Talking Books Project in Jamaica
Published: Jun 20, 2007Jamaican libraries and agencies catering to the visually impaired are working together on a project that will, in the next three years, give blind and visually impaired persons digital access to print material from libraries in Jamaica and possibly other parts of the region.
They are developing a ‘Caribbean Digital Collection For the Blind and Print-Disabled’ or ‘Talking Books.’ These are print materials that are converted to speech then stored on compact disks, based on an international standard called the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY).
Phase one of the Talking Books project ends on June 30, a pilot to produce 25 titles being done at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) Radio Education Unit and the National Library of Jamaica, and funded through a $3 million grant from UNESCOÂ and the Canadian Local Initiative Fund.
“It’s really very limited the material that is available. We want to change that. We want to have everything, all types of material available via the Talking Book medium,” says project manager Halcee Anderson-Pessoa.
“In places like Canada, the UK, Australia it is legislated that all information should be provided in accessible format to persons who are blind, visually impaired and other persons who are print disabled like dyslexics.” He wants to see the same here. Specifically he wants the matter addressed at the legislative level and he is planning to approach the relevant ministries that can advocate for the change.
Read the entire article on the Jamaica Observer.
Source: Jamaica Observer
