What does a student with visual impairment carry in their school bag? In this video, our young friend excitedly unpacks the accessible learning tools that help him explore, understand and engage with his everyday lessons.
These are no ordinary school supplies. Each tool supports a different aspect of learning, helping students access concepts through Braille, touch, tactile exploration and hands-on activities.
From a slate and stylus, Taylor Frame and abacus to a mathematics pad for geometry, a white-print Braille textbook, an RLF tactile diagram book, an accessible geometry box and a file for organising classwork and homework, each resource plays a role in making learning more accessible.
Assistive Technology for Independent Learning
Alongside these learning resources, students use assistive technologies such as Hexis, a refreshable Braille reader, and IRIS, a tactile comprehension device that helps them explore accessible diagrams. Together, these tools offer additional ways to access written content and understand visual concepts.
Making Accessible Learning Content Available
The tools are ready, but what about the learning content itself?
Vision Empower is working to ensure that students can access learning content in formats that meet their individual needs. An important part of this effort is the AI Innovation and Inclusion Initiative (A4I) SEEDS 2.0 platform, developed in collaboration with the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, with support from Microsoft CSR.
Through this initiative, Vision Empower is developing AI-powered approaches to creating learning content in multiple accessible formats and delivering it through channels such as Hexis, IRIS and interactive voice response (IVR).
From Learning Tools to Learning Possibilities
Our goal is to help students access, explore, enjoy and understand their lessons in ways that work for them, while giving teachers the support they need to make accessible learning possible.