The Government of India will soon launch Accessible India to make the country disabled-friendly. The government is working to introduce set-top boxes that will make TV programmes more useful for the visually impaired. Officials from the Department of Disability Affairs under the Ministry of Social Justice have met manufacturers of set-top boxes to discuss introduction of a button on the set-top box and remote control that will convert text on the TV screen to voice.
Another part of making television more disabled-friendly is the introduction of sign language in at least 25% of the programmes. India has 2.2 crore people with disabilities, or 2.13% of the population, according to the ministry website, citing Census 2001 data.
The government is also laying emphasis on making all public buildings disabled-friendly. To start with, the department has identified auditors and selected parameters for an audit of 100 government buildings
According to the report released by World Bank and WHO, about 15 percent of the world’s population has a significant physical or mental disability, including about 5 percent of children.
Test Your Knowledge
The International Day of persons with disabilities is observed on ______.
What was the theme of International Day of persons with disabilities 2014?
