Union minister Thaawarchand Gehlot virtually launched the “Sugamya Bharat App” Tuesday, a crowd-sourcing mobile application, and a handbook entitled “Access – The Photo Digest” to improve accessibility.
The app allows people with disabilities and even the elderly to register accessibility-related problems in buildings, modes of transport or any infrastructure by uploading photos on it. They can also get information about accessibility issues through the app.
This mobile app will also address coronavirus related issues faced by people with disabilities.
The app and handbook were developed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
“The Sugamya Bharat App – a crowd-sourcing mobile application is a means to raise awareness and improve accessibility in the three pillars of the Accessible India Campaign, namely the built environment, the transportation sector and the ICT ecosystem in India,” Gehlot said.
The app offers five main functions, four of which are direct related to improving accessibility while the fifth is a special feature intended only for people with disabilities due to coronavirus issues.
âThe accessibility-related features include registration of inaccessibility complaints about the three broad pillars of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan, positive feedback from examples and best practices worth following and shared by people like jan-bhagidhari, department updates; and guidelines and circulars related to accessibility, âsaid the minister.
He also said that in order to bring accessibility into the public domain by involving the people, the prime minister envisioned a mobile application detailing the issues related to accessibility faced by people with disabilities and others can be obtained through ‘jan-bhagidhari’ through crowdsourcing.
This crowd-sourcing will serve a dual purpose: to generate awareness and awareness about the need for accessibility and also bring about a noticeable change in the accessible functions offered in built-up spaces, the transportation sector and other services. Implementation of accessibility-related activities across the country would contribute to the vision of creating a universally accessible and inclusive India under the Accessible India Campaign, âsaid Gehlot.
The app comes with several easy-to-use features such as simple drop-down menus, videos in Hindi and English, and also added sign language interpretations that demonstrate the process of registering and uploading complaints with photos.
The mobile app has been made accessible for ease of use for persons with disabilities, also with features such as font size adjustment, color contrast option, text-to-speech and an integrated screen reader in Hindi and English.
It is available in 10 regional languages âânamely Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Odiya, Kannada, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi and Malayalam.
The app also offers easy photo uploads with the premise geotagging option where accessibility intervention is required.
The app has a facility for providing notifications to the users at the time of registration, regular status updates, and at the time of resolution and closure of the complaint.
The mobile app can be downloaded by Android users from Play Store. The iOS version of the app will be available from March 15, 2021.
Gehlot said the handbook entitled “Access – The Photo Digest” is a collection of photos from various states and UTs.
This book is intended as a resource and guide to raise stakeholder awareness of 10 basic accessibility features and related good-bad practices in easy-to-understand graphical form.
The electronic version of this handbook will also be available on the app and on the department website.
(This story was not edited by our editorial team and was generated from a feed.)
News Highlights
- The iOS version of the app will be available by March 15, 2021. Gehlot said the handbook entitled Access – The Photo Digest is a collection of photos from various states and UT. This book is intended as a resource and guide to raise stakeholder awareness about 10 basic accessibility features and related good-bad practices in easy-to-understand graphical form. The electronic version of this handbook will also be available on the app and on the department website.
- ‘Sugamya Bharat App’ Launched To Reduce Accessibility Issues Facing Disabled People In Buildings, Transportation Systems