L- R: Irene Mbari-Kirika, Antony Wambuaa and Joe Kiarie demonstrate an assistive device for the visually impaired/CFM – Muthoni Waweru
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 29 – Some people are born with no vision, whereas some lose their vision later in life as is the story of Joe Kiarie.
“The day started off well, driving from home to work. Along the way I realized I was losing my vision. I safely managed to get myself to work where my colleague assisted. And there began my life with visual impairment.”
“The doctor diagnosed my condition as retinal detachment, an emergency in which a thin layer of tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from the layer of blood vessels that provides it with oxygen and nutrients. Retinal detachment is often accompanied by flashes and floaters in your vision.”
Thanks to assistive technology, Kiarie has been able to lead a normal life; a situation he would like to resonate with all persons with visual impairment and blind.
“If someone had told me 10 years ago that one day my cell phone would read print documents and describe things to me, I would have laughed and thought this person had watched too many sci-fi movies! This is all to say that today’s technology not only makes life easier for everyone, but in the case of those of us with vision loss it allows us to do even the simplest of things others might not have to think about.”
James Brown, a Special Education Needs student at the Kenyatta University and a person living with Albinism understands too well the benefits of assistive technology in his daily activities noting that vision being an extremely vital sensory modality in humans, the loss of it affects the performance of almost all activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living.
“I was a student at the Thika Primary school for the blind, which is the oldest school for the blind and visually impaired in Africa. The ultimate success was the scaling up of the computer program. From experience, learning basic computer skills for the blind students was a new lease of life, which I was lucky to be enrolled in,” narrated Brown.
“Technology that facilitates accessibility, safety, and an improved quality of life has a very relevant social impact,” to inABLE Founder and Executive director Irene Kirika.
“Moreover, with our ever-increasing ageing and blind populations, it has the potential to broadly impact our quality of life, in the future.”
Kirika has negotiated and developed the organizations accessibility of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy and has led and facilitated discussions on best practices in the accessibility space.
“It is important to understand that the blind and visually impaired are a neglected group in Africa, especially children. Educational opportunities are many times scarce, and where they exist, are chronically underdeveloped and underfunded,” explained Kirika.
In Kenya only 6 of the 16 schools for the blind in Kenya have computer labs which mean that the majority can only use Braille.
How then can these students be able to access the same economic empowerment opportunities as able bodied persons if they do not have the same marketable skills?
“So far inABLE has established eight computer assistive technology labs across different counties in Kenya, enrolled more than 7,700 students (blind and low vision) and teachers. We have provided more than 35,000 hours of assistive technology computer skills instruction, and offered HTML and JavaScript Coding training,” Kirika noted.
“Thanks to these activities assistive-technology computer labs, eligible students are now able to access online educational resources and research homework assignments, communicate worldwide, use social media, develop employable skills like coding (HTML), application testing and web design.”
James Brown, a Special Education Needs student at the Kenyatta University and a person living with Albinism understands too well the benefits of assistive technology in his daily activities noting that vision being an extremely vital sensory modality in humans, the loss of it affects the performance of almost all activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living/CFM – Muthoni Waweru
Brown reiterated her statement noting that such skills provide a solid foundation, and a more level playing field, to prepare blind and visually impaired students for post-graduation employment and educational centers. Hence the need to have the remaining ten schools with computer labs.
On access to services, Kirika commended various organizations for coming up with tailor-made products that accommodate the blind and visually impaired.
“This includes ATMs, access to a buildings by putting up ramps, speech input software, screen magnifier, screen reader, text reader among others,” she highlighted.
“Organizations like Safaricom have set up commitments on hiring more disabled persons but before that happens then the skills need to be in place and that is what inABLE is doing.”
“Full technological accessibility is the surest way of addressing the technological divide that has existed between persons with disabilities and those without,” Fredrick Hinga, acting director, Special Needs Education, Ministry of Education noted.
Kirika meanwhile cited that registration has opened for Africa’s first digital accessibility event on March 29-31, which will explore new ways to improve accessibility and inclusion for all people, particularly persons with disabilities and older people.
“It is time for Africa to prioritize tech inclusion by adopting digital accessibility global best practice,” emphasized Kirika.
“We are expecting 300 professionals from government, ICT, HR, Fintech and businesses working to advance computer technology, accessibility and inclusion.”
Public Policy Manager on the on the Connectivity and Access Policy, Facebook, Krista Witanowski had this to say; “We have a dedicated team at Facebook , the accessibility team, that thinks about how vision loss, hearing loss and motor disabilities influence the way people interact with technology.”
“At Facebook, disability inclusion and hiring persons with disabilities are top priorities. When we connect everyone, we can benefit everyone. And with access, everyone wins!”
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