Blind need information at their fingertips

Chris Orr uses a notetaker to put information into braille and upload it to his laptop. Picture / Dean Purcell

Chris Orr likes technology. When new devices come along, he is keen to get his hands on them and see what they can do for him.

Their looks don't matter - it has been years since he could see anything. But what he wants is to be able to do what most people take for granted.

"That is the essence of adaptive technology - it arms blind people to be like everyone else," says Orr, the blindness awareness team leader for the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind.

A lot of Orr's work is talking to companies, public bodies, transport operators, schools, builders and architects, advising them on the needs of blind people and ways to create environments they can find their way around.

The foundation spends heavily on technology, not only for its blind and visually impaired staff but to ensure all its staff are as effective and productive as possible.

Orr carries a blind-accessible cellphone and a wireless-equipped laptop with programs which read the words on the screen to him.

"If I am away from the office I can access my email, the same as anyone else," Orr says.

"I also have a braille notetaker which allows me to immediately put information straight into braille and upload it to the laptop if I want.

"It's quicker to access than a laptop and it's designed and manufactured in New Zealand."

IT manager John Holley says the foundation has equipped 160 of its 300 staff with laptops with mobile Jetstream cards from Telecom.

"It allows staff who are out and about to access their email and our business system, which is Jade Community Healthcare, so they don't have to keep going back into the office to update client notes," Holley says.

"If we cut down an hour's travelling time a month, the cards pay for themselves."

The foundation has more than 11,000 members, half of them over 80. Only about 3 per cent are born blind, with the rest losing their sight through accident or disease.

Its field staff teach blind or vision-impaired people how to cope with their environment, how to set their houses up, especially rooms like kitchens and bathrooms, and how to use canes.

There is also a team which works with guide dogs.

"It is all about helping blind people gain independence," says Holley. "Our goal is to maximise staff time with members, not having them go back to the office to fill in systems.

"It gives staff more time, and it also makes them feel more valued because of the access they have back to the office."

The staff with wireless-enabled laptops now use a relatively inexpensive Telecom Xtra dial-in plan.

Microsoft Active Directory is used for security and Trend keeps the system free from viruses and spam.

Holley says the next step is to shift to Telecom's private office network.

"This way the cards become the centre of the network, so it is like a small office set-up with a router."

Because of the amount of information staff need to put in and take out of the system, palmtop devices or smartphones were not suitable.

"Handhelds are nice, but it's not like a sales force automation system where you are just checking boxes," Holley says.

Screen reading software, and software which takes apart websites to identify links, goes on machines of the visually impaired staff.

Foundation staff try to identify useful sites which are good for interpretation by blind people.

"We are very much like a district health board, so data is very important," Holley says. "We have staff dispersed over 18 locations round the country and need to make sure they have appropriate equipment.

As well as its Jade client management system, the foundation runs a library, loaning 8500 to 10,000 audio books a week.

There are also systems to manage fundraising and dog training.

"We also have a telephone information system, which includes an XML feed from the Herald website so members can get the newspaper read to them," Holley says.

Other firms like Marbecks and ASB Bank make services available through foundation systems.

Holley says making it all work requires robust back-end systems.

"There is a challenge for us to build it so blind and vision-impaired people can use both front and back- end systems."

He says the foundation uses disability standards developed by the United States Government.

Although New Zealand's e-government standards include references to accessibility, many departments ignore their own standards.

"There are sites like the new online encylopaedia which use Flash, which is no good to blind people," Holley says. "The internet is important for blind people, so we get upset when people develop stuff blind people can't use."