School for the Blind; Varanasi; August 26 - 28, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/espeak-training-in-hindi-language-1">eSpeak Training in Hindi Language</a> (Organized by CIS and National Association for the Blind; Kullu; September 3 – 4, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-use-of-espeak-bengali-with-nvda">Training in use of eSpeak Bengali with NVDA</a> (Organized by CIS; Turnstone Matruchaya, Siligudi, West Bengal; September 7 – 9, 2015).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-5-day-tot-for-training-in-use-of-espeak-kannada-with-nvda">5 day TOT for Training in Use of eSpeak Kannada with NVDA</a> (Organized by CIS, Mithra Jyoti, Enable India and NFB, Bangalore; September 21 – 25, 2015; Bangalore).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-the-training-in-the-use-of-espeak-hindi-with-nvda">Training in the use of eSpeak Hindi with NVDA</a> (Organized by CIS and Lakshay for the Differently Abled; September 29 – 30, 2015; Ranchi). The event was conducted online by Dr. Homiyar with local support from Mritunjay Kumar and Zainab.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-espeak-with-nvda-screen-reader-and-assistive-technology-for-visually-challenged">Report on eSpeak with NVDA Screen Reader and Assistive Technology for Visually Challenged</a> (Organized by National Association for the Blind, New Delhi, Centre for Differently Abled Persons, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, and CIS; January 21, 2016; Tiruchirappalli).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-nvda-with-e-speak-and-bookshare-online-library">Report on NVDA with E-Speak and BookShare Online Library</a> (Organized by Karna Vidya Technology Centre, Computer and Internet Society, and CIS; February 27, 2016; Chennai).</li>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/cis-accessibility-work-overview'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/cis-accessibility-work-overview</a>
</p>
No publishernirmitaAccessibility2016-09-24T16:09:53ZPageIndia has a long road ahead in becoming a disabled-friendly country
http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/your-story-sourav-roy-august-31-2016-india-has-a-long-road-ahead-in-becoming-a-disabled-friendly-country
<b>India is home to 2.7 crore people living with one or the other kind of disability. According to the 2011 Census, 2.21 percent of India’s population is disabled. Unlike the developed world, India’s disabled are made further socially vulnerable by lack of quality education, lack of women’s safety, and attitudinal barriers as they continue to grapple with the challenges of access, acceptance, and inclusion.</b>
<p>The blog post by Sourav Roy was <a class="external-link" href="https://yourstory.com/2016/08/disabled-accessibility-india/">published in Your Story</a> on August 31, 2016. Nirmita Narasimhan was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<h3>Changing times</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>Until a few decades ago, it was almost unimaginable for the disabled to lead independent lives. The advent of technology and internet has, however, opened new doors. A print-impaired person can now listen to audio books and learn. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recently announced </span><a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/08/sugamaya-pustakalaya/" target="_blank"><span>Sugamaya Pustakalaya</span></a><span>, an online library where books are made available in different accessible formats for people with visual impairment and other print disabilities.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>With hearing aids, surgical intervention, and other disruptive technological solutions, </span><a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/06/hearing-disability-in-india/" target="_blank"><span>deafness</span></a><span> is now </span><span>curable</span><span>. Consequently, the disabled are independent and contributing greatly towards society. The wheels of such change, for a majority of people, have already been set in motion in the developed world.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>In developing countries such as India, however, the road to accessibility is a long, winding one. As Javed Abidi, director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), has recently pointed out in an article,</span></span></p>
<blockquote class="quoted"><span><span>“Just one in 250 hotel rooms in India are accessible for the disabled. Globally, internationally, the ratio is 1:50.”</span></span></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>Accessibility is a major issue for the disabled, not just in the physical world, but in the digital space as well. Despite existing technology and standards, the problem of non-adherence to standards of accessibility and universal design in electronic devices and websites is a perpetual one. According to Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru,</span></span></p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; "><span><span>“Standards exist for websites (WCAG 2.0), electronic documents and publications (EPUB 3.0) and other forms of technology, multi-media, and content which will make it easy for the developer to create accessibility products. Unfortunately, these are not being adhered to. We are overflowing with technologies which can potentially be of immense use to persons with disabilities. The market, however, fails to realise that there is a huge business case in tapping the market of persons with disabilities.”</span></span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/your-story-sourav-roy-august-31-2016-india-has-a-long-road-ahead-in-becoming-a-disabled-friendly-country'>http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/news/your-story-sourav-roy-august-31-2016-india-has-a-long-road-ahead-in-becoming-a-disabled-friendly-country</a>
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No publisherpraskrishnaAccessibility2016-08-31T16:47:02ZNews Item