Lack of leisure books in Braille highlighted in UAE

Dubai: A new book in Braille released last week draws attention to the dearth of leisure reading books for the visually impaired in the UAE.

The storybook, Innama Nahnu Jawqat Al Omian [Chorus of the Blind], written by Dubai-based Saudi writer and TV anchor Turki Bin Abdullah Al Dakhil and sponsored by etisalat, offers a social perspective on this segment of society.

The author told Gulf News: "My book was an attempt to discover the world of blind people, and highlight their positive experiences. This is the first book I have released in Braille. I plan to make my earlier seven books available in Braille and/or as audio books. Unfortunately, there aren't sufficient number of books in Braille in the Middle East."

To learn more about the paucity of leisure books in Braille, Gulf News approached Auda Hazeem, CEO of Nattiq Technologies in Sharjah that specialises in adaptive technology and technical support for the production of Braille books.

Enough textbooks

He said, "There are enough textbooks. In fact, most textbooks for sighted students are available for the visually impaired. However, there is a limited collection of leisure books in Braille because publishers have little awareness about the need.

"Further there is a lack of regulation in the Middle East to help publishers make Braille books more accessible. In the UAE, there are several entities who can translate mainstream books into Braille so authors and publishers should think about it."

He said there has been "phenomenal improvement" in the number of services and benefits visually impaired residents have obtained in the last five years. "For one, technology has been localised into Arabic. This is good as it is estimated that there are 2,000 people in the UAE who are visually impaired."

Gulf News also spoke to visually impaired residents in the country. Wafa Barakeh, a Lebanese student from Sharjah University, loves reading storybooks. "I used to get to read them in school, but at university it is difficult [to find storybooks in Braille]," she said.

Mohammad Elloqa, a Palestinian teacher at the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs (ZHO), said: "In the UAE, it is very difficult to get storybooks in Braille. Only few places stock these."