Government launches website for the blind<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A website for the blind was launched on Monday
\nin a bid to create an opportunity for the blind to explore and
\nshare knowledge with fellow blind people.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Research and Technology Muh. A.S. Hikam,
\nsaid the website, jointly developed by non-government group
\nYayasan Mitra Netra and the state Agency for the Research and
\nApplication Technology (BPPT), showed remarkable progress in the
\ncountry's technological advancement.<\/p>\n
\"Today, this is a momentous event where we can see that our
\ntechnology experts have faced stiffer challenges to sharpen their
\nsensitivity and develop their skills to contribute their
\nexpertise for the people, including those with visual
\ndisabilities, \" Hikam, who chairs BPPT, said.<\/p>\n
The website, www.mitranet.or.id, is complete with speech
\nsynthesizer software that enables the blind to operate a computer
\nand to browse the Internet, as the software, named George,
\nconverts all computer commands and website visual displays into
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
George speaks in English and uses English pronunciation when
\nit reads Indonesian texts.<\/p>\n
Contents of the website are, among others things, an online
\nbraille library, mailing lists, news and links of organizations
\nworking with the blind.<\/p>\n
Spokeswoman of Mitra Netra Aria Indrawati said the launched
\nwebsite was part of the foundation's campaign to raise awareness
\nof the general public about the blind, as their current image is
\none of being in a hopeless situation. This site will show how the
\nblind study and develop their skills in our organizations.\"<\/p>\n
For the blind, the website also provides software that enables
\nthe browser to download the contents and convert the text into
\nbraille.<\/p>\n
Nationwide there are only 100 sets of the Braille Converter
\nMachine, dotmatrix-base printers that automatically print latin
\ntexts into braille. The printers are mostly owned by state-run
\nspecial schools for the handicapped (SLB).<\/p>\n
Aria agreed that while there are still few blind people who
\ncould get access to use the Internet, she added, \"This is just
\nthe beginning, we hope that the cooperation with BPPT will help
\nus develop cheap and accessible technology for the blind.\"<\/p>\n
On Monday BPPT and Mitra Netra also signed an agreement to
\ndevelop an Indonesian-based speech synthesizer and closed circuit
\ntelevision (CCTV), a hardware facility that would enable people
\nwith impaired vision to enlarge the size of letters in texts.
\n(emf)<\/p>",
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