Ajitha G.S. tries to uncover what India means to different generations of visually impaired citizens
It's my country. It's where I belong. It is home. It's where I was born and it's where I want to die. It's where I feel safe. It's where everyone's like me. It's where I can get through life without worrying about being a 'second-class citizen'.
Kiran Kaja looks at cellphone technology which will make them accessible to persons with visual impairments.
In the early 1990s, when mobile phones were still new, blind and visually impaired users had very little problems accessing them. The phones were large, the keys were big and making and receiving calls was easier. More importantly, mobile phones were only used for their intended purpose – conducting voice conversations.
Johan Bostrom; IDG News Service; May 23, 2005
Some cafes and retail stores in Seattle have begun individually marketing products and services to passersby using radio frequency identification (R.F.I.D.) technology. The first target group is visually and hearing-impaired individuals who can benefit from positioning and navigation applications added to the system.
http://www.ferret.com.au/articles/54/0c030054.asp; May 20, 2005
UK-based E.A.O., represented by Eaton Electrical Systems in Australia, has designed a new keypad for disabled users featuring bright blue key illumination generated from high quality L..E.D.s. This is now available in E.A.O.'s S.series keypad range.
http://www.strategiy.com/inews.asp?id=20050512104729; May 12, 2005
Vicki Smith; The Associated Press; May 29, 2005
Jay Leventhal, who is blind, still fumbles with the tiny controls on his iPod but has given up on the kiosk in his New York office building that lists all the tenants. For him, even laundry has become a task requiring the help of a sighted person. The washers he uses now take smart cards instead of quarters, issuing instructions on a digital screen that he can't read.
www.vipconduit.com; June 30, 2005
VIP Conduit Inc. has created a new audio chat site for blind and visually impaired users, as well their friends and family.
Paul John, Times News Network, Vadodra; June 1, 2005
In a soon-to-be-produced Gujarati film, the first of its kind in Gollywood, visually impaired experts will produce, act and sing in what is their very "own film".
Prashant K. Nanda; (http://www.musicindiaonline.com/n/i/hindustani/48/ (Indo-Asian News Service); June 18, 2005
She was born in the United Arab Emirates, brought up in Pakistan and has been living with a family of Hindu singers in India for over three years – for the love of Dhrupad classical music.
ANI; Indore; May 30, 2005
http://mahaanbharat.tripod.com/share3.html (originally published in Outlook India)
Kishor Bhattacharyya is at the forefront of an effort to secure a rightful place for visually challenged people in the Northeast.
Subhra Priyadarshini; PTI; May 19, 2005
As a tribute to legends who overcame their visual impairment to make a mark in history, a Kolkata-based doctor has put together a unique collection of stamps of famous blind people, adding a new stream, ‘ophthaphilately’, to the age old hobby, according to a PTI report.
From stamps of John Milton to Galileo and J. Pulitzer to Helen Keller, Stevie Wonder, Marconi and Theodore Roosevelt, Samar K. Basak's collection is a who's who of famous blind and visually impaired personalities.
Natasha Chopra; Times News Network; May 2, 2005
Madhya Pradesh has become probably the first state in the country to incorporate a chapter on disability in school textbooks in all government schools. Isn’t that an example that the rest of the country should follow?
"Absolutely," says Akhil Paul, Director, SENSE International. Paul feels incorporating awareness and learning about disability at an early age is essential, "as anything in the inclusive mode has to happen early to leave an impression".
Shardul Nautiyal; http://www.expresspharmapulse.com/20050428/healthnews02.shtml; April 2005
Sangita Sultania G. Roy; http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050416/asp/calcutta/story_4616862.asp
Transtek, a leading healthcare B.P.O. organisation in the Eastern region, is starting a medical transcription training programme for students of the Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys’ Academy, Narendrapur, according to news reports.
PTI; New Delhi; May 1, 2005
For millions of parents of disabled children looking for advice on bringing them up and integrate them into society, help is at hand from the country’s largest Open University.
The Blind Relief Association, Delhi; June 25, 2005
The first-ever national-level Football Tournament in the country came to a close on June 25. It was inaugurated on June 22 and saw the participation of six teams -- two each from West Bengal and Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
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