AUDIO TECHNOLOGY ADVANCE

NEW DIGITAL ALTERNATIVE TO ‘HARD

This Digital Accessible Information System – or ‘DAISY’ – is a digital audio book for blind and visually impaired people so that they can listen to written material.

 

With the many advancements in audio technology, Blind SA staff recently participated in a four-day training session held by the DAISY Consortium.

People should have equal access to information and knowledge regardless of disability, which is why the DAISY Consortium is committed to creating the best way to read and publish for everyone. DAISY content is thus made accessible for all people and in all languages.

The vision of the DAISY Consortium is that all published information must be available to people with print disabilities in an accessible, feature-rich navigational format, and at no greater cost. For this reason, a DAISY book can the converted into various types of documents such as MP3, large prints, Braille and more.

While it is never Blind SA’s intention to replace traditional ‘hard copy’ braille, we are fully aware of the need to familiarise ourselves with evolving and improving technology in order to assist the visually impaired to the best of our abilities. We are excited to include DAISY in this, and to make written material more accessible for the blind community in South Africa.