Our Voice

How can you give the benefits of online information such as social media, to people without a smartphone and without internet? Via a smart telephone system!

Millions of people in India are still excluded from crucial information. Many lack access to infrastructure such as electricity and internet networks. Many lack access because information is not accessible, or because of language barriers. 

We are building a platform where people with different kinds of disabilities can interact via telephone or via the internet, in their own language!

They can find crucial information and a support network that will help them to survive during the lock-down and live an independent live after it. 

There are 1 billion persons with a disability world-wide. 65 million persons with a disability (PwD) are living in India. 70% of them stay in rural areas where social segregation of the disabled is common.  PwDs often lack access to information and a support network. As a result, PwDs have much lower literacy (43% illiteracy) and employment rates (73.6% out of labor force) than the general population.The government also faces acute challenges to engage with PwDs:

• Low understanding of problems faced by PwDs and the possible policy solutions

• No means to mobilize PwDs in India for dissemination of skilling and employment services

• Problems in last mile delivery of schemes and policies

• Lack of platforms that can deliver information in accessible formats

We are providing a platform for persons with disabilities where they can find relevant information and give peer support. We connect persons with and without the internet and provide a place where persons with different types of disabilities can interact.

PwD can contribute to solutions for health, well-being, livelihood opportunities and get advice from experts and counsellors.  

PwD can build an important support network during a period where Covid-19 limits mobility. It will also be relevant after a lock-down when people can find solutions for skilling and employment.

People who are currently excluded from information and from support structures can get access to information on Covid-19, Employment, Education and Training. PwD can build communities and support structures that best serve their needs. Persons with disability or the illiterate can benefit from the different means of accessing information, including audio, video and text.

Persons without the internet are able to access via regular phone. More than 35,000 unique users have already helped each other already via the peer support network. With the improved version that we are developing, we will be able to reach out to many more persons via more channels, in accessible formats. 

Professional organisations, NGOs, education/training institutions, and government agencies are able to provide reliable information that people can view or listen to in their own time and without cost. The experts and government officials can interact via both Interactive Voice response and via a web-system.

The system helps government and service providers to reach out to persons that are excluded from the regular channels, because of disability, illiteracy or lack of internet access. This helps to inform people about the crisis response and regulations and prevent the spread of a disease caused by ignorance. People can be coached or referred to health professionals via telephone and a website. People can form support groups for mental support and practical assistance. This will prevent people to take risks out of necessity.

The system can generate data on vulnerable groups that are out of sight of regular systems.

We are offering a unique social media platform for persons without internet. People can leave messages and respond to each other via audio. We will connect this to a web-based system. This way people with and without internet are able to interact via different channels. 

The audio system is know as EnAble Vaani and is already in operation across 18 states of India - it has already been recognised internationally for its innovative approach to breaking accessibility barriers relating to communication and collaboration.

The integrated system will makes is super simple for organisations to upload information and interact with users that are using different media.

We have drastically reduced barriers that persons with disabilities and illiterate persons are facing without compromising on the user friendliness or quality.

The system for interaction with users without internet is based an Interactive voice response system. It is powered by vAutomate technology that is operated by our technology partner Onion Dev.

Onion dev is a social tech company incubated out of IIT-Delhi. They started in 2009 with the intent of reversing the flow of information, that is, to make it bottom-up instead of top-down. Using simple technologies and social context to design tools, they have been able to impact communities- more than 2 million users in over 15 Indian States, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Namibia and South Africa.

The web-based system is based on Pimcore, an open source content management system and Vanilla forums, a system for managing online communities. The web-based system is run by our partner EnableMe, which is an offspring of MyHandicap. MyHandicap is a Swiss foundation that has been operating an online portal for persons with disabilities for 15 years. 

The two systems are running independently, but we have started with a design for integrating the two systems and give access to people via any device and any media that they want. The integration is part of the ongoing innovations.

We will use artificial intelligence for for improved user interaction and for improved accessibility for persons with hearing, visual, intellectual or other disabilities.

Enable Vaani has received 1,100,000+ calls since its inception and has reached users from 18 states in India. We have successfully mobilised and engaged with 35000+ unique users. 98% of the content is user generated. 60% of users have reported that they have benefited from information relating to employment and training or skilling. 

Our partner EnableMe has run a portal and online community in Switzerland and Germany for 15 years. They get more than 10 million page views each year. They have over 50’000 registered users who are giving mental support and practical advise to each other on various disability related topics. A survey conducted recently indicates that the majority of users is able to make changes in their lives as a result of the information on the portal and the interaction with other users.

Currently 25,000

Next year: 45,000

In five years: at least 25,000 in every new country + scaling in India

We have proposed to the government a toll-free telephone number. If we get this number, the telephone costs are no longer a limitation.

We want to expand to other states in India, working in other languages.

We have already set up the Enable Vaani (IVR system) in Ethiopia, ready to be launched.

EnableMe is setting up their portal in other low-income countries. As soon as we have developed the integration of their portal and our IVR system, we will work together to scale up to other countries. 

Persons with disabilities are often regarded as inactive and not able to contribute to society. 

At the moment the telephone costs are still a big chunk of our budget. 

We have a moderated system. Every audio message recorded, will be heard by a moderator who assesses the quality. This is time consuming and has some cost associated. Ultimately that cost is at the core of the value of the Enable Vaani program.

Persons with disabilities are often regarded as inactive and not able to contribute to society: We are helping persons with disabilities and their family members to fight this stigma and prove the opposite. We partner with organisations that represent persons with a disability.

At the moment the telephone costs are still a big chunk of our budget. We have submitted a proposal to the government for a toll-free number.

The integration with the EnableMe portal will make it easier for third organisations to develop content and mobilise the community. We are still raising funds for this.

6 full time staff and 2 part-time staff

If volumes require we draw additional resources from around EnAble India

Shanti Raghavan and Dipesh Sutariya, both software engineers, founded EnAble India in 1999 - they bring a wealth of experience to any project. Whilst Enable India is very focused on livelihoods and employability projects, given the work experience of Shanti and Dipesh, platforms that support PwD to collaborate and develop are also at the heart of EnAble India (see other projects, enableacademy.org and mission1000)

Moses Chowdari is current program manager for EnAble Vision - a program bringing economic independence and dignity to thousands of Indians. Moses has been instrumental in the development of skilling programs for persons with vision impairment in India

Julian Tarbox, program manager for international projects has worked across several countries including India, Mauritius and Australia and has developed projects that deliver results for PwD across borders.

Onion Dev (India)

EnableMe/MyHandicap (Switzerland)

Donors are sponsoring the operating and maintenance of the system. It is free for the individual users.

The largest expense associated with running the EnAble Vaani system is the telephone costs. There are currently negotiations underway for a four digit code to be supplied by the government. if this approved, the call costs will be absorbed by the government

If the project with the government doesn't proceed there are plans existing to make the platform self-sustaining by using small scale and non-obtrusive advertising, as well as collaborating with research organisations.

We will work with partner organisations who can use the system to strengthen their programmes.

They will incorporate budget in their project budgets.

WE have developed a fantastic solution for persons with disability - a social network that is based on audio. No internet required. No smartphone or laptop required. Just an ordinary landline or mobile phone. It is already impacting the lives of thousands of PwDs in India

We want to expand the impact we are having nationwide and around the globe. We know through research conducted that EnAble Vaani is changing lives and connecting PwDs to other PwDs to find solutions in local contexts.

We want to expand our current impact by combining web technology that will include video and AI capabilities

Persons with disability can find solutions and break barriers if the right tools for collaboration are available. 

The EnAble Vaani system is not just accessible - it provides information that is actually preferred by many users - spoken local language. This encourages a segment of the disabled population that is often overlooked -the illiterate and those without access to the internet - to connect and collaborate

We are seeking partner who can help us spread this accessible technology around the world. We have partners with the technical know-how, but we seek partners who have reach to global audiences.

WE have developed a fantastic solution for persons with disability - a social network that is based on audio. No internet required. No smartphone or laptop required. Just an ordinary landline or mobile phone. It is already impacting the lives of thousands of PwDs in India

We want to expand our current impact by combining web technology that will include video and AI capabilities

The AI capabilities will be in analysis of audio files in multiple languages, enabling users to be connecting to existing solutions more quickly than human intervention would allow for.