How digital boost for braille literacy is helping people with visual impairments across the Arab world

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A blind Saudi man recites from a braille copy of the Qu’ran in a mosque on the first day of Ramadan in Qatif, Saudi Arabia. (Right)
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A blind Saudi man reads aloud from a braille copy of the Qur'an inside a mosque on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in the coastal town of Qatif, Eastern Province, on May 27, 2017. (AFP file)
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The Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) has teamed up with the National Association of the Blind “Kafeef” to launch an initiative for the translation of Diriyah’s history into Braille. (DGDA photo)
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Braille Qur'an at Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) n Madinah. (Shutterstock)
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Saudi Arabia's postal office commemorated the braille in 1981 with stamps. (Supplied)
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Updated 04 February 2023

How digital boost for braille literacy is helping people with visual impairments across the Arab world

  • Prices of once expensive electronic braille devices are falling, demand for software is growing
  • Educators in Saudi Arabia are adopting assistive tech to include students with visual disabilities

JEDDAH: Digital technologies are transforming the way in which people of all languages and backgrounds communicate, making work, study and socializing across national and cultural boundaries easier and more inclusive.

However, many of the latest innovations in communications technology have tended to be geared toward smartphones, tablets and e-readers — formats that are not always conducive to people with visual impairments.




French inventor Louis Braille. (Supplied)

Now, recent enhancements to a 200-year-old system of writing are helping people with visual disabilities feel included in a greater variety of jobs and fields of study and forms of entertainment.

French inventor Louis Braille, who lost his sight at the age of three, in 1824 developed a system of communication consisting of a code of 63 characters, each made up of one to six raised dots arranged in a six-position matrix or cell, designed to fit under a fingertip.

These characters, known as braille, are embossed in lines on paper and read by passing the fingers lightly over the manuscript. From alphabets to musical notation, braille opened a world of possibilities for the visually impaired.

According to the World Health Organization, around 40 million people worldwide are blind, while another 250 million have some form of visual impairment. A survey conducted in 2017 by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics found that some 811,610 Saudis are visually impaired.

A unified Arabic braille code was adopted in the 1950s as part of the move toward a universal braille system. This has allowed many of them to live, work and study unsupported.




The Arabic braille alphabet. (Shutterstock image)

Authorities in the Kingdom have taken measures to create a more inclusive society, using braille on the packaging of medicines and by establishing work programs to integrate the visually impaired into the workforce.

The Kingdom has also established branches of Al-Noor Institute for the Blind, which provide courses for school children, in addition to integrated classes in universities through a national program that guarantees the right to an education.




A student at a school for the blind in Riyadh is pictured operating a machine in a photograph taken on April 25, 1967. (Getty Images)

Speaking to Arab News, Khaled Al-Harbi, spokesperson for the National Association of the Blind, known as Kafeef, said education paved the way for those with special needs to become an integral part of their communities.

Kafeef’s mission, he said, is to empower people with visual impairments through programs launched in coordination with government and private entities.

“I, like many members, received moral support and guidance from Kafeef from a young age, and enrolled in programs,” Al-Harbi told Arab News.

“We were provided tools, learned new skills using our hands, and, with time, we launched several awareness programs and braille training courses for the visually impaired and visually acute with the latest — Iqra — the first certified braille training program.

“We’ve seen lately several initiatives that target the community, such as sending gift cards in braille, and it’s very commendable, but it can also go the other way. There is a need for more inclusion from the visually impaired to utilize technology for their benefit and the benefit of the community.”




Tech advances in audio software and screen-reading programs on computers and smartphones have made life easier for the visually impaired. (Shutterstock)

As digital developers have tended to prioritize audio software, such as screen-reading programs on computers and smartphones, some argue that braille has become a less important tool for people with visual impairments.

However, researchers believe learning braille from an early age can greatly improve literacy, as it is a much better way to understand punctuation, grammar, and spelling than using audio resources alone.

For many years, electronic braille devices were prohibitively expensive, placing them out of reach of many people with visual impairments, particularly those in developing countries. Now prices are beginning to fall and the demand for new software is growing.




VersaBraille by American manufacturer TeleSensory Corporation was first made commercially available in 1982. (Wikipedia)

The first braille displays appeared in the mid-1970s, and the first commercially produced braille display, the VersaBraille, was released in 1982. Five years later, the Braille ‘n Speak was released as the first portable notetaker.

Newer refreshable braille devices make it possible for users to read text from a digital screen when connected to a PC, tablet or phone. Such devices mimic the familiar raised dot patterns using tiny movable pins.

FASTFACTS

811,000 people in Saudi Arabia have some form of vision disability, according to the GSTAT Disability Survey 2017.

A unified Arabic braille code was adopted in the 1950s as part of the move toward a universal braille system.

However, with such a heavy reliance on cables and bluetooth connectivity, these systems are not always the most practical or user friendly. Furthermore, physical braille keyboards that allow users to enter text are not particularly mobile.

It was these drawbacks that led Google to develop its own innovative built-in keyboard called TalkBack, which comes as a part of the Android Operating System and does not require any external hardware.

In 2018, Google also launched an AI-powered app called Lookout to help low-vision users interact with their surroundings. The app can read signs and labels, scan barcodes, and even identify currencies.

In 2014, Apple introduced its own on-screen braille keyboard for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices called iBrailler Notes.

The app enables users to navigate across text and perform tasks without connecting additional hardware. One striking feature of the app is that the keys automatically form around the fingertips when they are placed on the screen.




iBraille Notes on-screen braille keyboard by Apple. (Social media)

Many new braille technologies are yet to reach the market and several are still in the conceptual or prototype phase. New scanning features, audio descriptions, language identifiers, machine-learning tools, text mining, and speech processors could all soon appear in forthcoming assistive technologies.

Abdulrahman Al-Atawi, a professor at the college of computing and informatics and supervisor of the Center for Innovation in E-learning at the Saudi Electronic University, the first university in the Kingdom to exclusively adopt e-learning strategies and technologies, told Arab News that such technologies will play a significant part in students’ journeys.

In January, the Global Trends in E-Learning forum was held in Riyadh, where global leaders in the education sector shared their insights, exchanged experiences and discussed strategies to serve the online learning process.




The two-day Global Trends in E-Learning event that took place in Riyadh on Feb. 21-23 brought together resource persons and participants from 20 countries and 50 companies. (AN file photo)

As part of the forum’s objectives, a contest for EdTech entrepreneurs, faculty and students from across the Kingdom showcased innovative projects using emerging technologies to serve the education sector.

Al-Atawi, who also headed the Committee for the Innovation Oasis and GTEL Demofest, said some of the winning projects were focused on people with special needs.

“For many, the braille code allows the blind and visually impaired to read any form of writing, but when it comes to images and pictures, that’s another story,” he said.

“One of the winning projects, a smart reader for the visually impaired, found a solution to that, verbally describing that image.

“In this era of modern science, we wish to get every bit of information in digital form. With the right tools, we can help members of the special needs community.”

 


Saudi foreign minister urges developing cooperation with BRICS to achieve prosperity

Updated 03 June 2023

Saudi foreign minister urges developing cooperation with BRICS to achieve prosperity

CAPE TOWN: Saudi Arabia is keen to develop future cooperation with the BRICS group to achieve collective prosperity, Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah said on Friday.

The BRICS group consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The Saudi foreign minister participated on Friday in the ministerial meeting of Friends of BRICS in Cape Town, South Africa, held under the theme, “Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.”

In his speech at the meeting, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that the Kingdom was keen to advance its future cooperation with BRICS by benefiting from the potential and capabilities possessed by both sides.

This aimed to fulfill joint interests and achieve prosperity for all, the foreign minister said.

Saudi Arabia was the BRICS group’s largest commercial partner in the Middle East, Prince Faisal said, affirming that trade relations with the BRICS countries had witnessed great growth.

“This reflects the growing and developed relations with the countries of the group,” he said.

The total value of bilateral trade with the countries of the BRICS group increased from $81 billion in 2017 and $128 billion in 2021 to surpass $160 billion last year, the foreign minister said.

The Kingdom shared basic values with the BRICS countries, represented in the belief that relations between countries were based on the principles of respect for sovereignty, non-interference and adherence to international law, Prince Faisal said.

These principles also included the existence of multilateral frameworks and collective action as reference points in the face of mutual challenges.

Saudi Arabia, along with BRICS countries, also believed in the importance of peace, security and stability in order to refocus efforts toward national development and common prosperity, Prince Faisal said.

The Kingdom maintained its commitment to working with international partners to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, he said.

He added that Saudi Arabia also worked on intensifying global efforts to enhance food and energy security amid recurring crises and supply-chain issues.

The Kingdom was a pioneering country worldwide in humanitarian and development aid and was among the top 10 donors to low- and middle-income countries, Prince Faisal said.

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Rassi, undersecretary of the foreign affairs ministry for international multilateral affairs, and Saudi Ambassador to South Africa Sultan Al-Liwiahan Al-Anqary were also part of the Saudi delegation at the meeting.
 


Malaysian minister lauds Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative

Updated 01 June 2023

Malaysian minister lauds Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative

RIYADH: Malaysian Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution praised Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative, facilitating the travel procedures of Hajj pilgrims from Malaysia.

The statement was made during Nasution’s visit on Wednesday to a hall dedicated to the initiative at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where he was briefed on its readiness to facilitate pilgrims’ journey.

The Makkah Route initiative enables Hajj pilgrims from six countries to complete immigration, cargo and travel procedures before departing for the Kingdom.
 


Kenyan defense minister meets Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition chief

Updated 31 May 2023

Kenyan defense minister meets Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition chief

RIYADH: Secretary-General of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Moghedi met Kenyan Defense Minister Aden Bare Duale in Nairobi on Wednesday to discuss counterterrorism and violent extremism-related issues.

During his meeting with Al-Moghedi, the Kenyan minister praised the coalition’s framework – for military, counterterrorism, anti-terrorism financing, as well as intellectual and media matters – as a strategic pillar in fighting terrorism and violent extremism.

He added that terrorism has its roots in intellectual and ideological orientations, which constitute the basis of the extremist approach.

“Working on preparing the mindset and integrating it within the proper framework constitutes one of the proactive action pillars aimed to repress and contain extremist thinking,” Duale said.

Al-Moghedi said that strategic initiatives by the coalition in its counterterrorism efforts have taken into consideration the hierarchy of terrorist tendencies.

The secretary-general also spoke about social media and communication platforms, and their role in influencing users. He also discussed countering illegal terror financing through military support and assistance services.

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Who’s Who: Hussain AbdRab Al-Nabi, vice president at SAP South Europe, Middle East and Africa

Updated 31 May 2023

Who’s Who: Hussain AbdRab Al-Nabi, vice president at SAP South Europe, Middle East and Africa

Hussain AbdRab Al-Nabi is an innovation and strategy marketing leader and expert who has worked in both marketing and finance fields. He is vice president and head of marketing strategy at SAP South Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He has contributed significantly to SAP throughout his more than decade-long experience with the company.

As VP, his responsibilities include developing and implementing cohesive marketing strategies for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and managing relationships with regional and global stakeholders across all departments.

AbdRab Al-Nabi is also executive marketing director at SAP for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. His responsibilities cover seven countries and more than 13 major cities.

Before that, he worked as head of marketing transformation at SAP, where he led a team for restructuring the scope of marketing within the targeted countries.

In 2016, he was appointed marketing director for the newly segmented market unit of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen, and as a financial services marketing program head for the MENA region. During that time, AbdRab Al-Nabi developed marketing programs for the financial services industry.

Previously at SAP, he was assigned as marketing lead for the public services and energy, and natural resources industries, and he worked closely with industry principles to drive a focused marketing plan.

He first joined SAP in 2011 as a country marketing manager, handling the marketing and demand generation initiatives in Saudi Arabian operations.

In 2008, AbdRab Al-Nabi worked at Zain Group as a segment manager of corporate marketing and acting head of business marketing.

Before that, he was a relationship manager in the commercial markets division at SAMBA Financial Group.

AbdRab Al-Nabi started his career in 2001 as a credit and marketing senior officer at ORIX Leasing company, and later worked as a financial controller at Arab National Bank.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. AbdRab Al-Nabi completed the Esade executive leadership program and the Misk leaders program last year. He has also obtained certifications from the Association of International Product Marketing and Management.

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Saudi citizen’s kidnapping adds new chapter to Lebanon’s chronicle of crime and impunity

Updated 31 May 2023

Saudi citizen’s kidnapping adds new chapter to Lebanon’s chronicle of crime and impunity

  • Despite Mashari Al-Mutairi’s record-fast rescue, incident revives memories of abductions, hijackings, and armed robberies
  • Saudi Arabia is committed to having Lebanon back in the Arab fold, says Saudi researcher Salman Al-Ansari

JEDDAH: Despite the record-fast rescue by Lebanese security services on Tuesday of a kidnapped Saudi citizen, the incident comes as yet another reminder of the many heists, abductions and hijackings that have plagued the Arab country since the 1970s.

Mashari Al-Mutairi, an employee of Saudi Arabia’s Saudia airlines who lived in the Beirut suburb of Aramoun, was abducted at about 3 a.m. on Sunday. The Lebanese Army’s intelligence directorate found and freed him after a security operation on the border with Syria.

He was received at the Saudi Embassy in Beirut by Ambassador Walid Bukhari, who said in a statement: “The released Saudi citizen is in good health, and we thank the army and internal security forces. The security efforts confirm the Lebanese authorities’ keenness to secure tourism security.”

News of Al-Mutairi’s abduction will have come as little surprise to millions of Lebanese who have endured decades of similar disappearances, hostage situations and armed robberies — crimes that are again on the rise as the nation grapples with chronic economic woes.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid bin Abdullah Bukhari, right, and Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi attend a press conference at Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. (Reuters)

In the first 10 months of 2021, the number of car thefts rose by 212 percent, robberies by 266 percent and murders by 101 percent compared to the same period of 2019, according to figures from International Information, an independent consultancy based in Beirut.

Ever since the 1975-90 civil war, Lebanon has been a transit, source and destination country for arms trafficking. These same networks are today used to move stolen goods, control the black market and facilitate the burgeoning drugs trade — many of them controlled by the armed Shiite group Hezbollah, which continues to dominate Lebanese public life.

“Any country that has a non-state actor within it is considered a ‘failed state,’” Salman Al-Ansari, a Saudi political researcher, told Arab News. “Lebanon has never been this dominated by a militia that works for an outside power.

“The crime, drug smuggling, economic collapse, currency decline are only symptoms of the actual root problem, which is the lack of national sovereignty. There is no point in rectifying the symptoms as long as the actual root problem exists. It’s like hoping to treat a serious illness with a painkiller.

“Lebanon should change course and realize that their future is very dark if they allow a non-state actor to dictate its trajectory.”

Events in Lebanon today have echoes of the bad old days of the 1980s, when kidnappings, torture, murder and drug trafficking reached endemic proportions against the backdrop of the civil war, which devastated the country.

Back then, Westerners were common targets. In 1982, pro-Iran extremists kidnapped Davis S. Dodge, then president of American University in Beirut, from the university campus. He was flown to a prison near Tehran and held until his release a year later.

In 1984, Dodge’s successor as president of the AUB, Dr. Malcolm Kerr, was shot dead by two gunmen outside his office. The Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility for the killing, citing the US military presence in Lebanon as its motive.

The same year, William Francis Buckley, a CIA operative working at the US Embassy in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah and later murdered. One of the reasons for his abduction was thought to be the upcoming trial of 17 Iran-backed militants in Kuwait.

Several times during this period, whole planeloads of people were taken hostage. In 1984, a Kuwait Airways flight from Kuwait City to Karachi, Pakistan, was hijacked by four Lebanese and diverted to Tehran.

Due to unmet demands, the hijackers shot and killed American passengers Charles Hegna and William Stanford, both of whom were officials from the US Agency for International Development, before dumping their bodies on the tarmac.

Less than a year later, on June 14, 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked soon after taking off from Athens. For three days, the plane went to and from Algiers and Beirut. US Navy diver Robert Stethem was murdered aboard the flight.

Dozens of passengers were held hostage over the next two weeks until they were finally released by their captors after some of their demands were met. The hijackers had demanded the release of 700 Shiite Muslims from Israeli custody.

Western analysts accused Hezbollah of hijacking the plane, a claim the group rejected.

In 1987, British humanitarian and hostage negotiator Terry Waite traveled to Beirut to negotiate with the IJO, which had taken several hostages. However, he was himself abducted by the group and remained in captivity for 1,763 days — the first four years of which he spent in solitary confinement.

A year later, Col. William Higgins, a US marine serving with the UN forces in South Lebanon, was kidnapped and murdered by a Hezbollah-aligned splinter group of the Al-Amal movement, “Believers Resistance.”

 Malcolm Kerr, President of the American University of Beirut, who was shot and killed by gunmen as he arrived at his office on campus. (AUB)

Although Lebanon is no longer in the grip of outright civil war, the financial crisis which began in 2019, combined with the political class’s failure to establish a new government, have created an environment of growing lawlessness and desperation.

Indeed, there are indications that the kidnapping of Al-Mutairi could have been orchestrated by a criminal organization with a hand in the production and trade of the amphetamine Captagon, which blights the entire region.

Lebanese news station MTV reported in recent days that a drug dealer known as Abu Salle, who is described as one of the region’s most prominent cartel bosses, was behind Al-Mutairi’s kidnapping.

The Lebanese Army raid of a Captagon factory in connection with the kidnapping lends weight to this theory.

Criminal networks move stolen goods, control the black market and facilitate the burgeoning drugs trade in Lebanon — many of them controlled by Hezbollah. (AFP)

Although Lebanese officials were quick to condemn the kidnapping, there are concerns the incident could hamper efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, which have long been strained by the influence of Hezbollah.

However, Al-Ansari is confident the kidnapping will not obstruct progress on normalization.

“This could be considered a small obstacle in the way, but at the end of the day, Saudi Arabia is committed to having Lebanon back to the Arab fold in a way that it can have its own sovereignty away from Iranian hegemony,” he said.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic relations under a Chinese-mediated deal. How this new arrangement will impact the activities of Iran’s proxy forces throughout the region, however, remains ill-defined.

TWA Boeing 727 captain John L. Testrake from Richmond, Missouri, emerges from the cockpit of his hijacked airliner 19 June 1985 at Beirut airport to talk to newsmen. (Getty Images/AFP)

“It is still unclear what the Chinese mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran will result in with regard to the Lebanese file,” Al-Ansari said. “It will de-escalate the tension, but it will not solve the problem overnight.”

Although Lebanon is a long way from reaching stability, Al-Ansari believes Saudi Arabia “will work hard with the highest level of government in Lebanon to find a way to have political and economic reforms, combat corruption and drug smuggling, and have the right kind of governance.”

International observers warned of a potential power vacuum after long-time president Michel Aoun left power in October. To this day, Lebanon’s parliament has yet to elect a new president, prolonging the nation’s political paralysis.

“The Saudi ambassador to Beirut has been vocal and supportive in finding a solution to the power vacuum and pushing for reforms and appointing a government, because at the end of the day, Saudi Arabia can’t provide anything if there is no actual solidified government in Beirut,” Al-Ansari said.

“Saudi Arabia doesn’t want anything from Lebanon except for it to be politically stable and prosperous. It will take a long time to accomplish these goals, but at the end of the day, it’s up to the Lebanese to decide their future, and the Saudis will be helping them with whatever they can.”

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