Chakshumathi is a

nongovernmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

not for profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NP ...

organization based in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, working for developing resources for the use of

visually impaired Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

people. It is an "

Empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

and

Assistive Technology Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for Disability, people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, ...

Centre for Blind". The organization, which was inaugurated in June 2011, is a member of DAISY Forum of India. The organization is currently headed by V.K. Damodaran, a former President of

Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) () is a prominent science and literature organization based in the Indian state of Kerala. It was founded in 1962 with the aim of promoting scientific temper, Rationality, rational thinking, and a scientif ...

. The organization is engaged in the following activities: *Publication of textbooks and other books for general reading in the DAISY standard. *Publication of a fortnightly in Malayalam in the DAISY standard. *Making available to visually impaired persons books in DAISY standard from libraries throughout the world. *Organising workshops on assistive technologies for the visually impaired. *Providing training in the production of books and other materials in DAISY standard. *Giving job training to visually impaired persons to help them engage in economically productive activities.

History

In September 2011, Chakshumathi, a charitable trust constituted to empower blind people and those with visual impairments through the aid of latest technologies, inaugurated its

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

centre. S. P. Balasubramaniam enthralled, inspired and energised in a three-hour inaugural concert attended by other important dignitaries at the Kerala Fine Arts Hall. The organisation plans to provide Daisy Training and library service of over 24,000 additional books in Daisy format to people with visual impairments for free. In May 2020, as part of the global initiative—Lets FICE(Let's Flatten inaccessibility curve) — to cover the inaccessibility curve in the education of students with blindness, low vision and print disability, the NGO had launched a 60-day worldwide online training programme for students of visually impaired and several students from across the globe including

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Caribbean islands Most of the Caribbean countries are islands in the Caribbean Sea, with only a few in inland lakes. The largest islands include Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Some of the smaller islands are referred to as a ''rock'' or ''reef.'' ''I ...

and other continents have enrolled for the online programme launched with the support of engineers and developers working at

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

, BookShare,

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, Progressive Access,

IIT Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT- Delhi) is a public institute of technology located in Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology created to be a Centre of Excellence for India's training, research and developme ...

and Daisy Forum of India. The basic objective of programme is to popularise the importance of assistive technologies in the education and everyday life of visually impaired and print disabled students and first batch has around 50 participants with sessions being planned in English and the participants should have basic knowledge of computer and mobile phones. The course will help visually disabled and print disabled students to get tutored and master the techniques of using

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ('' computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as ''programs'', ...

and

smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as mult ...

and use them to learn

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

within 60 days. In 2019, it conducted a five-day programme, 'Eyes free science summer camp' for visually impaired students at Vakkom Maulavi Foundation Trust at Thekumoodu, to dispel the myth that the blind or those with visual impairment cannot study mathematics or science. Through these programmes students are able to work in science and technology professions and many are pursuing higher studies in science and technology streams and excel their sighted peers as the training had broken the barriers of mindset of the students and their families and is free for visually impaired students from standard 7 to 10.

External links

*Website of Chakshumathi: *Website of DAISY Forum of India
DFI

References

{{reflist Blindness organisations in India Augmentative and alternative communication