Title: Information Communication Technology, a Door Opening to the Visually Impaired In

TITLE: INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY, A DOOR OPENING TO THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED IN BANGLADESH

Hossaain,Mahjabeen Khaled

Institute of Hazrat Mohammad SAW

Road 27,House 18,Block-kBanani

Dhaka 1213,Bangladesh

Email:

1.INTRODUCTION

People with disabilities represent approximately one sixth of the working age population globally yet people with disability, continue to be significantly under-employed compared to their non-disabled peers. This means that, to date, people with disabilities worlwde realize significantly less opportunity for the decent work that provides the resultant income needed to live a healthy and economically productive life.

The rapid growth of information and communication technologies, called the Information Technology (IT) Revolution, and the new industries rapidly being created by these changes, offer new opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. New jobs are being created continually by these growing industries that offer potential benefit to existing disadvantaged and disabled groupsin many developing countries.

In addition, new information and communication technologies not only influence businesses but also other aspects of society like communication and commerce. To be able to fully participate in society as a whole, people with disabilitiesmust be equipped with the skills and abilities to increasingly access these new and emerging technologies, thereby enabling them to be not only economically productive, but also fully participating members of their own countries and in turn the global society, in ways that new technologies are now requiring.

This study focuses on the relationship between the ICT-related training offered to visuallyimpaired people and their actual, self-reported and demonstrated, competencies for online activities and information processing.The study also gives insight in the validity of instrumentsto measure ICT-linked skills for the target group.

Information services and information technology products have become fundamental to the overall growth and development of the economies in Bangladesh’s economy. Virtually every sector—manufacturing, transportation, energy and utilities, retail and wholesale trade, finance, and government— uses information technology and information service in its operations. Information services represent one of the fastest growing sections.

Technology can overcome barriers of distance, technology can foster communication, and technology can modify the environment to eliminate or mitigate the effects of disability.Innovation in science and technology can help to enable people with disabilities to live independent lives and reduce dependence on services and special assistance. Changes in IT have the potential to ease integration of people with disabilities into the labour market and society in general. Still, these same technical developments, by opening labour markets to global competition, might also endanger integration and lead to a new division of society. The direction of change is less a matter of technology and more a matter of sensitive policy decisions.

ICT can empower visually impaired to promote change and foster the development of ‘21st century skills’. With the improvement of technology the whole world is now connected with ICT which has brought a significant change in the way the world operates and communicates.If the visually impaired persons in Bangladesh were educated and empowered using ICT tools such as computers, the Internet and mobile phones, poverty could be alleviated and development would be possible in social, economic and other levels of human life

Bangladesh is faced with the significant challenge of creating a 'Knowledge based Society' and ensuring that its citizens are equipped with required knowledge and skills to effectively use ICT. As a result the present Government’s declaration of a vision to build ‘Digital Bangladesh’ by 2021 was received with warm appreciation by different sections of society.With the declaration of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ campaign under a development vision for 2021, the government has incorporated ICT in the national development agenda. But it is unfortunate that the policy has vague or no mention of ICT for disabled persons. There is no clear cut program and no committee has been specially assigned for the task of bringing ICT to persons with disabilities for the absolute annual growth of disabled population in Bangladesh which is approximately 250, 000.

Key words: information technology, visually impaired,Bangladesh

2.TECHNOLOGY

Visually impaired and partially sighted people use special software and equipment in virtually every employment and educational settings. Access technology is a primary information and communication tool, and makes a crucial difference in opening up education and employment opportunities for the visually impaired. The production of and access to written information is often the primary activity. The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) coupled with a working knowledge of their appropriate access technology (software) plays a fundamental role in that person's ability to work and learn.

In most cases, access technology involves a computer that has been adapted using special screen reading or magnification software. It also includes hardware devices that have been explicitly designed, adapted or found to be useful for visually impaired or partially sighted people.

General IT literacy and access to information are critical if visually impaired are to have a chance in the information society.The technologies represent tremendous opportunities as an intelligent interface between visually impaired and the sighted, thus facilitating integration, self-sufficiency and active participation. Emerging mainstream technologies such as speech synthesis, voice recognition, mobile computing and electronic books will lower the prices and increase the quality of enabling technologies.However, a number of issues remain outstanding especially in terms of web accessibility and Braille literacy.

Training in the use of access technology is a vital component in a person's ability to work and study. Training is important, not only for the person using the technology, but for support and other staff involved with a visually impaired or partially sighted person's work or learning.

2.1Following are some examples of access technology training:

• A program of short, one-day, course that is open to everyone, and is delivered at one of our national network of training centers.
• Commissioned training courses that can be tailored to the needs of organisations or companies that can be delivered at a training centre.
• One to one training for individuals engaged in employment or education.
• ICT training courses to equip visually impaired users with the necessary knowledge and skills to access information.
• Hotline technical Support Services to help visually impaired users solve the problems arising from the use of ICT.
• Assistive tools consultation services to help visually impaired users make use of adaptive technologies.
• Web accessibility evaluation services for Government, companies and other agencies requesting such services.
• Set up of local societies and specialist colleges for visually impaired and partially sighted people that offer training in ICT and access technology.

2.2In order to get persons with disabilities involved in ICT or widen ICT accessibility for them, the following issues could be taken into consideration:

• We should have a clear understanding of the existing scenario of ICT facilities, services and practices in the country.
• An overall needs assessment to be carried out in order to set up our course of action.
• All possible efforts should be taken to make optimum utilisation of our existing resources, services and facilities and to make our audience familiar with the built-in accessibility features of the operating system (i.e. sticky keys, filter keys, mouse keys, and display contrast).
• Efforts should be taken to design, develop and distribute accessible ICT products likes transcriber, interface, software and assistive technology products as well as introducing accessibility techniques for all categories of disabled people like visually and physically challenged, hearing and speech impaired, intellectually disabled, autistic children and others.

3.BANGLADESH AND ICT
Availability of information has always been a challenge for the common Bangladeshi citizen. When the citizen is a person with disability, especially with either visual ,3.1 hearing & speech related disabilities, the challenge has been greater. The situation is gradually improving. In 2009, soon after the present Government came into office, the National parliament enacted the Right to Information Act 2009, more popularly known as the RTI. Under Section 9 sub-section 10 of the act, it is stated that concerned responsible officer will help getting information by a person with sensory disabilities. This sub-section also states that the concerned officer will provide all necessary assistance to demonstrate the information to the person with disabilities.
It is widely known and understood that access to information & Communication Technology (ICT) could break down many barriers, and pave the way for persons with disabilities to compete with non-disabled. However, the practice of this has been extremely limited in the past. The National ICT Policy (2008) for the first time has addressed persons with disabilities very firmly. Under the Objective of the Policy section 1 ‘Social Equity’states,ensure social equity, gender parity, equal opportunity and equitable participation in nation-building through access to ICT for all, including persons with disabilities and special needs. Under the strategic theme of ‘Social Equality’it is mentioned that, mainstream social advancement opportunities for disadvantaged groups as an immediate priority to minimize economic disparity and bridge the digital divide for persons with disabilities and special needs. The Policy further states the importance of access to education and research for people with disabilities and special needs using ICT tools in its ‘Education and Research’section.
3.1The ICT Policy suggests several actions to be taken for accessibility and availability of ICT for persons with disabilities. These are:

• Provide incentives to create low-cost, affordable Bangla processing tools and software to develop searchable text and voice content from printed material with special attention to persons with disabilities and specials needs.
• Develop National ID card with identification of persons with disabilities and special needs.
• Develop Bangla speech processing tools – Text to Speech (TTS), Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) – for print disabled community.
• Develop Bangla script processing tools – Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Braille reader – for the print disabled.
• Integrate natural language processing tools in applications.

4.INSTITUTE OF HAZRAT MOHAMMAD SAW

The Institute of Hazrat Mohammad (SAW) in its humble way initiated the process ofestablishing the citizen’s right for people with disability by developing a strategic plan of actionand proposing it. One of thebasic projects of the Institute was to start an English language class for the visually impairedyouth to prepare them for employment opportunities. This was expanded into computer skillscapacity enhancement for self realization options as a process continuum.This training program is one of the major initiatives of ICT activities in our country. The main objective of this training program is to empower Visually Impaired Student through ICT as well as encouraging them to fight against the forthcoming challenges in the future.

Keeping this in mind the Institute has computer training lessons for visually impaired students. The main component of this program is to acquaint students to Computer Screen reading software, speech synthesizers, and self-voicing software, web surfing, using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint with JAWS and DAISY. These classes have also made us intelligent about the challenges and obstacles that people with disability face on a daily basis which does not only make them a burden for their respective families but affect their self esteem negatively. On a wider scale it has implication on poverty and under utilization of human resources. These classes have also made us intelligent about the challenges and obstacles that persons with disability face on a daily basis which does not only make them a burden for their respective families but affect their self esteem negatively.

4.1Specific aim of the training programs:

• To award the students certificates upon successful completion of the course on performance based
• To help the students on job searching
• To promote and create opportunities for visually impaired for self reliance and social acceptance, specifically we encourage female students for this purpose.
• To augment the process of distance learning for the visually impaired students for optimizing its reach within the country.
• To expand the scope of training tools and technology for the visually impaired students.
• To create a pool of trainers from mainstream as well as visually impaired groups for distance training.
• To provide visually impaired students a means of networking towards improving their socio –cultural and economic status .to minimize social barriers and promote integration between visually challenged and mainstream people in all settings

Since the beginning of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) programs at the Institute of Hazrat Mohammad SAW for visually impaired more than seventy students have successfully completed the 6 months course till date. These visually impaired students comprised of mostly students from various colleges and universities, and few home makers. After successfully completing the course they are gainfully employed in various fields such as telephone operator, as advertisement agent and as office coordinator and secretaries at different government agencies, in private sectors and at the local NGOs.

Subsequently they are also providing computer training to their own family members, friends and neighbors who are visually impaired. This is propagating and cultivating a great support system within their individual communities, thus empowering them and boosting their morale. Through ICT training the college and university students are getting help for their studies which were not possible for them through the traditional Braille books due to limited availability, especially in the urban areas where transportation for the disabled is difficult.

This training program can be the turning stage of the students if they can practice more and include it in their daily lives. It is expected that more people and organizations will come forward to work for the Visually Impaired persons in our country through which we can go ahead as a developed country.

The cardinal concept of the Holy Quran is based on the principle that the ownership ofeverything belongs not to any person but to the Universal Creator. It translates that every human being has the right to a means of living asCreator has created resources to benefit humanity in general. Persons with disability will only get the requisite social justice and resulting dignity when they are able to exercise their rights as people and as citizens and enjoy equal access to education, employment and empowerment.The word “disability” cannot be found within the Qur’an or Hadiths (religious texts of Islam), but the concept of Muslims having inabilities or special needs and how they interacted in society can be found throughout the history of Islam. Disability is seen as not a curse in Islam. It is the belief of Muslims that everyone was created with different abilities and disabilities.

We see our Prophet Mohammad (Peace be Upon Him), the educator and teacher, was very compassionate toward people with disability. A verse (Surah Abasa Verses 1 to 11) was revealed in the Holy Quran that highlights an incident between our Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace be Upon Him) and a dedicated companion who was visually impaired. In this verse our Creator asked Prophet Mohammad SAW to turn his face towards the visually impaired companion as he may need the teachings of the Quran more than the influential leaders he was talking to.

5.RECOMMENDATION

Efforts should be taken to make best use of the existing policy guidelines and legislative support and tools in this regard. We have our national policy guidelines and legislation on ICT, we have national and international instruments and tools for people with disabilities where issues of the ICT accessibility have been emphasised.

In order to obtain certain level of control on how to make ICT products and services accessible to all people including the PWDs, the government can play a prime role. The private sector has become more and more important in the society especially under the influence of globalisation. This sector comprises ICT developers, manufacturers, distributors and sellers. The great challenge for this sector is how it could be responsive and even empathetic to various needs of users with or without disability beyond their short-term benefits. This powerful sector can take this challenge as an opportunity to extend the capacity of ICT to the maximum level of availability, affordability and accessibility.

The most important and dynamic sector, civil society. This sector comprises of many diverse groups of people with diverse background. It can simultaneously influence the government as well as private/business sectors. Through this sector issues of people with disabilities could be brought into light, having their needs clearly articulated, understood and well recognised by the society at large.