Two visually impaired computer programmers receive top state prize

Two visually impaired computer programmers have been awarded a top state award for adding an audio function to the Revenue Service website, making it more accessible for people with disabilities.

Friends Lado Urdulashvili and Beka Gozalishvili adapted the state service website, garnering praise from Tbilisi Mayor David Narmania.

To recognise the young men’s efforts, Narmania presented Urdulashvili and Gozalishvili, who was born blind, with one of the country’s highest awards – the Order of Honour.

At a special ceremony in front of family, friends and officials, the young men were presented their awards by Narmania yesterday.

These young boys proved with the result of their work that … a person can create something important both for themselves as well as the general public,” Narmania said while explaining why Urdulashvili and Gozalishvili were worthy recipients of the medal.

Prompted by their own visual disabilities, the tech enthusiasts created a fully-fledged audio version of the state service website to assist people with all degrees of visual impairment. The audio guide would also suit those who preferred audio-based website navigation.

The website allowed viewers not only to use its services but also to receive latest important news and information about the Revenue Service via audio means rather than by reading.

Urdulashvili told ipress.ge on Tuesday that he and Beka had worked for three years to create an engine that made access to audio websites possible.

Similar software exists [for websites] in all countries but it has not been made available for pages created in Georgian language. We started by creating an engine and then connected it to our visual impairment accessibility software called NVDA. This enabled us to create audio versions for all the website’s content,” Urdulashvili said.

The Order of Honour prize has been awarded to Georgian and foreign public personalities, politicians, sports people and artists. Photo from www.tbilisi.gov.ge.

The young programmer also spoke about the challenges facing visually impaired individuals in Georgia. He added there were between 8,000 and 12,000 people with some form of visual impairment n the country.

Urdulashvili said he hoped the software would help visually impaired individuals utilise state online services "in real time”, adding people with disabilities "should not be dependent on other people” for their needs.

This was the second audio project undertaken by Urdulashvili and Gozalishvili. Earlier this year they successfully completed of a similar audio version of the Interior Ministry’s police website.

Urdulashvili noted the pair wanted to create audio assistance for bus stops and ATM bank machines but said there had been no response from Tbilisi City Hall and private banks to their relevant offers.

Over the years Georgia’s Order of Honour has been awarded to various public figures as well as culture and sports personalities including author Otar Tchiladze, figure skater Elene Gedevanishvili and film director Zurab Kandelaki.