Talking Book is the Appeal of BLBI "Abiyoso"

CIMAHI (June 20th 2020) – Director General of Social Rehabilitation of Minister of Social Affairs, Harry Hikmat accompanied by the Secretary of the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation, Idit Supriadi Priatna, Head of General Division, Herman, and Head of BRSPDSN Wyataguna, Sudarsono paid a working visit to the Indonesian Braille Literacy Center (BLBI) "Abiyoso" in Cimahi.

Head of BLBI "Abiyoso" in Cimahi, Isep Sepriyan accompanied by his staff welcomed the arrival of the Director General.

(BLBI) "Abiyoso" is the only Technical Implementation Unit within the Ministry of Social Affairs that manages braille literacy for People with Visual Sensory Disabilities (PDSN) as well as a national reference, and braille literacy laboratories in Indonesia.

On his visit this time, the Director General for Social Rehabilitation emphasized the importance of developing literacy products for PDSN amidst the swift currents of modernization and digital technology. He had suggested the idea to change the phrase 'literacy in braille' to 'literacy for disability' so the PDSN's need for reading materials in other formats could also be guaranteed. Related to this, Harry is very interested in the talking book, which is one of the products produced by BLBI "Abiyoso".

Harry said that this talking book must be increasingly existing, not only among friends with visual impairments but to all other groups and sectors. This talk book must continue to be developed and of course the Ministry of Social Affairs will support this effort. His visit was also a form of full support for the BLBI "Abiyoso" strategic effort in managing braille literacy.

Audio books or talk books are CDs containing recorded book readings. To produce a talking book, a book will be read in the studio while it is recorded using the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format, a format that allows users, in this case is PDSN, to access various features or facilities available on a special player.

The recordings will then be copied onto CDs, which are then distributed to various BLBI beneficiary organizations “Abiyoso”. To be able to access all the features of the talk book, a special player is required. However, for those who do not have this special player, there is no need to worry, because even by using ordinary devices such as laptops or computers, we can already enjoy the complete contents of the book.

With the increasingly complex literacy needs of PDSN and the skills they need to access literacy, BLBI “Abiyoso” will certainly not be unaltered. BLBI "Abiyoso" will continue to move forward, innovating endlessly to ensure the fulfillment, respect and protection of PDSN rights in the literacy sector.