Use of computers normally requires the ability to read and write, and hence literacy is usually seen as an essential prerequisite before people can benefit from computers and the Internet. We challenge that, non-literate people can also benefit from knowledge on the Internet and contribute to that knowledge. How can we achieve this?

We need technology which focuses on speech and images and eliminates written text, so that users are able to create and share audio visual contents. For this the user should be able to be capture and update speech information with relative ease than the normal audio recorders or other available technology. We aim at providing to speech all the capabilities we take for granted for written information – search, selective updates and replacements, and emphasis. The project is developing and evaluating this technology in Nepal.

We are undertaking field studies in the rural parts of Nepal, where literacy can be as low as 30% to understand the needs of non-literate people, how they create and use information, and what extra critical benefits can be achieved from the use of computers and communications technologies. And we want to understand how literacy programs fit into their lives and our technology.

• Sambad Software Components 
• Field visits