Special computer to meet the special needs of the visually impaired

The Vadodara-based Society for Training and Vocational Rehabilitation of the Disabled has become the first institution in the state and one of the four in the country to have a specially developed computer system for the visually-impaired people.

The project has been initiated by the Information and Technology Department, New Delhi and IT company Webel Mediatronics Ltd has been assigned the job to develop the computer system.

Around 60 institutions for the visually-impaired people across the country will be supplied with the new systems. Purshottam Panchal, the president of the Vadodara institute said, “We had been training the visually-impaired for last many years and our students have won several state and national awards for their extraordinary achievements.”

The new computer systems were handed over to the students by well-known kathakaar Rameshbhai Oza at the Seva Tirth campus located on the outskirts of the city.

“The new computer system will bring a big change in the way visually-impaired use a computer as it includes not only voice mechanism but also a special software which will even have a special keyboard in Braille. Even the printouts will be in Braille,” said Panchal.

Oza, who inaugurated the training centre for the visually-impaired, said: “It is an irony in the society that there are people who are physically fit but into bad habits and on the other hand we have physically-challenged people who are setting examples for all of us by becoming earning members of their families without anybody’s help. In today’s world, where computers have become a must, such initiatives will go a long way.”