Kerala State Information Technology Mission : INSIGHT

Kerala State IT Mission wants IT to be made available and accessible to all,

including the differently abled. However, most technologies don't recognize

vernacular languages. Also, the blind people need a software that can convert

text to the local language, Malayalam in this case. They chose SPACE and INSIGHT

as implementation partners to develop a software that converts text to voice in

Malayalam. Keeping in mind the Insight's policies of using free software, the OS

used was Ubuntu.A free, open source, flexible & extensible assistive technology

was used known as 'Orca' that facilitates comprehension of textual matter by

converting text to voice. It uses a screen reader technology that helps in

converting text matter into voice. Previously, the limitation was that it could

not recognize their native language Malayalam. So, the visually challenged

persons who cannot understand English can face difficulty in getting information

from various sources. Differently abled people between 13-55 are provided with

free training and dissemination of content through the audio magazine 'Swaram'.

Initially many trainees enrolled themselves to gain stipend as a means of

part-time job, but now the scenario has changed. To explore the capabilities of

the system more, INSIGHT recruits visually challenged persons as training

faculty who speak about the sensitivity and the approach of this system.