Institutions must make their content accessible to persons with disabilities!

(Patria) - Federal MP of the Independent Bloc Amer Obradović today requested the Government of the Federation of BiH to take measures to make all information related to COVID-19, as well as other general data and decisions, accessible to blind and visually impaired persons.

“This initiative is particularly important due to the fact that there are nearly 5,000 blind and visually impaired persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and due to the impossibility of visual perception, blind persons do not have adequate opportunities to follow current events in daily newspapers and magazines, websites, and other sources of information, and the realization of this initiative would improve the current poor position of this population.

At the same time, the Government would send a message that it cares about marginalized groups and that it wants to open institutions to the public,” said MP Obradović.

There are numerous good solutions, with the application of accessible software tools and techniques such as screen readers and magnifiers, speech synthesizers, Braille, accessible content in electronic format, but also other technologies whose use makes blind and visually impaired persons equal members of society.

“The lack of willingness to share information, quickly and transparently, has become a key symbol of the fight against Coronavirus. At least a symbolic step forward by institutions on that path, even this very practical one, would mean a lot, both for this period and for the future,” concluded Obradović.