[nfbwatlk] FW: [Wcb-l] new call center to only employe blind people

[Jedi]

Wow. That's great. While it may seem a little bit outdated for the 
U.S., having a call center where blind people can work is real progress 
in the world at large. I thought it was interesting how the article 
said that ATRIEV "hopes" that the blind will meet the same level of 
efficiency as their sighted counterparts.

Respectfully,
Jedi


Original message:


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Glenn McCully <glennmccully at comcast.net>
> Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 2:38 PM
> To: wcb-l at wcbinfo.org
> Subject: [Wcb-l] new call center to only employe blind people


> Philippine call center to employ blind people only
> GMANews.TV - Friday, October 16
> Next week, the Philippines will open its first ever call center that 
> only employs blind persons, a milestone in the struggle of disabled 
> people to cross the digital divide.
> With eight training rooms and three desks dedicated for outbound calls, 
> the call center facility will be equipped with adaptive hardware and 
> software customized to the needs and abilities of the blind.
> Six totally blind, low vision and sighted graduates are currently being 
> trained as trainors in Taipei, Taiwan, the headquarters of the the Asia 
> Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital Opportunity Center (ADOC).
> ADOC provided funds for the facility, a project of the Adaptive 
> Technology for Rehabilitation, Integration, and Empowerment of the 
> Visually Impaired (ATRIEV) Inc.
> The six trainors all came from ATRIEV, an organization that pioneered 
> computer training for the blind in the country, the Resources for the 
> Blind, National Council on Disability Affairs, Philippine National 
> School for the Blind, and the Department of Education.
> The facility’s customized outbound call center software and refreshable 
> Braille display as hardware will allow totally blind individuals to 
> provide customer assistance while listening to the client on the phone 
> and reading the responses in Braille.
> With the technology, the blind will hopefully gain the same speed and 
> efficiency as the sighted call center agent, ATRIEV said.
> ATRIEV has provided IT-related training for the blind for the last 15 
> years, with the use of a screen reader – a software application that 
> translates text to speech – and a screen magnification software.
> ATRIEV also provides on-the-job training in voicemail transcription to 
> its qualified IT-related training graduates, in partnership with Gallop 
> IT Solutions, a local transcription company.
> The launching ceremony for the project will be held on October 20 
> ATRIEV’s Training Center for the Blind in Quezon City.
> The project is expected to be presented at the APEC Conference to be 
> held in Singapore in November 2009. - GMANews.TV
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