Accessibility and employability for persons with vision impairments: Evidence from India, Peru and Jordan

1. Accessibility and employability for persons with vision impairments: Evidence from India, Peru and Jordan NNDR 2013 Joyojeet Pal joyojeet@umich.edu

2. Link http://ictd.si.umich.edu/nndr/

3. AT and Employability in Jordan, India, Peru • Large qualitative study: 176 respondents • 25 Jordan • 50 Peru • 101 India • Capturing the nature of employability, narrative-based • Underemployment • Employment engineering • Aspiration • Peer effects

4. Aspiration Lack of AT in institutions and aspiration effects Now, I want to be a bank employee. I mean to tell you the truth, I do not know why we cannot do it. It is all on the computer. But to tell you the truth, I think the most important thing at this point is to root the AT in education at lower levels so that when we reach the 10th grade, we can easily take part in the class through the computer. R18, Jordan

5. Job-seeking and vision impairment Culture of independent living I would prepare a short CV after I graduated from High School. I would be thrown out of some places by the security. There are others who would give me money as though I am a beggar. He only looks at me as though I am someone in need and a conduit to get to heaven. R14, Jordan

6. Lack of AT in public sphere Low awareness of AT, segregation and impairment acquisition I just showed it to my friend, he is right now is a lawyer; so when I showed it to him he was totally dumbfounded. So what I mean to say there was no reaction at all means for a minute or so they were not able to speak a word because they could not believe their eyes. And then slowly questions started rising up. How to use the computer, how to use the cell and how do you understand things. The reaction was very thrilling. R49, India

7. Capability Deprivation Lack of awareness at the workplace, quota culture I was not allowed alone to the wash room also. This had put me in depression and I started suffocating in the office premises. I would attend all the meetings, but with special attention. Once I could not resist, and dropped a mail to the director and the reporting manager, begging that I also want to be given responsibility, and I can perform. I got a reply saying that he was “worried to give you stress”. R1, India

8. Underemployment Builds on well-established global research on low-skill positions Old: Candle-making, reception New: Medical transcription I have trained hundreds of candidates (in screen reader use). I come to know from them that most of them do not get a job for which they study or get trained. Some of them are technically well trained but are offered a telephone operator’s job.... I am totally convinced, that whatever be the capabilities of the blind, the society never once accepts them as equal to normal … If they raise their voice, they fear that they may even be removed from the job itself — LA, Bangalore

9. Early Economic Engineering Channeling people towards certain jobs I wanted to pursue my degree is science, I was told it would not be possible. So I asked for commerce...I was promised that I will be given commerce subjects... I had no exposure outside of my school’s compound and I had no idea about “Arts” subjects; I feel, at least, I could have been given an explanation about the various study streams like ‘commerce’, ‘arts’, ‘home science’ etc. I was taken to the college by an NGO who got me admitted in the college and after attending the college for 3-4 days, I realized that I was not given science or commerce but arts NA (female), HR executive

10. Late Employment Engineering CSOs work towards immediate employability Old: Candle-making, reception New: Medical transcription We did a little HTML, but other than that nothing. We actually asked our lecturers to teach us some applications, but they told us that the job opportunities in that field are less. We were asked to concentrate on medical transcription. But now the opportunities in this field (MT) also have reduced. Since we are already into this field, it is very difficult for us to move to another field. R27, India

11. Peer effects Jobs of cohort members make a significant impact on choices I used to see some of my seniors, complete degree and again coming back to teach. Also a few were employed in some government offices as telephone operator and so on. Some of them were very good sports players, so they got into some bank. I also wanted to get some of the jobs as my seniors. Therefore i also took to sports and was very active in sports. Whatever the seniors were doing, I used to just follow them, thinking that I'll also get into a job like them. -SH (Female) Unemployed

12. AT barriers Cost and language issues with AT is a challenge They were not ready to me give me the legal version of JAWS; because I was on employment only on contract and that contract was only for 4 months. They were of the opinion that as JAWS is quite costly; they can’t waste the same on a temporary contractual employee. R12, India The informatics guy came here and deleted all my screen readers because they said that as we don’t have licenses, they didn’t want me to have it, so they deleted it. So I said “how am I going to work”, “that’s not my problem” he said, “I can install NVDA”, but the NVDA is terrible because it’s free it’s a terrible version. R3, Peru

13. Who assists with technology? Table 4. Sources of help on technology issues • Home not major source for AT failures • CSOs major in India, not in Jordan, Peru (majority first use) • Friends key all locations • Online growing all locations

14. Other findings • Women spend more monthly on phones (even though they use less) • Men also more likely to port numbers • Phones mostly multi-purpose devices • Intersection with advanced desktop users • Music (71%), Bluetooth (61%), Voice Recorders (19%), GPS (15%) • Piracy unrelated to affordability, education, gender • But STRONG association with new/used, Nokia N v/s C • 95% note cellphone as essential to their social circles

15. Social Media • Used for economic networking in India, Peru • Primarily government / CSO managed in Jordan

16. Work Ahead • Conceptualization of Aspiration – adulthood and AT • Very little research on narratives around AT use • CSOs central, long-term part of service provision in India, Peru – not Jordan • Ideas of marginality, intersectionality in ICTD • Theoretical work b/w Amplification and Reconfiguration • Current research in Rwanda, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Costa Rica & Bolivia*

17. Copies of papers Contact Joyojeet Pal joyojeet@umich.edu