Think tank report highlights China's efforts to secure cultural access for visually impaired

Xinhua Updated: 2024-12-04 A student from the Beijing School for the Blind touches a sand table model of the Palace Museum at Sensory Experience Gallery of the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 1, 2024. BEIJING -- A Chinese think tank report released on Tuesday highlighted China's continuous efforts to secure cultural access for individuals with visual impairment in recent years. The report, titled "China's Efforts to Safeguard Cultural Rights for the Visually Impaired: Insights from the 'Cinema of Light' Public Welfare Initiative," was released in Chinese and English by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development and the National High-level Think Tank of Xinhua News Agency on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In 2017, the China Disabled Persons' Federation, in coordination with relevant authorities, launched a digital reading promotion project to provide the visually impaired with digital audiobooks and electronic Braille content via digital publishing platforms and accessible reading devices, aiming to address the problems of high costs and long production time in traditional Braille book publishing. In 2023, China enacted a law on barrier-free environment creation, providing further support for visually impaired individuals to access cultural life, the report said.