Digital reading makes the world of the blind have more ＂colors＂

Digital reading makes the world of the blind have more "colors"

The reporter investigated the reading problem of blind people in China.　

On October 13th, in an office of the Chinese Braille Library, Yin Menglan was absorbed in her work, and her hands were jumping rapidly on the computer keyboard.

In sharp contrast to the flexibility of fingers, Yin Menglan’s vision is disabled. She is a visually impaired person. It is reading that has promoted the earth-shaking changes in her life: when she was a child, she went to a braille school to study braille and took part in the senior high school entrance examination and college entrance examination; Now, she works in the Braille library and listens to audio books every day, which not only broadens her knowledge, but also realizes the purpose of entertainment and leisure.

In China, there are more than 17 million people with visual impairment like Yin Menglan. How do they read? Can the booming audio reading meet their reading needs? What can be further improved in the process of reading promotion for the blind? With these questions, the reporter of Rule of Law Daily recently visited the Chinese Braille Library.

Books for the blind have many constraints.

Digital reading came into being.

"The composition of Braille is based on’ Fang’, and each party has six points. Generally, about three parties form a Chinese character. Chinese Braille is composed of initials, finals and tones of Chinese pinyin."

In the Chinese Braille Library, Fan Xingkun, director of the Culture and Education Department of the library, pointed to the Chinese Braille symbol comparison table hanging on the wall and told reporters about the changes in the reading methods of the blind. According to its introduction, since Louis Blair, a French blind man, improved and invented six-point Braille on the basis of night writing in the 1820s, touching Braille has become an important way for blind people to learn.

Teng Hongyu, a staff member in the museum, has been reading by touching Braille for nearly 50 years. He said that visually impaired people can master the coding of Braille through one or two months’ practice, and they can answer what they say and what they say, but it is still difficult to really understand and skillfully read Braille by touching it, which requires a lot of repeated practice.

However, touching Braille is not necessary for all blind people to read.

According to Li Qingzhong, chairman of the China Blind Association, visual disabilities are generally divided into two categories: blindness and low vision. Blindness means blindness, and the eyes cannot feel a little light; Although low vision can’t see clearly, it can feel a glimmer of light, not completely dark.

"Braille is necessary for people who are completely invisible; For people with low vision, in addition to reading special Braille books, you can also read big books. " Li Qingzhong said.

Although Braille books can meet the reading needs of some visually impaired people, paper books have certain limitations. The reporter saw in the Braille library that blind documents are bigger and thicker than ordinary books.

In this regard, Fan Xingkun explained that generally more than 200 Chinese characters are converted into Braille, which may take up one page. After a very thin Chinese reading material is made into a Braille book, the volume will increase a lot, and it is not convenient to store and carry. Moreover, there are special requirements for the pulp and production technology of braille paper, so as to ensure that the blind spots are clear and unbreakable and can withstand repeated touching and reading by blind people. Compared with ordinary books, editing and proofreading processes and printing processes also consume more time and cost.

How to solve the problem? The development of Internet provides more possibilities for blind people to read.

In recent years, with the development of information technology, digital reading has developed faster and faster, providing more and more convenience for visually impaired people.

He Chuan, vice chairman of China Blind Association and director of the Information Accessibility Center of China Braille Library, told reporters that at present, visually impaired people can listen to electronic texts such as Word, TXT and PDF besides audio books. "There are also several ways to listen, such as installing screen reading software on the computer and listening to the sound of screen reading to operate the computer; The book-listening machine designed by China Braille Publishing House can read electronic texts at any time. You can also use your smartphone to listen to audio books. " He Chuan said.

In the reading room of Braille Library, the reporter saw the latest intelligent reading machine. It is like a small mobile phone, which can be recharged or put into a battery, and can be used after activation. It also has a network download function, from which blind readers can obtain massive reading resources.

According to Park Dong-sook, deputy director of the Collection and Lending Department of China Braille Library, these reading machines can be borrowed and mailed to blind readers all over the country for free. According to Park Dong-sook’s explanation, the reporter operated for the first time when the reading machine was completely black, and soon found the desired online book resources, which was very convenient and fast.

Digital reading is convenient and fast.

Full promotion has encountered bottlenecks.

In fact, as early as September 2017, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Finance, the China Disabled Persons’ Federation and other departments jointly launched the "Digital Reading Promotion Project for the Blind", including the construction of a platform for the integration, publication and dissemination of reading for the blind; Relying on 400 public libraries, lend 200,000 intelligent reading machines to the blind for free; Relying on 100 educational institutions for visually impaired readers, 1,000 Braille computers and electronic displays are lent to the blind free of charge.

It is obvious that digital reading for the blind brings convenience to the visually impaired.

Teng Hongyu has a soft spot for music, and usually likes reading books on music, but there were few books in Braille in China before. He borrowed Braille music scores from foreign national libraries by writing letters. Because Braille music scores are universal in the world, there is no obstacle to reading them. "Nowadays, digital reading has opened up many platforms and can be read at any time."

Yin Menglan found new fun in life by listening to audio books. Every day after work, she uses her smart phone to open audio books and listen to novels. "Life is much richer."

Pan Jiang, who is also engaged in proofreading in the Braille library, relaxes by listening to novels with audio books. However, if he wants to read professional books, he is still used to reading blind documents. "Our touch is equivalent to the sight of a discerning person. Through reading, I learned a lot about psychology and solved many specific difficulties in daily life. "

However, at present, there are still some problems in the practice of digital reading promotion for the blind, and the first problem is copyright.

"Blind people can’t enjoy equal copyright. For example, if a blind person buys a book in a bookstore, it is no problem to find someone to translate the book into Braille, but if it is to be translated into an audio version, it must be authorized by the other party. " He Chuan said.

Fortunately, China has signed the Marrakesh Treaty, which requires the contracting parties to add provisions in their domestic laws, set restrictions and exceptions on the rights of copyright owners, and allow the reproduction, distribution and provision of accessible formats of published works, such as Braille, audio and electronic texts. He Chuan told reporters that China’s copyright law has been revised to suit the above-mentioned relevant provisions, and the time for the treaty to come into effect in China is getting closer and closer. "In the future, more and more books can be made into audio books and large-character editions, which is a real cultural blessing for the blind.".

He Chuan also mentioned that in the process of full coverage or equalization of public cultural services in different places, there may be unbalanced resource allocation. For example, all the public libraries in the north, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have their own reading rooms for the blind, but in some relatively small and remote cities, the hardware measures are not in place, or there is only one physical space, and the service concept has not kept up.

On the other hand, through field research in Li Qingzhong, it is found that although some local Braille libraries and reading rooms for the blind are equipped with book resources and related auxiliary equipment, there are only a handful of visually impaired readers. How to attract more visually impaired readers through quality service is the answer that these places are exploring.

He also pointed out that inconvenient travel is also a realistic reason for the lack of motivation for blind people to go to Braille libraries or reading rooms.

Explore and solve problems in many places

Guarantee the reading rights of the blind.

How to solve these difficulties? In Fan Xingkun’s view, reading habits need to be cultivated. If you want to attract blind people to read, it is of little benefit to shout slogans and say that only by finding a way suitable for blind people to read can you really attract them.

The Chinese Braille Library has actively explored this aspect. After in-depth investigation, the relevant staff members have learned about the cultural needs of blind readers, planned various cultural salon activities such as famous lectures, "natural history tour", Taoran reading club, literature and art exhibition, organized cultural and educational activities such as Braille, computer, music, recitation, massage, interest groups for blind children, summer camps for blind children, and carried out information application, digital reading promotion, life skills, calligraphy and painting for the blind. Up to now, the Braille Library has attracted an average of more than 30,000 people to participate in various cultural activities every year.

In order to protect the reading rights of the blind, various localities have also launched actions.

Gansu Provincial Library has set up a reading service center for the disabled in Gansu Province and a reading room for braille and blind audiobooks to provide reading and lending services for visually impaired readers. When the library of Luxi County, Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province was upgraded, it specially set up a children’s reading center to provide more comfortable reading space for minors and blind people. Shanxi Province has purchased 5,000 "intelligent listening machines", which blind readers can borrow for free …

In the interview, the reporter felt that with the continuous development of digital reading promotion for the blind, more and more blind readers fell in love with reading. Convenient reading methods have opened a door of knowledge for blind readers, and since then, the road ahead of them has become wider and their world has become more "colorful".