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Contact: Lindie van Zyl
Communication Officer
Phone 012 452-3811
Email: lindie@sancb.org.za
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Press Release
South Africa in support of the WIPO TVI
Preventing Copyright laws from prohibiting access to information
In developed countries, barely 5% of all published works are available in formats which are accessible to blind people (large print, audio, braille or DAISY) – in developing countries, this number drops to a mere 0.5%. This estimation made by the World Blind Union (WBU) is the root of the current literary crisis known as the Book Famine!
With 314 million visually impaired and other print disabled readers around the world, this lack of access to information is simply unacceptable. So what is being done about this?
On 30 November 2009, the South African National Council for the Blind hosted a workshop on the ‘Treaty for Improved Access for Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled Persons’ (referred to as the ‘TVI’). Delegates represented various organisations servicing the blind and visually impaired communities of South Africa, as well as stakeholders from the private and public sectors, including government departments and academia.
The TVI was adopted by all representatives and supporters of the blind and visually impaired communities who were present, and so, the TVI will be tabled at the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meeting on 14 December 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. The WBU is sending representation to Geneva to present the TVI while Jace Nair, Council’s National Executive Director, will represent South Africa’s visually impaired community for this event and Department Arts and Culture will support the TVI on behalf of the South African Government.
The TVI’s aim is to create a global standard for limitations and exceptions to Copyright in order to allow for cross-border exchange of accessible formats and equitable access to knowledge for millions of blind and visually impaired people around the world.
Research carried out by WBU shows that 95% of all accessible books currently available have been produced, not by the publishers, but by the visually impaired organisations themselves at their own expense - using Copyright Exceptions. Unfortunately the organisations may not share their books, as the Copyright laws prevent them from sharing across country borders. This leads to a lot of duplicated effort, especially in the case of English books. Each country’s organisation must produce their own accessible book, which is identical to another country’s, but may not be shared. If organisations who were making accessible books could pool their scant resources, such duplication could be avoided and the resources saved could be used to produce many more accessible books
The above is just one of the issues that the TVI, which is supported by South Africa, seeks to address. Council and various role players are also lobbying government for their support of the TVI in Geneva. |
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Contact: Madalein Greyling
Access Manager
Phone: 012 452-3811
Email: madalein@sancb.org.za
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Press Release
Eye Care Awareness Month
Council’s Bureau – Giving back the gift of sight
The Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness, Council’s Eye Care Services Division, is coordinating and conducting various cataract blitzes (high volume of cataract surgeries) in five of our provinces during the month of October in order to put eye care services in the reach of under-serviced, rural communities.
Each cataract surgery, which is performed in under 30 minutes, gives the gift of sight back to each patient – and the Bureau plan to be instrumental in giving this gift to as many as 600 people!
These blitzes take place as part of the Eye Care Awareness Month (ECAM) campaign. ECAM is a South African initiative held annually in the month of October in order to raise awareness about the importance of eye health, specifically around the prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness. International World Sight Day, which is held on 8 October, is an important day within the ECAM calendar.
75% of blindness is avoidable either through prevention or through treatment – which is why ECAM’s message: ‘get your eyes tested at least once per year’, is so important!
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Contact: Lindie Sutherland
Communication Officer
Phone 012 452-3811
Email: lindie@sancb.org.za
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Press Release
How effective was the IEC’s braille template?
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) ran a big media campaign this year to announce that a braille template will be available for visually impaired voters to use at voting stations - so they can also have a secret vote. This announcement caused great excitement in the blindness sector.
The use of the braille template was a wonderful liberating experience for those blind voters who were able to vote in secret for the first time and the South African National Council for the Blind received very positive feedback from some blind and partially sighted persons. We want to congratulate the IEC on taking the first step in developing a practical manner to make a secret ballot possible.
Unfortunately, in many instances, this wonderful opportunity did not materialise. Many blind and partially sighted persons complained about the unavailability of the templates at their voting stations. Upon requesting the template, some IEC officials denied any knowledge of the template while others knew of its existence, but claimed not to have received one at their polling station.
Another major complaint received was that the ballot paper did not properly fit into the template, which made it impossible to vote without using sighted help – which actually defeats the whole purpose of the template. Most blind and partially sighted persons felt that the template in its current form is far too crude and needs a great deal of refinement in order to really make it effective.
Apart from the braille template, the other options available to blind and partially sighted persons, according to the Electoral Act, is that blind and partially sighted persons have the option of electing a person to assist them in casting their votes, or they can cast their votes with assistance from an IEC official. This rule was unfortunately sometimes misinterpreted and officials insisted on looking on while the elected friend of the visually impaired person assisted them to vote. This once again takes away the secrecy of the visually impaired person’s vote. This calls for better training of the IEC officials. With this said, even in this regard we have noted a huge improvement since the last national election.
The IEC is committed to a debriefing session with the South African National Council for the Blind regarding the voting experience of blind and partially sighted persons and we are therefore requesting further comments and suggestions to be sent to us at admin@sancb.org.za to ensure that a detailed discussion with all role players can take place which will take this process forward.
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Contact: Lindie Sutherland
Communication Officer
Phone 012 452-3811
Email: lindie@sancb.org.za
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Press Release
South African National Council for the Blind has stood the test of time
The South African National Council for the Blind (Council) turned 80 years old on the 20th of March - reaching a huge milestone in its existence! This is a wonderful achievement taking into account that Council is one of the largest disability organisations on the continent and that it relies mostly on public donations in order to keep delivering services to an astonishing 3% of the country’s population.
From very humble beginnings in Cape Town in 1929, Council has developed into a mighty national organisation with its head office in Pretoria. Council covers all of the provinces in South Africa. Its head office boasts a residential vocational training facility and an advanced Resource Centre which sells equipment that aids visually impaired people – this centre attracts visitors from all over Africa and even beyond. .
Council has kept up with the times, evolving constantly in order to ensure that it always best serves the needs of its stake holders by fulfilling its slogan: “Empowering visually impaired people to do what they dare to dream”.
Council, which is an umbrella organisation that incorporates 95 organisations for and of blind people in South Africa, celebrated this momentous occasion – its 80th birthday - with a cake-cutting ceremony. The ceremony was led by Council’s esteemed Chairperson, Judge Zak Yacoob – Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. In his address to the ceremony’s guests, Judge Yacoob, who noted that Council’s “work is more important than its celebrations”, said however, that he enjoyed “the relaxed atmosphere and the simplicity of the function”. . He thanked everyone for their contributions on all levels during the past 80 years and especially thanked the blind and partially sighted people of South Africa because they “make Council’s work worthwhile just by being there”. The event was attended by Council’s Honorary President, Dr. William Rowland, as well as by members of Council’s democratically elected National Executive Committee, representatives from the Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness’ Board and from Council’s member organisations as well as many excited staff members. The event was rounded of by the release of 80 orange and black balloons.
After providing 80 years of support for the visually impaired community, Council’s range of expert services, which improve the lives of the members of this same community, include:
The Access Division:
• Maintains a “knowledge warehouse” - a central information depot which will be available to the public;
• Runs a Resource Centre where we sell, install and provide support for assistive devices and access technologies like talking watches and screen readers;
• Provides a low vision service;
• Delivers awareness and sensitisation presentations around visual impairment;
• Fundraises;
• Fulfils communication functions and produces publications in print, audio, braille and electronic formats.
Education and Braille Support Services:
• Promotes access to braille;
• Facilitates improved braille production capacity;
• Supports the rollout of the Unified Braille Code;
• Supports the development of Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET);
• Advocates for quality education for all visually impaired learners.
The Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness:
• Works towards eliminating avoidable blindness by conducting mobile tours which provide cataract surgery, refraction services and low vision services to people living in remote rural areas.
The Skills Development Division:
• Develops Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programmes in South Africa; • Strengthens blind youth and blind women’s structures; • Develops sport and recreation for visually impaired people;
• Promotes and develops life skills training programmes such as computer literacy training and leadership development to name a few;
• Offers training programmes such as contact centre training and entrepreneurial development;
• Runs a job placement programme to aid the visually impaired.
For more information, please call 012 452-3811, email admin@sancb.org.za or visit Council’s website on www.sancb.org.za. |
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