EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS FOR BLIND IN MALAYSIA
By CS Khan
Recently the Malaysian Association for the Blind launched a 'Web Accessibility 'campaign. It was held at its headquarters in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. YB Tn Hj Fadillah Bin Yusof, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations (MOSTI) launched the Campaign for Web Accessibility for the Blind as well as witness the MoU signing between Binary University College & MAB for special projects on access for the Blind and cheque presentations from DENSO and Sony in promotion of ICT for the Blind.
MAB is collaborating with Binary University College to develop electronic walking stick, talking RFID and speech enabled GPS devices to make navigation easier for the blind. Existing products from OVERSEAS are very costly. Binary have developed a Basic concept and identified the components to be used.
With the assistance of these devices, the blind will be able to move even more independently than before. This is not to replace but to provide an alternative to what is available.
According to En. Silatul Rahim Bin Dahman, the IT Manager of Malaysian Association for the Blind [MAB], "We are waiting for grants, but even without grants, the project will still go ahead as Binary is committed [to complete the project]. In eight months' time we will be able to see the first prototype."
En. Rahim is a man with a dream, a big dream. Other than involving MAB in the development of devices for the blind, there is also software development. MAB hope to make all government websites accessible to the blind, not only in Malaysia but also in the whole ASEAN Region. He is working with like-minded people to make a dream into reality. Read about my interview with him in the July issue of Jumblebox/
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