Thailand Involves Blind People in Production of Digital Books
By Monthian Buntan, Vice Director, Ratchasuda College, Mahidol University, Thailand
Background Information
It is becoming more widely believed than before that Digital Audio-based Information System (DAISY) is ultimately the next generation of the worldwide standard of digital talking book. Its potential to bridge the information gap between the blind/print disabled and people at large is being increasingly publicized. However, what has not been addressed or otherwise has received little attention is to what extent blind people, as consumers of such technology, are able to access either freely/commercially available DAISY production/playback software programs, such as SigtunaDAR, LpStudio/Pro, etc.
Ratchasuda College was founded in 1993, under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn, as part of Mahidol University system to serve as an academic institution, which provides higher education, academic support and rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities. Among its key areas of great concern, Ratchasuda College, for many years, has given considerable amount of time and resource to pursue the goal of making technology especially information and communication technology (ICT) accessible to persons with disabilities. Therefore, in the year 2000 Ratchasuda College decided to join DAISY Consortium, an international organization to promote development and distribution of the new innovative multimedia/talking book technology called Digital Audio-based Information System (DAISY).
Within Thailand, Ratchasuda College has been serving as the coordinator of the Thailand National Committee on DAISY Production and Services (TNCD), conducting staff training and technical support services concerning DAISY-related software and hardware to TNCD member organizations. With kind support from the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD), Ratchasuda College has been able to develop a very unique approach to DAISY-the majority of trainees for DAISY book production in Thailand and all support staffs at Ratchasuda College are individuals who are blind or with low vision.
In July 2001, while Thailand was preparing to host the first General Assembly of the World Blind Union-Asia Pacific (WBU-AP), TNCD, upon request by leaders of WBU-AP, agreed to jointly organize a DAISY workshop for both blind and sighted trainees from the Asia Pacific region in Bangkok from September 25-27, 2001. It was also decided that this workshop would be held in addition to exhibition, demonstration, seminar presentation and hands on DAISY technology for participants of the general assembly.
Objectives of the workshop are:
-
To train 5-10 blind/sighted individuals from Thailand and up to 10 individuals from the WBU-AP region how to operate the SigtunaDAR3.0 and My Studio PC for the production of DAISY Talking Book
-
To conduct a presentation of DAISY Technology and software demonstration during the WBU-AP General Assembly
-
To set up a DAISY Technology booth in the exhibition area during the WBU-AP General Assembly
Project Activities:
SigtunaDAR3 and My Studio PC training on September 25-27, 2001 at the National electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC)
The training was divided in to two sessions. One session was "My Studio PC" for those who would like to work on DAISY production using a simple, accessible but quite workable program. There were seven individuals in this session: one from China, one from the Philippines, one from Indonesia, one from Singapore, one from Venezuela, one from Japan and one from Thailand. Given the fact that My Studio PC is rather easy to handle, these seven individuals were able to complete the training within a day or less depending on his/her background in computer.
The other session was SigtunaDAR version 3.0 for those who would like to work with a more sophisticated program, which requires more computer skills. There were ten individuals in this session: six from Thailand, one from India, one from Cambodia one from Fiji and one from Australia. With lots of features/functions SigtunaDAR possesses and yet some accessibility matter, which had to be handled properly, this session took three days to achieve basic level. However, with more accessibility being added to later version of Sigtuna, with better and ongoing improvement on script writing to make it more friendly to screen reader, such as JAWS, this freely-available software, generously developed and distributed by JSRPD, could be a good tool for DAISY production which either blind or sighted technicians could comfortably handle.
Note: all, but three trainees in both sessions were blind or with low vision. Also four trainees from Thailand (two totally blind and two low vision persons), who have some experience with Sigtuna, were able to help as teaching assistants while JAWS script writing was done continuously by a trainee with low vision throughout the training as more access problems arose.
Other activities, which took place at Pathumwan Princess Hotel where WBU-AP General Assembly was held, include:
-
DAISY presentation on September 24, 2001
-
DAISY Technology Boot on September 21-24, 2001
-
Hands on My Studio PC for WBU-AP and WBU leaders (offered at the DAISY boot through the General Assembly)
Achievement and Expected Outcome:
-
Seventeen trainees from Thailand and within the WBU-AP region have had some level of knowledge and skills to produce DAISY talking book and/or start a project concerning DAISY production and services in his/her own country.
-
Participants of the WBU-AP General Assembly will have some level of understanding about DAISY technology and its potentials.
-
More countries within the WBU-AP region, which were exposed to the DAISY technology through this historic event, will potentially help expand the mission of the DAISY Consortium.
Most of all, the success of this workshop has proven the fact that blind and disabled people could and should be encouraged to participate actively in the development, production and promotion of this technology.
Conclusion
As DAISY is becoming more recognized as a viable tool to information access for persons with disabilities, more needs to be done to guarantee that people, who are being effected by the technology itself, will not be pushed aside as just the users/receivers of this kindly-given gift from outside. It is within my strong belief that the greatest strength to make positive changes for our human society must come from within. And this "within" means within all of us.
Note: This workshop was generously supported by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, DAISY Consortium and IT Project Initiative under the Patronage of HRH Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn. Also many thanks go to four dedicated hardworking trainers, demonstrators and exhibitors:
Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, JSRPD
Ms. Miki Azuma, JSRPD
Ms. Rika Nakamura, JSRPD
Mr. Markus Gylling, DAISY Consortium
|
