Vodafone Partnership with RNZFB Bridges Digital Divide for Blind Web Users

Thanks to the three-year partnership between Vodafone and the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB), more blind and vision-impaired New Zealanders will soon be surfing the Internet, using email and moving into tertiary education or new jobs.

Due to the partnership, Vodafone has become “lead partner” in delivering Adaptive Technology to RNZFB’s 11,500 members and is supported with $488,555 USD of funding from the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation.

The Adaptive Technology training offered by RNZFB has been mainly through 10-week classroom courses in Auckland and Wellington. Many blind people opted out due to the cost and inconvenience of getting to and from these courses. This partnership provides Adaptive Technology Mobile Units that can take these services to community halls or even the homes of blind people. It will also pilot weekend and evening courses in some centers.

The salaries of three full-time Adaptive Technology staffers, including one who is blind, will be paid by the Vodafone NZ Foundation grant.

This guaranteed funding will ensure the availability of the RNZFB’s Adaptive Technology Training Unit courses to help blind, deaf-blind and vision-impaired people of any age. Students learn to use a wide range of programs on computers equipped with screen-reader software or refreshable Braille. They learn the skills required to use email, conduct research, do online banking, search for jobs and gain the skills and confidence to help them find solid employment (with RNZFB’s help) or even enter a university or technical school.

For the past 18 months, Vodafone and the RNZFB have been working together on a range of projects. Through its graduate program, Vodafone last year raised $22,600 USD to take vision-impaired teenagers on a weekend retreat to the Hunua Ranges. This outdoor experience offered them the opportunity to socialize with other blind and vision-impaired teenagers.

Source: Noticias.info