Chasing Hong Kong lighthouses

by Ryan Ho

An audio-braille book was produced by a collaborative group of students, one of whom is visually-impaired. The project focused on lighthouses and promotes inclusivity.

The Lighthouse Heritage Research Connections (LHRC) project recruits students and others to contribute their strengths and professional knowledge while also promoting collaboration between the visuallyimpaired and sighted people. It includes many parts, from visiting lighthouses to production of content for audio-braille books and recording of that content.

I worked with a visually-impaired student, Rita Lam, to produce an audio-braille book in Cantonese, the aim of which was to provide detailed, factual information about Hong Kong lighthouses for the visuallyimpaired local community. There is also an English version for a non-Chinese speaking audience.

Production of content

Producing the content for the book took place in two stages. The first was writing up the text, and the second was transforming it into braille format for printing. To begin with, a group of volunteers from two different university departments started writing content. They consulted Rita throughout the process, to be sure of clarity of meaning as visually-impaired people may perceive or understand concepts in a different way from sighted people.

Rita provided constructive opinions and feedback on the choice of terminology that illustrates features of the lighthouses and thus she made the content more reader-friendly to the visually-impaired community. Moreover, she recommended the addition of material on the history of lighthouses, as well as purely descriptive, practical content, which made the audio-braille book more interesting.

Next, we transferred the content into braille format. Since a braille reader identifies Chinese words by pronunciation, when there is more than one pronunciation for the same word in Cantonese, the machine may identify and output the wrong term, hence leading to confusion. Therefore, Rita’s help was also needed to fine-tune and recheck the braille version before the book was printed and ensure that no mistakes were made.

Recording of content

Since visually-impaired people have to read passages word by word due to the limitations of the braille reader, a recording of the content makes book more accessible and more convenient for learning about lighthouses.

A braille reader is an electronic device that allows a blind person to read the text displayed on a computer monitor. Braille readers come in various forms and there are also braille reader apps for smartphones and tablets

p Rita and Ryan

The recording was a memorable process. I originally expected to have to provide extra support to Rita, thinking that it could have taken her longer than expected to read the passages. I thought she might also encounter unexpected difficulties. However, we collaborated smoothly and she worked both independently and effectively. As a result, I realized that although the visually-impaired people may be visually deprived, their working skills are not necessarily affected Instead, they use alternative methods to get the work done well.

Visiting lighthouses

The visits to Hong Kong lighthouses for the project were rewarding and unforgettable experiences for everyone, whether sighted or not. During the visits, the visually-impaired people could touch the surfaces

Cantonese Braille ( 粵語點字 ) is a braille script used to write Cantonese in Hong Kong and Macau. It is locally referred to as tim chi ( 點字 ) or “dot characters”, more commonly but ambiguously also called tuk chi ( 凸字 } “raised characters”. Although Cantonese is written in Chinese characters, Cantonese Braille is purely phonetic, with punctuation, digits and Latin letters from the original braille. It uses Cantonese pinyin which is the only romanization system accepted by the Education and Manpower Bureau and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority.

Read more

•en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_Braille •en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_Pinyin of the lighthouse buildings and this tactile experience, together with the descriptions given by student volunteers, provided them with a brand-new perspective and understanding, both of lighthouse structure and history.

Furthermore, since most of Hong Kong’s lighthouses are located in restricted areas, the project allowed visits that would have otherwise been impossible and so it was a wonderful opportunity.

What’s next?

Lighthouses are historic tools for the guidance for ships at night and although such visual tools may seem incongruous when working with visually-impaired people it is through inclusion projects like the LHRC that the barriers between the disabled and the able-bodied can be diminished and everyone can contribute equally.

We should do our best to remove all social stigma attached to disabled people and try to communicate well with them, learn more about their lives, and thereby build a more inclusive society for future generations.

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Ryan Ho Chun-hei is a student volunteer with the Lighthouse Heritage Research Connections programme at the City University of Hong Kong.