By: Nur Zila Zainuddin
KUALA LUMPUR, 1 May - Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) launched an Audio Books Project to help the visually disabled who are in need of reading materials to enhance their mental development, knowledge and reading interest.
The Audio Books Project, launched by the President of the Malaysian Association for the Development of the Blind, Muhammad Huzaifah Ahmad at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here, is a text-to-audio reading application for the visually disabled.
UPM Vice Chancellor, Prof. Datin Paduka Dato’ Dr. Aini Ideris hopes that the Audio Books Project will continue to advance in line with the development of technology and the needs of the disabled.
“This application is also an effort to enhance the capability of those with visual impairment through the use of information technology and visually disabled-friendly features such as the voice-command function and simple ‘swipe’ and ‘tap’ techniques,” she said.
The Audio Books Project was carried out by the Centre for Management of Waqf, Zakat and Endowment (WAZAN), UPM in collaboration with the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology (FSKTM), UPM.
Also present at the event were the Dean of FSKTM, Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar Md. Sultan, FSKTM lecturer, Dr Puteri Suhaiza Sulaiman, WAZAN representative, Zuhaimi Abdul Rahim, Media Prima (TV3) representative, Ally Iskandar and the President of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Malaysia, Siti Sapura Jaapar. - UPM
