What do we do?
I want to be able to pick up and read whatever it is that my neighbour can pick up and read, says Sandy McLear, a blind user of the CNIB Library.
That is what FORCE wants to achieve. FORCE's mission is to make the world of print accessible to those who are blind or partially sighted. So that school children can use their school books, and 'Harry Potter' can become a vivid element of their imagination, too; so that adults can obtain the latest news and can search the internet, retrieving the information in a format they can read.
To
this aim, FORCE provides expertise and hands-on training for
institutions in developing countries that are responsible for the
production and/or distribution of information in alternative format
materials. Such institutions are usually public or specialised
libraries, associations for/of the blind and partially sighted and
schools for the blind. Projects include:
planning, financing and setting up of Braille and talking books production facilities as well as general services (e.g. special reading rooms) for print-handicapped readers;
organisation
of workshops on Braille production, tactile
graphics, digital audio, radio, Music
Braille etc.;
organisation of (inter)national conferences to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and to encourage the development of cross-national networks of institutions producing or providing alternative format materials.
Further links with information about the organisation:
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