1. AEGIS 2nd International Conference
EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO
COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS
•Jayant Mahajan
•Shrirang Sahasrabudhe
•Dhananjay Bhole
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 1/ 13

2. Scope
• Education for Visually impaired in India
• Trends in screen reader usage in India
• Orca a possible solution to resolve issues of VI in
India
– Data analysis
– conclusions
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3. Education for Visually impaired in India
• g
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4. Figure 2 - Age Wise Population Distribution of Visually
Impaired in India – Census 2001
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5. Cost of providing assistive technology
using proprietary software
Hardware / Software Cost
Proprietary SR [10] INR. 50,000 / - , (approx USD 1010.101)
Hardware (laptop) INR. 30,000 / - (approx USD 606)
Proprietary OS License and other Proprietary
software’s INR. 20,000 / - (approx USD 404)
Total cost of technology INR. 10,0000 / - (USD 202)
Cost of providing assistive technology VI Population = 86,28,378 (people) x INR 100000
in the main stream = INR. 862838 Million (approx USD 14737.07 Million)
The total provision of funds in Indian Union Budget 2011 for disabilities is merely
INR. 45000 Million (approx 905 Million USD)
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6. Table 2 - Cost of providing assistive technology using
open source technology
Hardware / Software Cost
Open Source Screen Reader ORCA INR. 0.00
Hardware (laptop) INR. 30,000
OS Licenses and other open source software’s INR. 0.00
Total cost of technology INR. 30,000
Cost of providing assistive technology VI in the main =86,28,378(People) x INR . 30,000
stream = INR 258850 Million (approx USD 5229 Million)
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 6/ 13

7. Trends OS usage
• The Graph shows that
– Usage of windows is steadily decreasing
– Usage of Open Source OS is increasing steadily
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 7/ 13

8. Orca a possible solution to resolve issues of VI in
India - Data analysis
Reasons For choosing ORCA Percentage
Govt. Enforced 100%
Its Free 65%
Easy to Customize 66%
On Recommendation 45%
Passion for Open Source 60%
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 8/ 13

9. Satisfaction Level of ORCA Users
Satisfaction Level Percentage
Very Effective 20%
Effective 20%
Average 32%
Not Effective 28%
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 9/ 13

10. Comparative study
• We conducted a comparative study of these three screen readers, based on
37 different parameters.
• The parameters were derived from the 12 principals which are used to
design an ideal screen reader[9].
• The conclusions of our comparative study are as follows:
– Advantages of ORCA in Indian scenario over other two SR
• Free and hence can serve the masses.
• Available in many Indian languages, which are not supported by the
other two screen readers
• Can be customized to speak in any Indian language
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11. Road Ahead
• Sound quality of orca needs to be improved by developing a better
quality speech engine
• User friendly Training and User manuals have to be prepared
• Quality of end-user support has to improve and become more user
centric
• State IT policies need to be amended to promote open source amongst
its people and organizations
• Establish NGOs to promote and support ORCA, these NGOs will form a
bridge between the orca development team and the users
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 11/ 13

12. Conclusions and Summery
• Advantages of ORCA in Indian scenario over other
two SR
• Free and hence can serve the masses.
• Available in many Indian languages, which are not
supported by the other two screen readers
• Can be customized to speak in any Indian language
Saturday, November 26, 2011 AEGIS- 2nd International Conference- EXPLORE ORCA AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMERSIAL SCREENREADERS Slide : 12/ 13

13. Questions
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