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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Wednesday, September 08, 2004 - The Saint Lucia Blind Welfare Association
SLBWA is calling on the commercial sector to provide goods and services that can
more effectively serve low vision persons in the community.
The Association says it has been successful in promoting integration of visually
impaired persons into mainstream activities, however, Director of the SLBWA Mr.
Anthony Avril says other organisations must assist in
the effort.
Mr. Avril says non governmental organizations have a critical role to play in
the provision of goods and services which are suited to meet the needs of the
disabled in an inclusive way.
He cited simple things such as easy to read large print on the labels of
consumer goods as a small but meaningful start.
Mr. Avril pointed to a developing trend in the Caribbean geared towards a more
consumer oriented approach to catering for not only the blind but other disabled
persons. “We have made just a rudimentary start for low vision service because
we realise that we really have not addressed the needs of people with low vision
in the Caribbean, yes we’ve being giving them glasses and so on but we have to
help them to make optimum use of their functioning vision.”
Meantime the Saint Blind Welfare Association is looking forward to it’s
participation in a regional workshop to be hosted in Barbados later this month.
The workshop will be hosted by the Caribbean Council for the Blind. The aim is
to train persons who are involved in teaching Information Technology Computer
programmes for the blind and visually Impaired.
“This regional programme is ensuring that every island country and territory in
the English Speaking Caribbean would be equipped with the assisting technology
to provide access to the computer for blind visually impaired people.”
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