Techo Rama

In the near future, visually impaired people will be able to have access to the audio and video content, thanks to the IBM. The tech firm will very soon unveil a multimedia browser to make it possible. Dubbed the Accessibility Browser (A-Browser), the new software has been designed by a blind employee named Dr Chieko Asakawa who works at in IBM’s research laboratory in Tokyo, Japan. The A-Browser allows the blind or the partly-sighted people to have the same sort of control over the multimedia content as experienced by the normal people. Currently, the team is focusing on the Real Player and Windows Media Player compatible content. By using the A-Browser, the visually-impaired person can control media content by using preset shortcut keys instead of having to seek the control buttons using a mouse. The browser also allows the users to slow down or increase the speed of the video. The volume controls let user adjust the sound of various sources in parallel. Frances West, director of IBM’s Human Ability and Accessibility Centre said: This is not just from a social responsibility standpoint, but with ageing baby-boomers we think that such technology could really benefit the population in general because all of us will be on this ageing journey. It hasn’t been revealed that whether the A-Browser will be launched worldwide or in select markets. As it is anticipated to be offered for free later this year, we could expect a global launch.