The figures given by the government is vehemently contested by the disability rights organization. Even if the margin of error is only that of one per cent on the part of the government, it means that it denies the fact that there are potentially 150,000 people with disabilities.

Discrepancy between these figures demonstrates that people with disabilities are mostly "nameless, faceless and uncounted persons in Pakistan." Who are these people? Where and how do they live? These are valid questions because they are not represented in the mainstream national life in accordance with their corresponding share in the overall population of the country. More importantly, looking beyond cold statistics, how can these people be given names and faces and brought into the mainstream national life?

Technology is a great leveler. As you read these lines, rest assured that the thoughts contained in them have been articulated, typed, and sent to the editor by a blind person. This proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that visually impaired can join the mainstream national life provided that they have access to sensory substitution technologies.

The questions that arise are: "What are these technologies? How could they be made available to the blind population of our country? How can they also join the work force and work towards the country's progress with their sighted counterparts?

These technologies primarily refer to those products and devices that try to replace sight with speech, sound and touch. They are a complete departure from sensory augmentation technologies that try to enhance whatever sight is available. The cheap laptop, PC, scanner, OCR software, graphics software and sound card provide a firm base on which the visually impaired person is able to build a complete kit of sensory substitution facilities. Of these, perhaps the most powerful and most effective is the screen reader like "Window Eyes" and "Jaws" that have profoundly influenced the lives of the visually challenged. Through a speech synthesizer, a screen reader gives voice output and the visually challenged can access the computer very effectively.

What is the government's role in making this technology available to the visually impaired? What policy initiatives have been undertaken to create a conducive environment so that this technology could play its optimum role in improving blind people's access to information? So far, only half-hearted measures have been taken to make this technology available and that too in a few selected schools for the blind.

A growing number of disabled people in Pakistan are using screen-reading software in order to have access to information on the Internet. However, technology alone cannot guarantee full access to information, for it can only yield desired results when complimented with relevant standards. These standards pertain to those technical details while designing a web page or displaying or putting information on web site that cater to special needs of people with different disabilities. Comprehensive information, tools and training to make Internet accessible can be obtained from the Web Accessibility Initiative web site at http://www.w 3.org/WAI/.

Many countries have framed necessary laws and standards to give equal access to their citizens with disabilities. In Pakistan, however, in the absence of a web accessibility policy, almost all official websites are inaccessible, in varying degrees, to the disabled people.

Only by framing comprehensive web accessibility policy and enactment of relevant laws can this digital divide be bridged. Through such a policy, the government should make it binding on all private sector institutions and organizations to make their websites accessible. Since, one of the initiatives of the present government is to have "paperless government," therefore, it is all the more important that it puts in place web accessibility standards so that disabled people have equal access to information.

Access to information is one of the key determinants of well-being of any group of people and it is through equal access to information that the state can provide equal opportunity environment to the disabled citizens.

Zahid Abdullah is Project Manager, Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, Islamabad.