Standard Chartered launches
reading app for visually impaired
Effort part of the bank’s global community investment programme
Standard
Chartered Bank has joined hands with Daisy Consortium, a network of
not-for-profit organisations from 55 countries, to launch a unique digital
initiative ‘Simply Reading’ app.
This
cost-effective and flexible app, an India-led initiative, seeks to make digital
reading convenient for low vision and blind people, Karuna Bhatia, Head of
Sustainability, SCB, told BusinessLine here.
Available
for free on Android (Google Play), this app enables the visually impaired to
directly download and read books from any online platform such as Sugamya
Pustakalya and Bookshare.
This effort
is part of SCB’s global ‘Seeing is Believing’ initiative, which is this bank’s
global community investment programme to tackle visual impairment and avoidable
blindness.
‘Seeing is
Believing’
“This year
is special as it marks the 15th anniversary of ‘Seeing is Believing’
programmers. While we are launching this app in India, it will be available
anywhere internationally through Google Play,” Karuna said. To begin with, SCB
and Daisy Consortium are eyeing at least 50,000 downloads, according to Karuna.
She also
said that SCB will strive to put a digital element in all its future community
programmes.
From 2003 to
2017, SCB has in India provided over 13 million eye care interventions through
the network of 125 vision centres across 22 States catering to people in the
urban, rural and remote parts of the country. One estimate puts India is home
to about 5.3 million people with blindness or low vision.
Source | Business Line | 4th May 2018
Regards
Mr. Pralhad Jadhav
Master of Library & Information Science (NET
Qualified)
Senior Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan & Co
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