New Delhi: With World Disability Day being observed Saturday, software major Micrsoft India introduced disabled-friendly tools for application in software of common use. It also announced special certification programmes for those with impairments.
"It is estimated that there are around 70 million people with disabilities in India. Ensuring that their needs are met with and that they have an equal opportunity is crucial to the process of inclusive growth in the country," Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said.
"Our vision is to create innovative technology that is accessible to everyone and adapts to each person's needs. User-friendly public documents are a small but significant step to remove barriers, physical or otherwise, that keep individuals on the wrong side of the opportunity divide," he said.
These tools will help achieve accessibility and ensure that the documents created are useful within the government departments as well as for public consumption. The documents like five-year plan papers, annual reports, acts, laws, policies, circulars, office orders, census data, citizen charters etc, are accessible by design for those with special needs.
"The 40 templates (tools) created and released by Microsoft India today will enable governments and businesses to have accessibility incorporated at the time of creating a document itself. For example, if a template is used to create a circular, it can easily be converted into a digital talking book or a large print-output document for a visually impaired person," a statement from Microsoft said.
IANS
First Published: Saturday, December 03, 2011, 19:01