Good tidings for the visually impared in JOOUST

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology  has received donations of nine Hable One devices from the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa (KBTA), a charitable organization based in Nairobi. A Hable One device is an assistive device for use by persons with Visual Impairment (VI) which KBTA, in partnership with the developers,  use to  enhance digital literacy and skills to learners with visual impairment. The Hable one device is a miniature keyboard and easy-to-use remote access for a smartphone or tablet, designed to enable visually impaired persons to easily navigate through their phones or tablet.

While expressing gratitude to KBTA’s gesture, the Ag. Vice Chancellor Prof. Joseph Bosire lauded this initiative adding that it is in conformity with the University’s objective of inclusivity through creating a dynamic learning environment that is accommodative to all learners.

The Department of Special Needs Education and Early Childhood Development, led by Prof. Charles Omoke, conducted a user testing activity on the same day, 18th of June, 2023 at the Special Needs Education Skills Laboratory that was attended and witnessed by  the faculty members, county officials and a number of  visualy impaired students. It was noted that of the nine Hable One Devices received, some will be donated to  students and staff, while  the remainder will be retained in the department for future training

.

Kilimanjaro Blind Trust Africa is currently enhancing digital literacy and skills to learners with visual impairments (VI) in 6 countries within eastern Africa including Malawi. Their main objective is inclusion of those with visual impairments through delivering ‘an end to end, Education to Employment’ program  hinged  on 3 pillars namely; access to digital literacy & skills for VI learners from primary school to University,  access to STEM subjects, coding and other digital skills to high school learners in order to widen their access to career choices and an employability skills program that supports VI young graduates to gain professional skills in order to access mainstream employment.

This donation comes as a big  boost to  the University which through the Department of SNE has over the years made concerted efforts to furnish the  SNE Skills Lab. . The department has previously attracted funding by  the National Research Fund to run a 3-year project that lapsed last year whose thrust was Promoting Awareness and Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Education and Community based Programmes (PAPPS) within Siaya County.

.