Nattiq emphasizes blind citizens' participation in building the information society

Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) opened the forum stating that the 'miracle of technology' was available to all.

Auda Hazeem, CEO of Nattiq Technologies, stated that blind citizens' participation in building the Information Society will not be achieved unless they have full access to all means of information including standard PCs installed in private and public facilities, software CDs available in the market and all various printed materials. He also pointed out that blind individuals must enhance their IT skills by obtaining the ICDL certification.

Rana Al Qaisi, ICDL GCC Regional Manager of Business Affairs, spoke at the forum emphasizing joint efforts with Nattiq Technologies to make ICDL tests accessible to blind and visually impaired users. Said Ghazzi, Microsoft EPG Manager, demonstrated the 'Save as DAISY' functionality supported by Microsoft Word which mainly benefits blind and visually impaired Windows users.

During the forum, 20 blind and visually impaired attendees were surprised to receive a free gift from ictQatar. Hal screen reader, Hal Pen screen reader and Victor Reader Stream E-book player were distributed among them.

"By enabling blind users to have full access to all standard PCs, non-standard software applications and all printed materials, they can seriously compete in today's job market, if they obtain the ICDL certification they may not be asked by potential employers the question of 'what can you do?' as a blind person applying for a job,"

said Auda Hazeem, Nattiq's CEO.

Adaptive Technology offered by Nattiq continues to make a difference in the lives of blind and visually impaired users in the Middle East. Many of them were able to obtain competitive jobs in conglomerate organizations throughout the Middle East.