Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), under The University of Tokyo held a demonstration of “Devanagari Screen Reader”, Thunder, on the premises of Nepal Association for the Welfare of the Blind (NAWB) on Thursday. [break]
Thunder incorporates the technology of WebbIE, an English screen reader developed by Professor Paul Blenkhora of Manchester University, London. Screen readers read aloud on screen texts, files, menus, and keystrokes.
“Since Hindi is close to Nepali language, we used it,” Professor Mamoru Iwabuchi, one of the developers of the website said.
“Although the program is in its final stage, it most certainly serves the blind to have increased access to computers,” Iwabuchi adds.
Thunder well reads Nepali websites, and works with Microsoft Word, Excel and Email Users can adjust the screen reader´s sound to their desire and hear the sounds. “It works with Mangal font and MS Unicode. However, we´ve not tried it with other fonts like Kantipur and Preeti,” he further adds.
“At the moment, it´s fine. Although it doesn´t have Nepali sound, it works. It will help open Nepali sites and read news,” Bibek Bhattarai, 20, a visually impaired said.
“Since Windows keeps on updating, it also is essential to upgrade Thunder accordingly because if we don´t, newer Windows version won´t support it” Bhattarai further adds. However, Mamoru believes that Thunder opens a wide opportunity for a blind´s access to computer. “It is an educational tool and can be used for job and research,” he adds.
“Prior to this, there was no Nepali screen reader or speech synthesizer for Windows yet. The only alternative was Nepalinux, which however didn´t support Devanagari screen reader,” Mamoru further adds.
Kumar Thapa, Secretary General of NAWB, said that the software well reads papers and texts on the internet and despite the accent; one can clearly understand the reading.
The RCAST team also provided four laptops having Thunder. Of them, three were gifted to Namuna Machhindra School, Lalitpur, Laboratory Boarding School, Kirtipur, and Adarsha Secondary School, Thimi.
“It took us around two years to build this program. It was easier because of the Hindi script. Had it been other languages, it would have taken longer,” Mamoru adds.
“Since Devanagari script is our first attempt, the project is entitled “First Step to the Himalayas”. We further aim to produce more programs to help the visually impaired globally and connect mountains,” Mamoru said. Those who wish to use the program can purchase it for US$ 50.
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