LOUD & CLEAR: Text to voice apps a boon for visually-challenged kids

  • | Sunday | 11th November, 2018

The visually impaired Class X student of Selvapuram Government Higher Secondary School had to keep textbooks very close to his eyes whenever he wants to read. D Sabika, a special educator from Anaimalai, said students could install the apps in their mobile phones, if they have login details, and use it. Coimbatore: For 16-year-old S Karthikeyan, reading his textbooks was always a tough task. “The apps, in which we were trained in for the past three weeks, allow us to choose a particular page of a particular textbook we want to read. Special educators said they were looking for help to get mobiles for visually challenged children, who can’t afford one.M Ragothaman, a resource person from Chennai who trained the students and special educators on using the apps, said the Class X, XI and XII textbooks of Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation were being converted to the Daisy format and uploaded on an online portal, so that students could access them through the apps.

Coimbatore: For 16-year-old S Karthikeyan, reading his textbooks was always a tough task. The visually impaired Class X student of Selvapuram Government Higher Secondary School had to keep textbooks very close to his eyes whenever he wants to read. But things won’t ever be the same for the likes of him now, as they could listen to textbooks through a smart phone.The ministry of human resource development, through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, has provided smart phones with text-to-speech applications that aids learning for the visually impaired.The applications, such as E-speak and Go-read that are designed on digital accessible information system (Daisy) standards, are installed on mobile phones given to government schools with visually-challenged students. Nine such devices were made available to schools in the district last year, with the help of Cognizant Foundation.Meanwhile, seven visually-challenged Class X students and 21 special educators of government schools across the district were trained in using the devices in a three-week programme, which ended at the Girls Higher Secondary School on Raja Street in the city on Saturday.Students, who attended the programme, said the digital magnifiers or audio recordings that they had been relying on so far for learning were both uncomfortable and time consuming. “The apps, in which we were trained in for the past three weeks, allow us to choose a particular page of a particular textbook we want to read. Also, we have options to increase the speed in which the text is read,” said S Roopesh Kumar, 16, a Class X student of Sennanur Government Higher Secondary School, who suffers from albinism, which makes it impossible to read in low light.Special educators, who had been using the apps for more than a year to teach the visually impaired children, said students had grown familiar to the apps and find it easier listening to their lessons. D Sabika, a special educator from Anaimalai, said students could install the apps in their mobile phones, if they have login details, and use it. Special educators said they were looking for help to get mobiles for visually challenged children, who can’t afford one.M Ragothaman, a resource person from Chennai who trained the students and special educators on using the apps, said the Class X, XI and XII textbooks of Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation were being converted to the Daisy format and uploaded on an online portal, so that students could access them through the apps.

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