Page 130 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

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Video, a key format in deaf people’s access to reading
Deaf people (there are more than a million in our country alone) have also found technology to be an ally for reading. Perhaps the function they are using the most is content in video format with subtitles, though there are also a few libraries offering signed content, such as the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, which offers a selection of signed stories for children, and the resource bank of the blind people’s confedera- tion CNSE (Confederación Estatal de Personas Sordas), which is also promoting the develop- ment of an app with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport that has enjoyed wide media coverage: Te Cuento.65
Te Cuento, an app for digital reading and cre- ating stories for deaf children (and adults too),
is the first of its kind in Spain. Its purpose is to promote reading habits and literary creation among deaf children and young people through Spanish sign language and to facilitate the work that families and professionals perform in this field. The app functions like other digital reading applications, but with two notable distinguishing features. The first is that its interface makes it possible to view videos in sign language. Once inside the application and having selected a book, text and illustration, they are enhanced with the related signed video. The second is that it allows users to create their own stories in both sign language and Spanish, incorporate them into the library, and share them with anyone who has the application.
Technology, as we have pointed out and seen
in this section, has provided a new gateway to reading for people with special needs and, judg- ing by the above figures, there are a considerable number of them.
Technology, reading and elderly people, an enriching trio
When we think of elderly people and reading it is common to associate them with reading on paper. However, digital reading devices – e-read- ers, tablets – offer many advantages, depending on the particular case. Some are mentioned in the previous section. For elderly people with problems of mobility or vision, these new for- mats can be great reading aids. But before listing the possibilities digital reading offers this sector, let us examine what proportion of the reading population they make up.
According to the census figures compiled by the national institute of statistics (Padrón Continuo, INE) and cited in the statistical report establish- ing a profile of older people in Spain, Un perfil de las personas mayores en España, 2017. Indicadores estadísticos básicos66 published in January 2017, as of 1 January 2016 there were 8,657,705 elderly people (aged 65 and over) in Spain, and they accounted for 18.4% of the whole population (46,557,008). Of them, 4,940,008 are women and 3,717,697 are men. According to the INE, by 2066 there will be more than 14 million elderly people, who will make up 34.6% of the total population of 41,068,643 inhabitants. The 2030s and 2040s will see the largest increases as the baby boom- ers reach old age.
Figure 9. Trends in the population aged 65 and
over, 1900-2066 | Envejecimiento en Red.
Source: http://envejecimiento.csic.es/documentos/ documentos/enred-indicadoresbasicos17.pdf
READERS
Readers in the digital age