[A2k] Deccan Herald: Visually impaired seek access to print materials

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Nov32008/district2008110298528.asp

Visually impaired seek access to print materials
By L Subramani, DH News Service, Bangalore:

   Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), an
organisation researching on the impact of internet on society, has
initiated a signature campaign to persuade the Indian government to
support the Treaty for the Improved Access for the Blind, Visually
Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons.

The treaty, drafted earlier this year by the World Blind Union (WBU)
and Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), asks governments of various
countries to change their copyright laws to allow free access to
information of several print disabled persons.

The nation-wide campaign (in India) is being supported by
organisations such as National Association of the Blind, Delhi and
National Federation for the Blind (who is also an affiliate member of
the WBU).

=93Those who are visually challenged and otherwise print disabled are
able to use computers independently with the help of screen readers
and magnifiers (software technology), yet they are excluded from
accessing copyrighted materials since such materials aren=92t available
in accessible formats,=94 said Nirmita Narasimhan, who oversees the
campaign at CIS.

Treaty endorsement
Signatures are sought from individuals and organisations to urge the
Government of India to endorse the treaty, which calls for copyright
laws to be modified so that organisations of the blind and disabled
can convert books available in the market into formats which can be
accessed by persons with different visual and reading disabilities.

=93The Indian Copyright Act (1957) is not taking into account recent
technology advancements that has empowered the print disabled to
access printed materials,=94 said Rahul Cherian, a Chennai-based
copyrights lawyer involved in drafting the treaty.

=93Collecting signatures from people would be an evidence of public
opinion in India regarding the issue and would help us to persuade the
Government to make our country a signatory to the treaty. This would
mean that the government must make amending the national law a
priority.=94

Rahul said Indian publishers are largely willing to endorse changes to
the law, since they view improved accessibility would bring more
readers to the market (it is believed about 30 million persons are
print disabled in the country). He also feels opposition from authors
is unlikely as it doesn=92t seriously threaten their incomes.

Interested can contact: Centre for Internet and Society, No D2, 3rd
floor, Sheriff Chambers, 14, Cunningham Road, B=92lore - 560 052. P: +91
80 4092 6283. M: 098458 68078.

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Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
thiru@keionline.org


Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Mobile: +41 76 508 0997