FITA present Braille resources to Malta libraries

The Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (FITA) has presented the Malta libraries with a Braille copy it produced, of the novel San Ġwann by Ġuzè Galea, in Maltese and a complete copy of the Oxford Dictionary of English in Braille.

The novel San Ġwann was reproduced in Braille with the kind permission of Midsea books and respective copyright holders. The Braille embossing project, consisting of three volumes, was sponsored by Ms Bridgette Micallef, the NGO ADVICE and FITA.

The 16 volume Oxford Dictionary was kindly donated by Ms Marcel Cremona.

FITA assists disabled individuals, business organisations and government entities, in making use of accessible ICT as an empowerment tool, particularly for education and work. This includes promoting the use of voice recognition and speech synthesis tools. Despite this, ongoing consultation with local associations of the blind suggest, that Braille remains an important tool in ensuring blind and visually-impaired people gain access to literacy.

Voice based media limit blind and visually-impaired individuals to mostly consume information that is accessible electronically in said format. An adequate literacy level is important, as it enables individuals to produce and contribute information content that is text based. This is particularly important within a clerical work environment, where emails and reports remain a common information medium.

About FITA

The Foundation for Technology Accessibility (FITA) is the principal advocate and coordinator for making information communications technology (ICT) accessible to disabled people in the Maltese islands.

FITA’s principle function is to provide support to disabled individuals in overcoming or removing barriers to education and employment through ICT.

For more information, you may visit www.fitamalta.eu or contact FITA on (+356)25992048 or by email at info@fitamalta.eu