Tech breakthrough to help blind 'read' Hindi - The Times of India

"LUCKNOW: His is an amazing story. At the tender age of eight years, glaucoma pitched a scared Dinesh Kaushal’s world into darkness.

Twenty years later, Dinesh has helped develop the world’s first ‘Hindi screen reader’, which will revolutionise the manner in which the visually challenged access the information superhighway.

A Java certified MSc in computer science (Yes, you read right), Dinesh has been a key component in the collaboration between National Association for the Blind (NAB), Delhi, and a Lucknow-based software development company, in building the ‘Hindi screen reader’. The screen reader picks up text (including off the Internet) on any computer screen being accessed by a visually challenged person and then reads it out. What is revolutionary is that for the first time electronic text in Hindi can be easily and effortlessly accessed by the visually challenged. And the first application the whiz-team from NAB and the software firm are thinking of is enabling the lakhs of visually challenged government staffers across India."

मूवेबल टाईप हिंदी में:

"हाँ भाई" लिखते हैं:

"सज्जनों आखिर मूवेबल टाईप के अनुवाद का पहला ड्राफ्ट तैयार हो ही गया । यहाँ से लीजिए । यदि आप इसकी समीक्षा कर अपनें विचार एवं टिप्पणी कर सकें आपकी अति कृपा होगी। कृप्या ध्यान रखें यह utf-8 में कूटबंधित है। "

और ये रहे नए विंडोज़ एक्सपी के कुछ तुरत-चित्र (screenshots). Boy, it feels so great to see everything in Hindi.

XP Desktop
Internet Explorer
XP Open Dialog
XP Explorer
Control Panel

With all its faults and issues (like some misspellings and odd translations - which I hope will go away in subsequent releases), the Hindi interface of Windows XP is definitely the best thing to happen to the Indic computing world, IMO.

माइक्रोसॉफ़्ट! धन्यवाद और बधाई...

Windows XP ® हिंदी इंटरफ़ेस पैक डाउनलोड:
"Windows XP Professional या Windows XP Home Edition के लिए हिंदी इंटरफ़ेस पैक कई Windows XP User Interface को एक हिंदी यूज़र इंटरफ़ेस प्रदान करता है."

Related news: Microsoft unveils Hindi interface for Windows XP