QUOTE(Staff Report)
ISLAMABAD: The country’s first-ever Internet café for the visually impaired was inaugurated here on Tuesday. The project was funded by the World Bank and the Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness (PFFB).
The WB granted Rs 1.5 million to the facility that promises to help bridge the technological gap between the blind and those blessed with eyesight. The café would also link national and international blind communities.
IT Helpline Project Director Zahid Abdullah said the café involved the use of the JAWS software that provides voice output for every command given to the computer, enabling the blind to know what their fingers are doing. Aqil Sajjad, the first visually impaired Pakistani pursuing his PhD at Harvard introduced the software in Islamabad in 1999. The software was developed in the US 20 years ago.
The café is absolutely free and is equipped with latest computers, scanner, printer and DSL connections for fast Internet browsing. Officials said the facility would remain open from 4pm to 7pm. Zahid said that education and technology were two major levellers in the life of a visually impaired person and hoped that students and professionals would make good use of the café.
Special Education Director General Sarfraz Ahmed asked the PFFB to submit proposals for the government to consider setting up more such facilities. He regretted that his directorate was established 38 years after Pakistan’s creation and the first policy for the disabled was formulated only in 2002.
Capt ® Maqbool Ahmed, director of PFFB’s medical and research project, said 100 members of one family in Pakistan had been diagnosed as suffering from Retinitis Pigemento (RP), a genetically transmitted disease that causes progressive loss of vision. He said the disease is common in Pakistan and has a high prevalence in families opting for cousin marriages. Maqbool said the PFFB was the pioneer of research on this disease. Saima Ammar, director of PFFB’s Audio World Project, spoke about the positive role the project was playing in enhancing education of visually impaired people.
The WB granted Rs 1.5 million to the facility that promises to help bridge the technological gap between the blind and those blessed with eyesight. The café would also link national and international blind communities.
IT Helpline Project Director Zahid Abdullah said the café involved the use of the JAWS software that provides voice output for every command given to the computer, enabling the blind to know what their fingers are doing. Aqil Sajjad, the first visually impaired Pakistani pursuing his PhD at Harvard introduced the software in Islamabad in 1999. The software was developed in the US 20 years ago.
The café is absolutely free and is equipped with latest computers, scanner, printer and DSL connections for fast Internet browsing. Officials said the facility would remain open from 4pm to 7pm. Zahid said that education and technology were two major levellers in the life of a visually impaired person and hoped that students and professionals would make good use of the café.
Special Education Director General Sarfraz Ahmed asked the PFFB to submit proposals for the government to consider setting up more such facilities. He regretted that his directorate was established 38 years after Pakistan’s creation and the first policy for the disabled was formulated only in 2002.
Capt ® Maqbool Ahmed, director of PFFB’s medical and research project, said 100 members of one family in Pakistan had been diagnosed as suffering from Retinitis Pigemento (RP), a genetically transmitted disease that causes progressive loss of vision. He said the disease is common in Pakistan and has a high prevalence in families opting for cousin marriages. Maqbool said the PFFB was the pioneer of research on this disease. Saima Ammar, director of PFFB’s Audio World Project, spoke about the positive role the project was playing in enhancing education of visually impaired people.