BHUBANESWAR: The Directorate for Welfare of Persons with Disabilities distributed 100 free laptops among meritorious visually impaired students at Bhima Bhoi School for Blind here on Monday.
The initiative was a part of the Directorate’s special scheme to encourage visually challenged students of the State to pursue higher studies. All the laptops are equipped with computer screen reader software - Job Access With Speech (JAWS). The software enables the students to read the computer screen through text-to-speech output or through a Braille display connected to the laptop. The laptops also come pre-loaded with basic study material to help the students.
The Directorate, which comes under the Women and Child Development Department, started free distribution of laptops among visually impaired students during 2012-13. The list of beneficiaries is prepared by district administrations and meritorious students pursuing technical and specialised courses in and outside the State are given priority.
Students said they are already familiar with JAWS software and the laptops will be of great help to them. A special training session will be held for students, who have not used a JAWS equipped laptop, to acclimatise them with its functioning, sources said.
Disability activist Sanyas Behera said free distribution of laptops would encourage more visually impaired students to pursue higher studies.