Many blind individuals in Khanh Hoa Province, south-central Vietnam have been able to host live selling to improve their lives after completing a course on using touchscreen phones designed for the blind.

On Monday, the Center for Supporting Technology Development for the Blind, under the Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind, in collaboration with the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind launched a new cohort of the course.

Phan Tan Minh, a standing member of the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind, stated that the course teaches blind individuals how to use accessibility features like screen readers and voice recognition tools, applications such as Zalo and Gmail, and how to look up information.

“Instead of swiping the phone screen from left to right, blind users move their fingers on the left side of the screen,” Minh explained.

“The phone will then read aloud the contents of the standby screen, message screen, or phone call screen.”

Nguyen Thanh Tam, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Audio Books Charity Fund for the Blind, said that smartphones are the most practical tool for helping blind individuals access society and improve their lives, versus the high cost of Braille books.

Le Van Thang, chairman of the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind, said that introducing the course on using touchscreen phones has significantly helped blind individuals in the province overcome feelings of self-consciousness and inferiority, while also promoting their integration into society.

“Through the first classes, many blind individuals have increased their income by live streaming and selling goods on social media, or used their phones to book rides and transfer money,” Thang said.

A group of representatives from the Hang and Han families gave gifts to the learners, including 150kg of rice and VND6 million (US$236) in cash.

Each student received VND200,000 ($8) to cover the cost of registering for a 4G network. 

The Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind gave away 30 walking sticks to the learners.

At the course opening ceremony, Hang Chuc Nguyen, a representative of the Hang and Han families, expressed his gratitude to the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind for facilitating the collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Audiobooks Charity Fund for the Blind, allowing them to support the community.

“We never imagined that blind people would be able to sell products online or promote their crafts thanks to smartphones,” Nguyen said.

To date, the Hang and Han families have donated VND150 million ($5,900) to fund the training program and have also given 30 smartphones to blind individuals through the Khanh Hoa Province Association for the Blind.

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