Barrier-free access to information and services has been provided for handicapped people in more than 30,000 government and Party organizations in China since the country started to place emphasis on building a barrier-free environment.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Internet technologies have opened new prospects for visually impaired people to gain access to necessary information through such means as turning images into sounds. As a result, handicapped people have had a stronger sense of achievement.

To move forward the campaign, the country put forward clearer and higher requirements for internet-backed barrier-free environment construction from 2008 to 2016.

According to He Chuan with China Braille Press, the key point for success is to make sure that the regulations and laws are mandatory and specific actions are taken.

He, who has visited multiple internet companies in China, said most of the companies were aware of the needs of visually impaired people, and said that they would improve their services for their convenience.

He said technologies to support barrier-free services are maturing, but are not very widely applied. He also disclosed that many people still see providing barrier-free services as a bonus, and not something that is necessary.

Li Qingzhong, president of the China Association of the Blind, suggested that universities open barrier-free information-related courses to tackle the talent shortage and help students build an awareness of helping visually impaired people after they graduate.

Suishou Technology is a personal and household finance management platform based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and a pioneer in personal finance apps. In 2018, the company teamed up with Shenzhen Accessibility Research Association to improve its products and services.

Jiao Yigang, co-founder of Suishou Technology, said a research team of blind engineers was established to test the accessibility of websites and apps, and gave feedback and suggestions to the developers.

Jiao found that without special training, it is difficult for programmers to think from the perspective of blind people, further emphasizing the need to cultivate barrier-free awareness in society.

The problems they encountered included the failure of some apps to turn image information into vocal information for blind users and information discontinuity during interpretation.