Santa Catarina municipalities roll out new accessibility tech for deaf and blind residents

Camboriú’s vice‑president of the city council, Victor Piccoli, met online with ICOM, a Brazilian platform that provides real‑time Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) interpretation, to evaluate its use across municipal services. The goal is to make public offices more accessible for the deaf community throughout the municipality and eventually the state of Santa Catarina.

In the nearby town of Cocal do Sul, the city council approved a program to distribute free Meta smart glasses equipped with artificial‑intelligence vision for people with visual impairments. The pilot will initially serve six blind residents, with the municipality planning to purchase up to ten units. Professor Alexandre Rzatki, who is visually impaired, helped launch the initiative after nine months of using the technology himself.

Both projects aim to increase autonomy and daily independence for citizens with disabilities by leveraging digital tools in public administration.