A Report on workshop on INCLUSIVE LIBRARY HELD ON 19 AND 20 AUGUST 2022

GIEN (GLOBAL INCLUSIVE EDUCATION NETWORK), Centre for Disability Studies and Action, School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (TISS, Mumbai), DAISY Forum of India (DFI), National Associated for the Blind, Delhi (NAB) and Brotherhood, Delhi have organized a workshop on INCLUSIVE LIBRARY.  A two-day capacity-building workshop for the librarians, Special Educators and IT professionals of schools (Primary, Middle, Secondary and Senior Secondary) and universities held on 19 and 20 August 2022 at India International Centre, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi.

The participants learned about various ICTs, Assistive Technologies, and apps which can be used to make books accessible being used by schools and universities for all students with disabilities.  Mr T D Dhariyal former Deputy Chief Commissioner Disability explained various directives issued by the Government of India aimed to ensure the provision of accessibility in libraries and campuses.  Guidelines to ensure access to ICT products, services, and copyright/ intellectual property issues.

Mr Dipendra Manocha’s session was focused on difficulties faced by persons with different disabilities (blind, physically disabled, hearing impaired, learning disabilities), understanding how persons with print disabilities consume information, Assistive technology tools that can provide access to persons with disabilities, Key assistive technologies for reading, Book formats preferred by persons with disabilities and Sources of books in accessible formats for persons with disabilities.

He also talked about Library digitization & Accessibility.  His focus was on how to make accessible libraries for all, inclusive of book formats and alternative modes of reading.

Ms Akshita Sachdeva and Mr Bony Dave from Trestle Labs Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore gave a presentation about the KIBO listening lamp.  The Lamp can be used for listening, translation and reading.

Dr. Piyush Chanana of Raise Foundation explained how to ensure Websites, Learning Management Systems, Online courses, Online Exams, accessibility of media – images, audio, video, accessibility standards, testing for digital accessibility and remedies for digital accessibility issues.

A practical-based experience was taken by Mr Prashant Ranjan Verma, Secretary, NAB.  He focussed on accessibility standards for digital content, guiding publishers, content creators & digitization teams, how to adopt Inclusive Publishing; creating books that are “Born Accessible”, and handling graphical content and workflow for self-publishing authors, teachers or small entities using free tools.

His presentation involved First-hand experience of creating books in an accessible format, preparation of the source document, use of styles for retaining semantics, creation of accessible formats using open-source tools, and understanding process of conversion to specialized formats such as Braille and audiobook.

The assignment was given to participants in groups: Participants were assigned tasks to convert a document to accessible Word & EPUB.

Participants from Army Public School, Shankar Vihar, Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar, Jaypee Public School – Greater Noida, Bal Bharati Public School – Pitampura, Vasant Valley School, Directorate of Education, GNCT Delhi (G. Co-Ed SSS, Sector-6 Site-II Dwarka and Sec-5, RK PURAM), Volunteers for the Blind, NEXT School, CWSN Program – Piramal Foundation for participated in the such workshop.

The participants shared their presentations at the end of the programme.