The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has decided to introduce the use of screen reader software for visually impaired candidates in various examinations. The Commission will conduct tests for visually impaired candidates by providing screen-reading software at various centres as soon as the feasibility and availability of proper infrastructure/ software and proper testing are ensured.
The decision comes after a plea was filed in a court raising the issue of a lack of proper opportunity to persons with blindness/ low vision in the civil services examination being conducted by the UPSC.
The UPSC’s counsel said it was likely to be taken up in the next year’s cycle.
UPSC clarified that it does not have its own infrastructure to conduct its examinations across the country and it is totally and wholly dependent on the infrastructure and manpower of the state governments, district authorities, schools and colleges which are entrusted to conduct the tests. It said with a view to ensuring availability of this facility to the visually impaired candidates, the UPSC has already requested the coordinating supervisors (district collectors, district magistrates/divisional commissioners etc of the districts where the examinations are conducted) to ensure availability of such facility as early as possible.
The UPSC has also written to the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disability (NIEPVD), Dehradun, to explore the possibility/ feasibility of using the computer labs of NIEPVD and its regional centres to conduct its examinations for such candidates who would opt for the assistance of screen reader software.
