In an effort to assist more than 1,00,000 visually impaired individuals around India, EY India has teamed up with the National Association for the Blind (NAB) to produce more than 600 audiobooks. The project is a component of the EY Ripples program, in which staff members dedicate their time to SDG-focused projects, pooling their collective expertise to have a positive impact on broader societal segments.
This is the second edition of the EY Ripples team’s effort, Talking Books, which was launched in partnership with NAB to improve access to educational materials for the personal growth of a number of visually impaired people. In a month, EY staff will record more than 40,000 pages for the audiobooks as part of the project.
Around 5 million Indians are blind (0.36% of the country’s total population), 35 million are visually impaired (2.5%), and 0.24 million are blind youngsters. Audiobooks are an essential learning tool for those with visual impairments because they do not have access to sufficient learning resources.
Arti Dua, National Talent Leader, EY India, said, “Initiatives like Talking Books allow us to empower differently abled, ensuring everyone has access to the resources they need to learn and grow. The overwhelming response from our employees reflects not just a shared purpose but a collective action towards making a meaningful impact where it matters the most. We are committed to expanding our efforts and introducing new initiatives that uphold our shared purpose.”
Prashant Ranjan Verma, General Secretary of National Association for The Blind added, “It gives us immense joy that such a large number of EY India employees have come forward to help enrich our library. This unique resource-building effort holds the potential to benefit the visually impaired community at large, making a meaningful difference in their lives.”
