Digital Skilling
Introduction to Touch-Screen Smartphones
Touch screens provide a powerful interface for the sighted to navigate complex applications with ease. Hence the proliferation of touch screens across devices in many form factors and functions, from the personal to the public (Maps in Malls for example). However, touch screens pose a huge barrier to people without vision compared to the older keyboard interfaces which provided excellent tactile cues for easy of learning and for ease of use. nevertheless, due to the massive market forces in operation, touch screens are here to stay and become even more pervasive. Hence it is essential for children who are blind or vision-impaired learn to use touch screen devices, especially smartphones, so that they are not locked out of the digital world.
We are building three Apps to provide a gentle but fun filled introduction to touch screen phones.
Mobile App 1: Yak Bak»
Mobile App 2: Story Reader»
Mobile App 3: Taal Maala»
Introduction to Desktops Through Gaming
Children who are blind need to be introduced to desktop computers as well. A desktop with a standard keyboard is the preferred option for many blind adults in India: since they can access the digital world through a screen reader. For increased productivity, they master many expert keyboard short cuts on screen reader software like JAWS or NVIDA. Thus many adults who are blind and experienced computer users are uncomfortable even on laptops, and prefer desktops, since laptops have varying keyboard configurations. Therefore, we believe it is essential for vision-impaired children to learn and understand computers.
We intend to introduce desktop computers to children through a variety of games that indicates to them the diverse possibilities that a computer can open up. We introduce children through a set of games that are simple to learn and play.
Desktop App 1: C is for Cat»
Desktop App 2: Balloon Popper»
For further details, read the papers.
1) Teacher’s perception around Digital Games for Children in Low-resources Schools for the Blind.