Publish books accessible to visually impaired people: Rights activists

Rights activists at a discussion programme stressed taking necessary steps for publishing books which will be accessible to people with visual impairments and print disabilities.

They also sought support from journalists, writers and publishers for proper implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty which aims to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired or print-disabled, said a press release. On June 27, 2013 member countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) finalised the Marrakesh Treaty.

They came up with the call at an orientation meeting on ‘Marrakesh Treaty Accession and Way Forward with journalists, publishers and writers’ at Agargaon in the capital on Tuesday. Visually Impaired People’s Society (VIPS) supported by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) organised the event at Liberation War Museum where eminent educationist Dr Muhammad Jafar Iqbal was present as the chief guest. Daud Miah, registrar of copyrights at the Bangladesh Copyright Office was also present there as a special guest.

Hundreds of books are published in the world, among them, only 1-7 per cent of books are suitable for 285 million visually impaired and print-disabled people, the speakers said, adding that about 90 per cent of these disabled people have limited sources of income and they mainly live in the developing countries.

Stressing the importance of the treaty, Dr Jafar Iqbal requested the government and other organisations to come forward to implement the treaty.

Moderated by Jahangir Alam, general secretary of VIPS, Bhaskar Bhattcharya, national consultant of Accessibility at a2i programme, ICT Division; Jafor Raja Chowdhury, former registrar of Copyrights, Bangladesh Copyright division; Nazrana Yeasmin Hira, programme coordinator of MJF, Supreme Court lawyer Musherraf Hossain Mazumder, adviser of VIPS, also spoke at the event, among others.

Jahangir Alam said, Bangladesh on September 26 in 2022 ratified the treaty and Bangladesh became the 116th nation to sign the agreement. “As per the treaty, it is necessary to amend Bangladesh’s copyright law so that our copyright does not hinder the process of making books accessible books to visually impaired people”, he said.

Visually impaired Musherraf Hossain Mazumder said there are over four lakh visually impaired people in the country. “It is possible to solve the problems regarding their reading if the government takes necessary steps by making the copyright law effective in line with the Treaty”, he said.

The implementation of the treaty would ensure the equal participation of all including disabled people in the economy, society and cultural fields to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal by 2030, the speakers said.