Taiwan’s first digital library for the visually-impaired opened in Taipei on Monday.
The digital book service is aimed at encouraging students at the Taipei School for the Visually Impaired to read. It is also part of the city government’s plan to bridge the gap between these students and sighted students when it comes to digital learning.
The library has erected a braille map at the entrance to help visually impaired students familiarize themselves with the layout of the building. Bright colors are also used as a stimulant in the main hall. The library also uses a software that enables students with varying degrees of vision impairment to quickly search for the latest books and information.
One of the students who used the library on the first day, Joy Chang, said she’s very excited about the new service.
“In the past, it was just books, nothing very innovative," said Chang. "But now there are digital whiteboards and digital screens for us to touch. It’s easy to look for information. Here there are tablets for checking information, and there is another [machine] over there that transfers books to voiced ones after scanning. I think it’s very convenient for visually-impaired students. The library is a lot different from the traditional library we had before.
Again that was a visually-impaired student, Joy Chang, talking about Taipei’s new digital library.