Thaana Mallow — Converting Dhivehi Thaana Script to Latin So Screen Readers Can Read the Maldivian Language

Content written in Dhivehi (Thaana script) cannot be read aloud by standard screen readers, which left blind and visually impaired Maldivians without independent access to information in their own language.
Thaana Mallow, created by a team led by Hussain Shareef after winning the Miyaheli 2019 social innovation camp, identifies Thaana text on web pages and replaces it with Latin-script Dhivehi that the phone's native text-to-speech and braille displays can process. It was launched on Google Play in June 2020 with support from UNDP, the Government of Australia and Ooredoo Maldives, initially to make COVID-19 information accessible, with disability associations among the launch partners.
Reported outcomes are qualitative: the developer said blind students who previously needed assistance were using it independently for study materials during lockdown, and a co-founder later told the Maldives Independent that for the first time she could read documents in her own language. No user numbers, usability trial or long-term maintenance data were found, and the app works around rather than replaces native Thaana screen-reader support.

Read the full analysis: https://edition.mv/news/17203