Bhubaneswar: We4You , is a voluntary organisation which has been working in Odisha, Delhi, Bangalore and West Bengal for eight years providing audio textbooks to visually challenged students.
We4You held a press meet here Friday to inform about the availability of audio textbooks for blind students which they can access on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC86_DJUnQnga6QbrG8KtYg).
The organisation is also sending the audio files on DVDs to all schools, colleges and organisations working for the blind and to student representatives in all areas by post.
Students can take the files in USB devices or Bluetooth also and can listen using their mobile phones or MP3 players.
We are also developing an android app and a website from where students can directly download audio files. We will release this by the end of this year, said Abhaya Mohanta.
Abhaya said the government is not able to supply enough braille books for them. So they are not getting good education. Most problems can be solved if they get good education and they can be informed through audio materials. That’s why we are trying to solve their problems through audio books, Abhaya added.
Audio books are the only way to study for visually impaired students apart from Braille textbooks. There are 30 million blind students all over India but only 19 Braille Presses across India.
In Odisha, there are around two lakh blind people and almost 30,000 are students (class 1 to PhD). Braille books are not available for college students at all. Only school students can access Braille books from their library. That means thousands can’t study due to shortage of books.
We are converting all textbooks into audio format so that school and college students can listen to it and study. We are covering entire Odisha and some other states. Around 500 books have converted into audio books so far, Abhaya said.
Audio books can’t replace Braille books, but something is better than nothing. These audio books can make lives by providing access to education.
We have an audio recording set up in Bhubaneswar which is being used to produce audio books. We also give small microphones to volunteers who can’t come to the centre regularly and record in their homes, Abhaya said.
We are also starting a monthly magazine for the differently abled. This magazine will be available in both audio and Braille formats (print will also be there). We will release this on December 3, she added.
Our aim is to finish recording books for all states and reach out to each and every blind student by 2025. We are adding people from all Indian languages in our team so that they can record books in their languages. We are inviting more and more volunteers to join this cause. We are also inviting blind schools/Colleges and associations to get audio books from us, Abhaya said.