Hindi screen reader breakthrough for blind
Published: Jun 20, 2007Prologix Software Solutions presented Vaachak Indian Text-to-Speech (TTS) software to assist 480 million Hindi speakers worldwide. In addition, Vaachak now allows visually impaired people to access electronic Hindi content through the SAFA Screen Reader.
The Prologix Software Solutions Indian screen reader is available for under $70 USD, which is a lot less expensive than the English-speaking screen readers, according to Vinamra Agarwal, business director of the software company. With over 100,000 Hindi speakers in the US, Prologix solution can help many blind and visually impaired.
Dinesh Kaushal, one of the programmers of the Vaackak screen reader, lost his eyesight at the age of eight and is a key component in the development of Prologixs’ screen reader. The National Association for the Blind (NAB) in Delhi and Dinesh Kaushal of Prologix Software Soluntions combined efforts to create the first Hindi TTS and screen reader.
The Times of India writes: “The screen reader picks up text (including off the Internet) on any computer screen being accessed by a visually challenged person and then reads it out. What is revolutionary is that for the first time electronic text in Hindi can be easily and effortlessly accessed by the visually challenged.”
The first planned application of the system is with the visually challenged government staffers of India.
Source: The Times of India
