A new center that opened in Yerevan on Monday aims to facilitate access and use of internet resources by people with visual impairments. The initiators say it is unique in the region.

Situated in an affiliate of the Armenian postal service, Haypost, on Saryan Street, the center is fitted out with an interactive board and 15 modern computers, of which five are designed for the blind, and the rest for people who have eyesight problems.

The computers – valued at about $100,000 -- have special software, Braille keyboards, cameras and scanners that transform text into sound or give an opportunity to visually impaired people to read texts in Russian and English.

The internet availability center was opened by the Internet for the Blind program being carried out by Armenia’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, Haypost and UNESCO.

There are an estimated 6,000 people with vision impairments in Armenia.

Transport and Communications Minister Manuk Vardanyan says individuals with limited physical abilities will use the services of the center for free.

“At this internet center thousands of Armenians will be able not only to communicate online, but also study and improve their communication skills through all possible means,” says Vardanyan.

International Telecommunication Union Deputy Secretary-General Houlin Zhao says that the opening of the first such center in the region in Armenia shows that the country is striving to become a global IT center.

“Only 10 percent of the needs of people with limited physical abilities are satisfied in the world today. Armenia in this sense makes progress every year, which is commendable,” says Zhao.

Under the program it is also planned to enable visual impaired users to read texts in Armenian with the use of the software designed as part of a state program in 2005.

Deputy Chairman of the Union of the Blind Martin Sargsyan says the program is very important for the Union that has around 700 members.

“The offered software is very simple in use and within a very short period of time people with visual impairment will be able to master it. About 15 people have enrolled for classes. After learning to use the software, they will be able to spread the knowledge themselves,” says Sargsyan.

Grigor Saghyan, deputy chairman of the Internet Society NGO that provides internet connection for the center, says that the center will be open on all working days and will also provide training and retraining to specialists who are engaged in the education and rehabilitation of people with vision impairments.

“The two employees of the center, who will take a special training from a specialist from Russia in the next couple of days, will help the visitors to learn computer user skills and will also occasionally conduct training for the blind,” says Saghyan.