Challenges and Opportunities in Making Digital Devices in India: Supporting the Children with Visual Impairment

Abstract

In today’s world, digital devices occupy a significant part of each individual's daily activities. Digital devices are also helpful for every child with and without disabilities in their day-to-day life. As various digital devices that support normal children in their learning, different digital devices for children with visual impairments also assist them in learning. They help to enhance their knowledge, skills and attitude. Apart from the support to children with visual impairments to manage their life, digital devices assist them in reading, writing and doing arithmetic. Apart from Braille, so many devices help them use in daily activities. They help children with visual impairment increase their access to the general curriculum and improve their academic performance. Many children with disabilities depend on these devices to empower themselves and be productive in their societal lives. This advancement in technology has improved the design of such digital devices and has increased the accessibility of children with disability. But there are many challenges in accessing these devices in India due to technical and organizational barriers. These barriers hinder the effective design and accessibility of digital devices. This paper explores the challenges in producing digital devices in India for children with visual impairment and opportunities to find novel solutions. Applying the technical development, the companies should walk across the boundaries and explore new ideas to design apt and more appropriate digital products that can be accessible to children with visual impairment and make their lives productive.