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Rehmat Merchant in Bangalore

It is almost noon and the computer class is already in progress. When you enter the room you see the students bunched around monitors, their hands flying over their keyboards. On closer inspection, you will realise that the students are actually listening to the computers, not looking at them. For they are blind.

Human endeavour and technology always challenges physical limitations and computers seem to be particularly good at that. An important innovation in computer technology is a software that can help the visually-challenged operate computers.

With the support of Intel, US-based Asha Foundation and NIIT, Karnataka's National Association for the Blind has opened new career options for the blind by starting these computer training classes for them. Intel has arranged for the computers; JAWS, the special software employed, has been provided by Asha Foundation; and NIIT has helped provide the faculty.

JAWS is a speech software by Henter-Joyce, Inc, and was created by individuals who themselves were blind. It costs Rs 45,000 and comes with a security disk, to prevent piracy. The three-month long course is conducted on the NAB campus at Jeevan Bima Nagar in Bangalore. The classes are held throughout the week. The practical classes are between 10 am and 1 pm and 2 and 5 pm.

The JAWS software reads out each character and then the words that the students key in. There are two markers, on the letters F and J on the keyboard, that helps them locate the keys.

Students who don't know typing or who aren't quick enough on the keyboards are brought up to scratch by Arun Kumar of Supersonic Computer Typing Institute. Arun, a record holder in the Limca Book of Records, and slated to enter the Guinness Book Of World Records, can teach anyone to type in four hours only. Here too, he trained the students in four hours.

One student is using Excel to make account sheets, another is typing out letters, and a third is running a spell check. It takes some time to get used to it.

Do the students find any difficulty in listening to the software?

"Only the accent. It took us a few days to get used to it," says Keith D'Silva, 18. Students need some time to get used to the electronic quality of the voice and its foreign accent.

The accent may not be a major problem but the cost of the software certainly is. Tthe students need it wherever they work but their employers may not be willing to spend on the software. But the NAB plans to overcome this hurdle by downloading relevant free software from the Internet.

Teachers too need some training to use the software.

"We had to work on the applications ourselves. We are so used to inputs from the mouse. In JAWS, we go by sound. But this software is so well-defined that now I can operate it even blind-folded," says NIIT faculty T K Jatin who is working with the NAB project.

M B Jayanti of NAB describes her teaching experience as challenging.

"It took me about two weeks to get oriented to the new software; you learn to use all the shortcut keys, and only keyboard operations. It feels really nice. We are learning while teaching."

The two-month course includes Windows, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer (which also takes keyboard commands), e-mail software, and little bit of JAWS.

Using JAWS, the operator can read at his/her own pace, like they would do in Braille. Barring graphics, JAWS makes most of the other software accessible.

B K Nandini, 26, a post-graduate in English literature, works with Karnataka Erectors as an office assistant. Her work involves attending to telephones and manual typing. She is quite conversant with computer operations and feels that her computer skills will change things.

"Now I know I will be able to do much more. I can do as much as a normal person and can type letters and accounts sheets and do calculations. But the accounts will have to be in Braille or dictated to me by someone. But if it's a personal account, or something independently handled by me, I can do it without any help," Nandini says.

K Usha, 26, and Nandini have been friends for a decade now. Usha used to work at Hoysala Blowmoulders India Ltd, as a front office staffer, until the company closed down.

"I already know typing; when I go for my next job, I will have an additional qualification," says Usha.

V Arun Kumar, 23, Keith D'Silva ,18, C Kiran Kumar, 22, B P Subarao, 25, and S Vishwanath, 21, are some students studying at the institute. Kiran is excited that he can stay in touch with his friends via e-mail. Keith, the youngest, finds it a novel and interesting experience. Arun feels this will definitely open doors for them when they go job-hunting.

"I was always interested in computers. I have one at home but couldn't use it. If I wanted any information from the Internet I used to ask my mother or brother to get it for me. Now I can do it on my own," Subarao says.

Gordon Faife, Chief Executive Officer of NAB says that their course is just a beginning, to stimulate the student's interest to go in for advanced or diploma courses.

"We are following the same study manuals styles as regular students. When I tell prospective employees that our students are NIIT-trained during recruitment, they become more enthusiastic. We also plan to train some of our already employed students so that they can contribute more in their jobs, and don't feel left out," says Faife.

Says Vishwanath: "Learning computer skills has opened up a world of career opportunities that we never had -- data entry jobs, medical transcription, front office, tele-marketing, and office administration. Now when I go job-hunting I will have more confidence."

But the students have more to look forward to than just operations. They can even plan a career in programming. Jyothindra Mehta, an NAB alumnus, is today an advisory systems consultant with IBM. Mehta had a post-graduate degree in economics when he left India for the US. He first enrolled for a nine-month rehabilitation programme in computers at Maryland University, Baltimore. He followed that up with a part time MS at George Washington University, Washington DC in programming.

"The hi-tech horizon is as wide as the world. One must not expect any special treatment. For initial adjustments it's okay, but no different treatment should be expected in gauging performance. The visually-challenged should show maturity and moderation in dealing with the normal world, and must not expect concessions. Just put your mind and heart in your work. In my personal experience I found graphics a little difficult to deal with. But since we work in teams, team involvement can overcome this problem. Otherwise Braille software, voice synthesizer, multimedia hardware take care off most things," says Mehta.

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