Proposed changes to Copyright Act to help people with reading disabilities

SINGAPORE — People with reading disabilities may soon find it easier to access reading material for school, work or leisure purposes, as the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) mulls changes to the Copyright Act.

Currently, institutions that assist people with reading disabilities are allowed to reproduce literary or dramatic works in formats such as Braille, large-print, photographic or sound recorded versions. But those in the sector say this has not factored in the use of assistive technology, which includes screen readers, magnifiers and speech recognition devices, to help them read.

“(Previously), an accessible book means we need to give it to a person with visual impairment in Braille format. But, lately, people have realised that there are people who have not just a visual disability, but a print disability or a reading disability,” said Mr Ivan Tan, Head of the e-Accessibility department at the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD).

Print-disabled individuals, such as those with severe disabilities and cannot turn a page, the visually-challenged who do not know Braille and people diagnosed with dyslexia would have “easier and legitimate access” to reading material at work, in school or for leisure purposes, added Ms Chia Woon Yee, the Director of Vocational Training and Technology at the SPD.

At the launch of a public consultation exercise last month, the IPOS had said the proposed changes to the Copyright Act were in line with the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or otherwise Print Disabled inked by 186 countries in June. The IPOS said the Singapore Government supports the treaty as it will enhance the learning needs of Singapore’s visually-impaired community, which has close to 250,000 members, by increasing their access to a wide variety of copyright works.

With the proposed changes to the law, technologies such as Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) will provide a fully accessible book that can be read in multiple formats, said Mr Tan. For instance, books can be read aloud by a narrator, connected to a Braille reader or linked with switches so that people with profound disability can use the switch to turn pages.

Further, the move towards tapping on technologies may also save precious time spent converting materials into Braille. This time-consuming process involves scanning the pages of the book, proof-reading and formatting it on a Braille translator, before sending it for embossing, explained Mr Albert Toh, 55, a Braillist at Lighthouse School. Even with the team of four at the school’s Braille Production Unit, it can take a few months to convert a textbook into Braille.

Subjects like Maths and Science often involve diagrams and graphs, which require more time to rework into Braille format. Materials like paper clips, twill ropes, cardboard and many others are then used to create different textures on the diagrams.

The proposed changes, however, will not change the workload at Lighthouse School’s Braille Production Unit, noted Mr Toh. “Student materials are local (content) … you can’t really get anything overseas in terms of border sharing and all that.” But for adults looking for books such as the latest fiction read, the proposed changes may benefit them, he said.

The SPD, Ministry of Education and the Law Society of Singapore were among the organisations that had provided feedback to the public consultation on the proposed changes, said the IPOS. Ms Ng Choon Hwee, a visually-impaired member of the public, suggested that individuals with reading disabilities be allowed to reproduce accessible copies as well, since institutions might not be able to do so for every beneficiary.

Likewise, the SPD also suggested an extension of the scope of artistic works to be reproduced — currently limited to only architectural or engineering drawings or diagrams in the proposed change — to include works like photographs and illustrations. For instance, a photograph depicting features of a main character or place in a children’s story book may be essential to understanding the storyline, the SPD said.

Going beyond the act, the SPD has also been encouraging its clients to adopt screen-reader software whenever they attend vocational training by the organisation.

“Our trainees usually come through for training for work and we normally encourage them to use software, because out there in the real world, it’s very difficult for people to reproduce things in Braille. They normally send emails (or) send word documents (in) soft copy nowadays,” said Mr Tan.