To promote accessibility for people with hearing disabilities, the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management of Brazil launches officially on Thursday (5), at 9 am, in Brasilia, the new version of the Suite Vlibras. The set of solutions for deaf is now available for download on the Portal of the Brazilian Public Software (SPB). The project is a partnership of the ministry with the House of Representatives and the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), which was supported by the Brazilian National Educational and Research Network (RNP).

"Tools like VLibras are fundamental to include people with disabilities. By using the solution, a deaf person or someone with some hearing impairment level will have access to information, seek public services in digital format and can actively participate in the construction of public policies”, said Secretary the Information Technology of MP, Cristiano Heckert.

According to the census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics of 2010, there are in Brazil, about 9.5 million people with hearing impairment levels, representing about 5.1% of the Brazilian population (IBGE 2010).

The Suite VLibras consists of an open source set of computational tools. The solutions help to reduce communication barriers and promote access of deaf people to content on computers, mobile devices and web platforms in its natural language communication.

Among the new features of this latest version of the public software, there is the dictionary containing more than 11,000 terms, the creation and validation of signals from the WikiLibras and translation of digital video by Vlibras-Video tool to sign language. In addition, all Vlibras-Desktop tools, Vlibras-Plugin (Firefox, Safari and Chrome) and Vlibras-Mobile (Android and iOS) had updates on their versions.

Those interested in attending the event should conduct its registration in the Electronic Government Portal (eGOVBR). The event will be held in the MP basement auditorium.

Reference to TV

The VLibras dictionary is a reference to the transmission of information by the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) in the programs trasmitted by television stations in Brazil. The choice of vocabulary was held last year, during the Digital TV Brazilian System Forum (SBTVD Forum).

According to the established by Ordinance No. 310, June 2006, of the Ministry of Communications, the insertion of a window (limited space on the TV screen corner) with a Libras interpreter is only mandatory, for now, in the political timetable and institutional campaigns of the government and public service. According to the standard of MC, broadcasters have the deadline until 2020 to adopt full accessibility.

Workshops

To train users in the use of VLibras tools, the MP held on May 6, two technical workshops at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP). The first aims to guide the end-user, the citizen, in the use of the VLibras tools. In the second, the team involved in the project will present technical requirements for the government, academy and the general public who wish to know and collaborate with the project. Those interested in attending the event should conduct its registration in the Electronic Government Portal (eGOVBR).

Source: Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management.