New Technologies & People With Vision Loss

Auda HazeemFounder & CEO, Nattiq Technologies, Sharjah - UAE

Assistive TechnologySoftware, hardware and tools designed to

enable blind people to have full access to computers and information systems.

How Is It to Be Blind?

Gulf Countries

Technology Divide:

In The West for Decades

East

Lagged behind:

- Language Independent Tools

- Technology as is (No localization)

- Absence of Development & Innovation

Turning Point Year

2002Localized Arabic Screen Reader Technology’s Significant Impact :

- Lower Prices- Advanced Features- Support & Services- Product Evolving

A New Generation of UsersFinally …. Localized: Powerful Screen Readers

Braille Notetakers

Portable DAISY & Doc Players

Accessible Phones

Tactile Graphic and Tablet Devices

Various Talking Devices

Substantial Progress, but the Divide continues

Printed documents

Still Inaccessible

Standard PCs

Equal Access to access to information everywhere

Smart Phones

With the Declining Symbian based phones, blind Arab users continue to hope for localized iPhone and Blackberry smart phones

Urgent Requirements

Development of a reliable Optical Character Recognition, OCR. 98%

Script and map files which enable screen readers to access non-standard software applications

Access to computers anywhere

The creation of DAISY book initiative

TransformationLocalized Solutions

Combined Collaborations

Effective Processes

Training

Couching

Motivation

Mentoring

Practicing

Follow up

Noah Alhadidi

The Transformation of Noah Alhadidi

The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility

Conclusion

Not only protecting achievements is necessary, but also finding the means to continue moving forward. It may take more than a village