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Visitors of the Computer Center for children and young people with disabilities
Izhevsk
National Library of Udmurt Republic
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ICT for Better Life Quality of Young People with Disabilities
Success
Eighteen months ago the Udmurt republican library for the blind launched a special educational and recreational computer center for children and young people with disabilities. The Computer Center’s mission is to foster successful ICT-based adaptation, socialization and rehabilitation of people with disabilities in the mainstream society. The Computer Center for people with disabilities was opened thanks to the knowledge and skills that the librarians received during their training at the IDEA Center.
Overview
Eighteen months ago the Udmurt republican library for the blind launched a special educational and recreational computer center for children and young people with disabilities. The Computer Center’s mission is to foster successful ICT-based adaptation, socialization and rehabilitation of people with disabilities in the mainstream society. The Computer Center for people with disabilities was opened thanks to the knowledge and skills that the librarians received during their training at the IDEA Center.
Back in 2007 two groups of trainees – librarians and members of the republican library for the blind – took Microsoft Unlimited Potential computer literacy courses at the Izhevsk IDEA Center, training to be not only competent PC users but also volunteer trainers. Realizing that people with vision loss are willing and able to master new ICT technologies, even without fully equipped computer workstations, the librarians decided to take serious action. As a result, the Udmurt library for the blind took part in the contest held by the National Charity Foundation, Izhevsk Expert Club and the administration of RF President’s plenipotentiary in the Volga Federal District, and won a grant, which enabled it to launch the Computer Center for children and young people with disabilities in April 2008. The Center was equipped with modern computer workstations, a collection of software for the blind and visually impaired, and a number of computer literacy courses for people with vision and hearing loss based on the Microsoft Unlimited Potential curricula.
As of today, the library’s Computer Center remains the only public ICT access point for the blind and visually impaired. The Center’s computer workstations are equipped with Jaws for Windows and united into a local network with the server on the administrator’s computer. One workstation for people with full vision loss is equipped with a Braille terminal which transforms screen content into Braille by means of raising dots through holes in a flat surface. All the computers are hooked up to the Internet, and during the training all the materials and handouts are presented in appropriate formats including large fonts, Braille dots and text-to-sound. Trainees also use special sound recorders and flash players for people with vision loss.
Since the opening of the Computer Center seventy-five people have completed its computer literacy courses, including nine people as distance learners. The Center offers group (three - four people) and one-on-one courses in Computer Fundamentals as well as training in touch-typing. The Center’s alumni include fifty-six young people with various degrees of vision loss; the rest of them are visually impaired high school students.
In 2009 the Computer Center began offering computer literacy training to people with hearing loss as well as people with both visual and hearing impairments. This category of trainees requires a specially developed curriculum and a more extended training. The Center also offers its trainees opportunities for independent work and invites visiting groups of students with visual and hearing impairments to make use of its premises and equipment. For instance, students with visual and hearing impairments from School 92 visit the Center once a week to play developmental games, which improve their attention span as well as logical and mental skills.
The Computer Center has already made a tremendous difference in the life of children and young people with disabilities from Izhevsk. Now young people with visual loss have a chance to gain ICT skills and take advantage of the opportunities they offer. High school and college students with disabilities can use computer technologies for study and recreation on par with their peers with standard vision. Thanks to the resources available at the Computer Center many more young people with disabilities have had a chance to enter vocational schools, colleges and universities. Working young people with disabilities have increased their employability and job security. Non-working people with disabilities and senior citizens now have an excellent opportunity for self-development and are able to fill their free time with valuable educational and recreational activities. But the main outcome for all the alumni – especially those with full vision loss – is the freedom and independence in accessing information with the help of ICT technologies.
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