A realidade do desenvolvimento de tecnologias assistivas para pessoas cegas: explorando o cenário de um estado nordestino

Abstract

Assistive Technologies (AT) for the visually impaired have been developed and improved since the 1960s, all over the world, covering various types of electronic assistive devices. In Brazil, research has shown that the scenario is similar, with the aggravating factor that few states concentrate most of the projects related to AT, especially in the South and Southeast of the country. Aiming to understand what characterizes this scenario, specifically, in the state of Ceará, this research aims to identify difficulties and perspectives of the development and distribution of assistive technologies for blind people in the state. For this, interviews were carried out with people involved in the process of research and development of AT for this public in the public and private initiative in the state of Ceará. The results show how the access and distribution of AT for the visually impaired public has been impacted by difficulties related to collaboration between groups, funding, maturity of teams and the predominantly academic character of the projects. Finally, we discuss possible ways to mitigate the obstacles identified in this area.