The Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Jabal Amman Publishers, owner of the Kutubee Interactive Reading Platform, to switch literary works into accessible formats for some 4,000 students with disabilities.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by His Highness Prince Mired bin Raad, President of the HCD, and Sinan Sweis, the CEO of the Jabal Amman Publishers, making Kutubee the first inclusive interactive reading platform in the Arab world.
Under the memorandum, the council will provide technical support for the platform on the Android and iOS operating systems to enable people with disabilities to leverage its contents, which include books and short stories in three languages (Arabic, English and French), along with a video explaining how to use the platform. A statement by the council indicated that the council will also offer technical support to make 30 stories available in sign language on the platform.
Additionally, the agreement also stipulated that the platform’s staff will be trained on methods of effective communication with persons with disabilities and relevant laws, as well as holding an awareness workshop for writers on how to address disability issues within a rights approach.
Prince Mired stressed the importance of this agreement to advance education, which is a real challenge for children with disabilities. Such initiatives would support students with disabilities to leverage online electronic applications to fulfil their education needs.
For his part, Sweis lauded the HCD’s role, underlining that this partnership is a “perfect embodiment” of integrating people with disabilities into the educational process, especially interactive reading applications.
SOURCE: JORDAN NEWS AGENCY