特定非営利活動法人 支援技術開発機構
ユニバーサルデザインと支援技術で実現する知識と情報の共有
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特定非営利活動法人 支援技術開発機構
ユニバーサルデザインと支援技術で実現する知識と情報の共有
Yasmine Youssef
IFLA Libraries for Persons with Print Disabilities Section held its midterm meeting in New Delhi. The meeting was hosted by the India Ghandi National Center for the Arts in collaboration with Saksham.
The working group drafting the Guidelines for Inclusive Library Services for Persons with Print Disabilities held its meeting in IGNCA. The group worked on reviewing the scope of the guidelines as well as some of the chapters. The working group will continue their work in the forthcoming monthly meetings.
The LPD section held the midterm meeting for two days. This was the first hybrid meeting that the section organizes. During the meetings, the Standing Committee discussed the scope and name of the section, reviewed the annual report, followed up on the progress of the ongoing activities of the section.
The IGNCA gave a tour of their premises to the LPD group. We visited the reference library of the center. the library has a big collection of rare books and microfilms to serve their patrons, who are mostly researchers.
We have also seen the large art collection that the center owns, as well as rare photographs from renowned photographers. The tour concluded with a visit to the conservation division, where they do major restoration work to old manuscripts, paintings, and objects.
On the following day, the LPD group visited a few institutions that serve persons with disabilities. We started off with the Saksham School for Children with Visual Impairment/Multi-Sensory Impairment & Deaf Blindness. The school provides a range of activities aimed at supporting the development of students' sensory, communication, and daily living skills. These activities are designed to enable students to become more independent and to prepare them for integration into mainstream schools and society. Additionally, the school has a library that includes all the assistive technology tools required to read accessible books, scan and OCR printed materials.
The second stop was at the National Center for Assistive Health Technologies. The center aims at researching and developing assistive technology solutions for persons with disabilities, assessment of AT products, accessible courses, guidance and support and outreach to raise awareness. We have seen some of their innovations, such as the smart cane, On-Board(public Bus Identification and Boarding System), refreshable braille display (Dotbook), and tactile graphics for STEM material.
The Community Library Project - TCLP, which offers all services for free and is working towards becoming an accessible and inclusive library, was the final stop. It was observed that they do not provide separate services to PWD, but all accessibility support is included in the general services provided to all. The library is currently working on universally accessible library program, where they try to offer an inclusive welcoming space for everyone to read. They offer AT tools to support reading, they include Braille books on their shelves and their space is wheelchair friendly.
The seminar held in collaboration with IGNCA and Saksham focused on improving the access to information for persons with print disabilities. The sessions included best practices from different countries on collaborations between LPD libraries and public libraries and best practices on inclusive library services. The seminar also highlighted some of the local efforts in India to make reading accessible for persons with print disabilities.
Overall, the trip to India provided a platform for discussions and exchange of ideas that focused on the development of inclusive and accessible libraries for all.