Special efforts help conquer all obstacles

If you think that people with special needs cannot be IT literate, then you are wrong, because 200 blind and visually impaired Emiratis are enrolled in the International Computer Driving Licence programme (ICDL) in the UAE and some of them have graduated too.

These visually impaired and blind candidates, who are mostly young women and men from the UAE University, are undergoing the ICDL certification programme at the ICDL training and testing centre at General Information Authority in Abu Dhabi. This centre was set up specifically for the visually impaired, and is the first of its kind in the UAE to implement the ICDL computer literacy syllabus for the visually impaired.

The ICDL GCC Foundation has also launched a 'IT Skills for All' initiative in the UAE, with the aim of making differently-abled people a part of the mainstream. The organisation is urging both the government and private sector to support efforts to increase the number of computer training facilities for people with special needs as establishing IT facilities free from physical barriers that might restrict access for the physically challenged is an important step that will make learning less difficult for differently-abled individuals and enhance their potential to contribute to social and economic development.

Rania Al Qaisi, Regional Manager of Business Affairs, ICDL GCC Foundation told Emirates Business: "It is one of our missions to make IT literacy available for all segments of society as we are an all inclusive programme. So as the people with special needs are a part of our society we have this programme for them. We do this globally as well as here in the GCC and we are working with many private and public entities in this regard.

"We have tied up with the Ministry of Interior in the UAE, the General Information Authority and all government entities that specialise in IT development for the government as they have the expertise in training the blind and other physically-challenged people on computers. For the past four years, we have been working with the Ministry of Interior's Rehabilitative Centre as they have the capabilities to serve the hearing impaired and physically disabled people."

ICDL GCC Foundation has been actively lobbying with concerned government organisations and businesses across the region in support of its 'IT Skills for All' initiative. ICDL also enforces an equal opportunity policy through its ICDL accredited centers to improve the learning environment standards for the benefit of people with special needs. This involves facilities free from physical barriers that might restrict access to the physically disabled. Dedicated accredited centres also exist for people with special needs offering Braille embossed material, screen-readers, hearing devices, specially-designed keyboards and/or special assistance. By adopting best practices and utilising the latest technologies available, learning can become less challenging for differently-abled individuals.

Al Qaisi said: "Physically challenged individuals are an integral part of our society, and given the opportunity they are fully capable of achieving excellence. That is why we are fully committed to providing equal opportunity to all. In line with this, we aim to establish new strategic alliances in order to expand the scope of our initiative to reach more people with special needs across the region.

"We are urging the government and private sector to accept them as part of the workforce as long as they can prove that they have the required skills for a job.

"We are part of the Irada Programme, which is an initiative of the Ministry of Interior, which has done a lot to support the people with special needs and included them in the job market. They are also a major support to our initiative. We are also working with etisalat, du, Emirates airline, oil firms and banks."

Through this initiative, ICDL GCC Foundation also aims to raise awareness on the importance of people with special needs and their ability to achieve excellence, creativity and innovation, which empowers them to support sustainable development in the Gulf. The Foundation's efforts to implement this program coincides with the Irada Programme, a promising development model that seeks to provide employment and job opportunities for people with special needs, and supports them to achieve a more independent lifestyle while enabling them to actively contribute to the process of development in the UAE.

Talking about the 200 special students who have enrolled in the programme, Al Qaisi said: "People with special needs will surprise you with what they can do. They just require a bit of understanding and help from us and they can achieve quite a lot as they are very eager to learn and have a major desire to achieve something.

"These special people who have enrolled in this programme and some of them who have passed it too, are in essence saying we may have a challenge of some kind but at the end of the day we are the same as you and have the skills.

"They are happy and can really use the computer well with the help of the special aids such as the screen reader software, screen magnifiers and other aids and tools like Braille keyboards.

"When you work with them and see their determination to succeed at all odds it really make you want to do something to help them achieve their goals. You know I wish that there were more websites that were disabled-friendly. For example there are websites that even the visually-challenged can use as they have audios that guide them through it and also describe whatever pictures and graphics that are in there detail."

Coming back to the issue of the centre for the people with special needs, Al Qaisi said: "We have people with autism too. Even though all these people are given some extra time to complete the ICDL test due to their challenging situations, but there are no compromises made on the standard of the test.

"These special people have shown what they can do, now the next step is for the society to accept them and also to give them a place in the workforce."

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