Highlights
• Radio Aksh’ employs Internet Radio technology, which has no geographical boundaries.
• A dedicated team of trained volunteers assists in the creation of radio channel content
Country`s first-ever radio channel for the visually impaired, named `Radio Aksh` has been launched in Nagpur, The Blind Relief Association Nagpur and Samdrushti Kshamata Vikas Avam Anusandhan Mandal (Saksham) pioneered the concept, which will help the visually-impaired gain seamless access
This concept was developed as a replacement for audiobooks provided by Samdrushti Kshamata Vikas Avam Anusandhan Mandal to the visually impaired on their digital devices, access to which was restricted due to travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This platform makes educational resources covering a wide range of subjects available on digital platforms owned by visually impaired people, who can access this vast bank of information from anywhere because, unlike FM and AM radio, Internet Radio technology is used, which has no geographical limitations.
A dedicated team of trained volunteers, mostly women, contributes to the creation of content for the radio channel, which is streamed to the visually impaired throughout India and the world
Shirish Darvekar, the channel’s coordinator and a member of the Samdrushti Kshamata Vikas Avam Anusandhan Mandal, told, “For the past few years, visually impaired people have come to us to have their audiobooks created and delivered to their devices.
However, COVID-19 put a stop to this.
It had an impact on their learning, so we had to devise a backup plan.”
“We learned about the launch of Internet Radio in India and made contact with a company that develops software for it.
Despite the fact that our requirements were unique to them, they promised cooperation.
This is possibly the first Internet radio station for the visually impaired.”
Darvekar stated that their channel has received a limited, but overwhelming response from people, and that the service will be more widely available in the coming days. He also stated that the channel is available on the Play Store and via Zeno Radio on Apple devices.
We have approximately 161 listeners in just two to four days. It paints a very positive picture “He continued. According to one of the channel’s volunteers, “Doing things like this for the visually impaired makes me happy. They can study from home using Radio Aksh.
I have some free time for this and contribute one or two hours in the afternoon every day.”
One of the channel’s users told that the radio channel is extremely useful because books in Braille script are not always available.
“Now that we have more information, our studies will be easier. We have the impression that we are attending classes inside a classroom. It is a great initiative for the visually impaired,” he added.