IBM India has won the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities as Employer for the year 2008, conferred by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. At a felicitation ceremony recently held in the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on the occasion of the International Day of People with Disabilities, the Honorable Vice-President of India Md Hamid Ansari, presented the National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities 2008 to IBM India in recognition of its significant contribution towards bringing persons with disabilities into the mainstream by removing barriers and providing gainful employment to create a truly inclusive world community.
“Accessible technology is a great equalizer to level the playing field for people with disabilities and contributes to innovation that matters. It's about embracing global diversity and enabling human ability so that all people can reach their full potential at work and in life. This National Award is in recognition of our efforts in making IBM an inclusive workplace and reinforces our commitment to roll out innovations for people with disabilities,” said Ramesh Narasimhan, Executive Sponsor – People with Disabilities (PwD) initiative of IBM.
According to the World Health Organization, there are approximately 314 million visually impaired people worldwide, and between 750 million and 1 billion of the world's six billion people have a speech, vision, mobility, hearing or cognitive disability. With a view to recognizing those who have helped persons with disabilities to lead a better life through their sincere and dedicated service, the Government of India, through the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has given a total of 59 National Awards in the field of disability every year since 1969 to the outstanding individuals and institutions working for the welfare of persons with disabilities.
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IBM India is committed to make information accessible to virtually anyone under any circumstance - to increase employability, productivity and self reliance of persons with disabilities. Today, it provides gainful employment to hundreds of employees with disabilities, both men and women. Persons with disabilities carry on project management, programming, consulting, operations, quality assurance and HR, in mainstream roles. IBM strives to make the work environment barrier-free and supported by suitable assistive technologies.
The IBM India Human Ability and Accessibility Centre strives to makes technology and information easily accessible to over 60 million Indians who are differently-abled and closely collaborates with key government bodies concerning accessibility-related policy and standards in India. Through the use of innovative solutions like IBM Easy Web Browsing, IBMWebAdapt2Me, Hindi Speech recognition, an English assessment tool called Sensei, IBM aDesigner etc, this advanced center catalyzes human capability so that everyone can maximize their potential, regardless of ability or disability.
IBM has a long history of commitment to people with disabilities and accessibility stemming back to 1914 when the company hired its first employee with a disability. Ever since, IBM's pioneering work in accessible technology has created significant new opportunities for individuals as well as businesses. Some of the pioneering achievements in the development of accessible technology solutions from the IBM’s stable includes: The first Braille printer, a talking typewriter for people who are blind, a talking display terminal, and IBM Home Page Reader -- widely considered as one of the best screen readers ever invented for the blind etc.
In addition, solutions such as IBM Easy Web Browsing are helping clients like Macys.com and Mitsukoshi Department Stores enable easier online shopping for people with low vision, including older consumers who may have age-related vision challenges.
Through its consulting services, IBM evaluates and understands clients' key business initiatives and helps them incorporate accessibility into their solutions. IBM also continues to anticipate technology evolution and the needs of tomorrow's globally integrated enterprise through variety of accessibility research projects in the areas of 3-D internet, mobile solutions, and multilingual translation for instant messaging.