FCS undertakes project to empower visually special people with on-the-go knowledge access to the Internet

Date: June 29, 2004

Noida (near Delhi): The Noida-based FCS Software Solutions Ltd has bagged an assistive technologies project that would enable content search, download and reading facility for visually special people on the pocket PC.

According to Mr Dalip Kumar, MD of FCS Software Solutions Ltd: "The culmination of the project would further close the gap between knowledge and its pursuit by visually-special people. It will open up hitherto unimagined opportunities for them."

The use of this software on a pocket PC, a personal data assistant (PDA), will empower both blind and nearly blind people to access content from the Internet anytime, anywhere, thus curtailing their dependence on a non-mobile desktop device and bringing them closer to the everyday palmtop
applications.

The software will enable blind and near-blind people to search through reading material on the select Internet sources, including 'Project Gutenberg', 'Bean Free Library' and 'Bookshare.org'. It will provide them two options - either to read the content on a Braille monitor or to hear it with the aid of a voice synthesizer.

The FCS development team is harnessing the capabilities of kernel-level programming to attain the desired project objectives. "This project will help us register a meaningful presence across almost the entire technological spectrum, ranging from kernel-level programming to high-level programming using Windows CE API," says Mr Vineet Narang, Vice-President (Strategic Planning and Business Development) at FCS, who heads its Offshore Solutions Group (OSG).

The pocket PC project is one of the many endeavors by FCS in the area of assistive technologies.In the past, the company has successfully completed development projects for screen reader and magnifier software as well as a literacy software to aid struggling students. "We employ visually special people as QA professionals," says Mr Narang, "which allows us to deliver a near perfect finished product to the client first time, every time."

FCS sees assistive technologies as one of the sunrise segments that it can bank upon for organic growth. "Our projects for visually special people," says Mr Narang, "have helped us acquire adequate knowledge about the product lifecycle management in this field."

 While Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act creates tremendous potential for business development in this field in the US, the vast, untapped Indian market too provides potentially lucrative avenues.