This video came to my notice & I thought to share some of my views
No we don’t need help all the time… we are as independent as able body people & might need some assistance to do few things… with advance in technology all the things like cooking, cleaning, travelling & all the daily activities can be performed by us independently.
We use white cane to let the world know that we are blind. This doesn’t mean we cannot travel independently, in an inaccessible country like India you can always see us navigating the traffic & travel in public transport without any problem… often people offer help & some of us are receptive to it & some of them are not… People who reject your offer of help are not being rude they are just stating that I am fine & I am independent.
With new currency notes released in India after demonetization people with visual impairment are finding it difficult to identify the currency notes. They Are not in same size like before & am not sure if there is an easy identification mark on them. One of my friends who is born blind & knew braille also said I also cannot identify the new currency notes.
We use computers & smart phones a lot may be better than the sighted people… the only problem is most of the websites & Apps are not accessible to the screen reader technology that we use. Here is a demo of a blind user demonstrating how we use computers
If you have any questions on our independent living or how we navigate the world without assistance then the comments section is open. Let’s talk the possible & the impossible…
Well written article Raghav. It is sad to see even the new generation, the youngsters unaware of many things related to visual impairment or accessibility if we talk in a broader spectrum.
Keerthi, disability education is something that is not added into our main stream educational system. Once this happens we will have more awareness. When society starts seeing people with disability everywhere, they will change their perceptions.
Yesterday at work somebody was speaking about accessibility in websites. And I spoke of you fondly (and with great admiration) and your continued contribution to enabling accessibility. Keep spreading the awareness Raghava, we need more inclusivity in our lives!
Hey Sam,
Good to hear from you here on the blog… yes we need lot of inclusivity in all our lives. Inclusion is a collective effort too.