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Select the web browser, enter the address of a site and navigate through a page of text, images and videos. Repeated thousands of times a day, this task does not seem difficult for many people who use the internet daily. But for a carrier of visual impairment, it may simply be impossible if it does not rely on aid. Knowing this reality in practice, the Brazilian Fernando Botelho created in Curitiba F123 Consulting, a company that develops solutions that help blind people in entering the labor market and education. Nonprofit organization has just released its second software that gives more autonomy to the visually impaired access to the network.
Botelho reports that, unlike most of the blind in Brazil, he had a privileged upbringing. As the family had a good financial situation, he had access to all kinds of technology needed to study. The entrepreneur graduated in sociology, a master’s degree in International Relations with a focus on international trade and had professional experience in various organizations related to the third sector abroad. “I watched the technologies that I used in my daily life to study and work were too expensive. And many people with impaired vision and talent could not contribute to society by not having access to these technologies, “he says.
Deciding to help change this reality, Botelho returned to Brazil in 2007 with the design of a company on paper. Her goal was to democratize access to these technologies for the visually impaired. The entrepreneur says he developed with his wife a prototype and later managed funds from foundations and investors to develop a more robust product. The first software, the visual F123, was launched in 2010 and helps the blind to access various tools from a computer, such as text editor, e-mail, Excel and Internet browser.
“This software includes the screen reader, which is for the person 100% blind. It works from a synthetic voice that reads what is on the screen and a keyboard with special commands which replaces the mouse. It also includes a screen magnifier, designed for those who still have a little vision, “he explains. According to Botelho, this software can be downloaded for free by anyone, but he explains that it is intended for more sophisticated user or institutions. This is because it is a more robust solution that relies on knowledge of technology for installation and maintenance. Currently this software is used by more than two thousand people in the country
At the end of last year the company launched its second software:. Access the F123, which focuses on navigation in internet. Unlike the first, this is quick and simple installation. It is also available on the Internet (www.f123access.com). This solution is a kind of reformatting sites, optimizing the interpretation and contextualized information available on the portals. The entrepreneur does not reveal the investment made in the solution, but highlights the essential participation of the retail chain Ponto Frio.
“The project was not developed due to lack of resource, but this investment has enabled him to follow. Importantly, these initiatives because they are essential to enable the solutions, “he says. He points out that the company is not for profit: all resources coming through investors and also the service offered by the company – consulting and technical support of software in institutions – is reversed in causes that promote the inclusion of blind people in the labor market and education. “We have many visually impaired people with talents that are not being used. These solutions are to give opportunity to the blind, but also to Brazil, which need the talent of these people, “he concludes.
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