For the visually challenged, internet opens up a new world

For several persons with vision challenge, the internet is the gateway to a brave new world.

So, have they forgotten the raised dots, which Louis Braille -- whose 203rd birthday falls today, January 4 -- invented? Not really, but the computer has opened up umpteen opportunities which did not exist before.

Every day, Vijayalakshmi (25) opens her personal computer with a reverence only accorded for ‘Thamburas’ and Harmoniums in her line of work. As the synthesized voice of her screen reader rambles on at the background, she locates the icon she wanted on the desktop and presses the ‘enter’ key hard on it. With a ‘wooop’ sound, the world of Voice Over IP (VOIP), better known amongst the ardent net users as ‘Skype’ opens up.

Skype is worth the hype for several visually challenged persons like Vijayalakshmi, as it has become the lifeline –the way to use their expertise and earn a livelihood. “I have been doing this for more than three years,” says Vijayalakshmi, the Bangalore-based Carnatic musician who uses Skype to teach nearly a dozen students, most of whom are NRIs abroad.

“I can’t imagine living without Skype, or, for that matter, without the internet. Not only it turns out to be a wonderful medium for us to expand our professional and business horizons, but it is also an amazing source of learning. YouTube, for instance, has so many videos (related to music) which I refer to learn. As visually challenged, we may not be accessing the content in any other method or format.”

While students get in touch with her through Skype to receive their voice lessons, they transfer the fee to her account, sparing Vijayalakshmi the arduous trips outside home or standing in the long queues to deposit her earnings.

Similarly, there are several thousands of persons with vision challenge who use the net to teach spoken English, creating web content and do medical transcription, which would have made Louis Braille proud.

Ten years ago, internet was merely a tool for learning and exchanging emails. It had since evolved into a huge social medium that connects the blind with several professional groups and provide them the best opportunity to earn exposing only their advantages. Many of the visually challenged have formed professional and interest based groups in Facebook, while others have also taken advantage of Linkedin.

“In the last few years, web accessibility has become an important feature for any website,” said Akhilesh Malani, who works as an accessibility head for an online start-up offering testing services.

Several tools

“We test for the website’s ability to function with several tools –like the screen reading software the blind use- to ensure they can be used by everyone without feeling disadvantaged in any way. Thanks to the internet, I, as a visually challenged person, am able to pursue the rather difficult testing job and continue to learn.”

It came as a scare for many of them, when the news emerged in August that government is targeting social networking platforms (Facebook, twitter and Skype) to provide access to the user content. “(News of Skype being the target) came as a shock,” admits Maria Durrani, a visually challenged person from Mysore, who does combined shows for a few online radio stations.

“We’re sure the government has several issues with social networking sites,” said Akhilesh. “things like terror threats, objectionable contents etc, were on the papers even a few days ago. We’ve nothing against the government taking action against genuine offenders, but at a time when the options of finding accessible websites (especially those developed for Indians) is pathetically less, banning open and free sites would spell doom for many of us who depend on them for survival and sanity.”

Despite admitting the vital role internet has come to play in their lives, the visually challenged also acknowledge the special place Braille scripts have in their lives. “I know Braille, though I don’t use it much,” said Vijayalakshmi.

“We’re still curious about the history of Braille, the way it was invented (when young Louis became blind and created the first raised dots from a similar set of military scripts used in French army). There’s always the inspiration in it, like how people look at the old typewriters and tele printers.”

“It’s the equivalent of writing long hand,” Maria pointed out. “We may not use it much, but we still find it useful in situations where we can’t use computers or electronic gadgets.”

Like many habits and practices that evolve with generational changes, use of Braille seem to have reduced amongst the younger generation of visually challenged who are used to working with computers and other electronic gadgets.

“Braille has its most prolific users amongst the 30 and 40 somethings,” said Dr Rajdeep Manwani, a professor with Bagwan Mahaveer Jain College in the city. “Braille has certainly been adored by one and all (amongst the visually challenged community) for its simplicity and availability, but when it comes to its application, it must be said that the younger generation prefer electronic gadgets for the dotted scripts. The fact that modern gadgets give them parity with others –as computers are used by the visually challenged the same way as the able-bodied peers save for the screen reader—certainly influence their decision.”