'Good morning, this is Nardwadee at your service. How may I help you?"

It's a lovely, lively voice, pitched just right to project calm and confidence to the listener, as the pitter-patter of a computer keyboard plays in the background.

Nardwadee Siripumpeng, a call centre employee at Standard Chartered Bank, offers a smile after she handles the call.

"It's tough being blind. Most people just don't know how to act around us," said the 29-year-old Chiang Mai native.

Blind since birth, Miss Nardwadee started at Standard Chartered in December under a pioneering programme at the bank aimed at helping the blind integrate into today's office environment.

At previous jobs, it was up to her to try to reassure her colleagues to just act normally, she said.

Standard Chartered was different, thanks to the bank's own work emphasising the duty of all employees to maintain an appropriate and welcoming workplace environment for their new colleagues participating in the programme.

Miss Nardwadee is one of two blind trainees in the bank's "Seeing is Believing" initiative, which includes funding for developing customised office software for blind workers.

Somboon Hirunpattarasilp, Standard Chartered (Thai)'s country manager for technology support services, said the bank has worked with Chulalongkorn University since October 2007, funding the development of open-source, free software for the blind called NonVisual Desktop Access.

The screen-reading software for the Microsoft Windows operating system allows the user to find out what is on the screen by querying the operating system and using a speech synthesiser to output the information. For example, it reads the character from the keyboard and reads the current line where the cursor is located.

"We aim to develop the software to best fit Thais and apply the software on a day-to-day work basis so it will increase career opportunities for the blind," said Mr Somboon.

"We have unofficially talked with some of our corporate partners and other banks about using the software, which we will give away for free if they are interested."

The software costs about 50,000 baht for each PC installation. Standard Chartered is allocating one million baht each year to its three-year programme with the university.

Chadchai Vichitchanya, a recent graduate from Ramkhamhaeng University, is another unsighted pioneer trainee at the bank.

After working at the call centre for two months, the 24-year-old from Pak Nam said he has never felt more welcome than at the bank, thanks to support from his co-workers and managers.

"This has given me an opportunity to prove to others that blindness does not always mean disability and it does not obstruct my performance in a regular job," Mr Chadchai said, confidently.

"It is not important how many blind people this programme can help. What matters is that it will help change people's perception about blind people."

Before starting their training, the bank provided Miss Nardwadee and Mr Chadchai with a month of training in using the software. As both were already computer literate through university studies and courses provided by the Thailand Association of the Blind, it took them no time to master the programme.

To see the two operate their computers and efficiently handle customers calls is to observe typical employees.

"Without this wonderful opportunity, I would be selling lottery tickets as a living right now," Miss Nardwadee said, with a smile.

"I want people to understand that there is more that the blind can do than just being a masseuse or selling lottery tickets."

Standard Chartered aims to add five to 10 more blind employees to its call centre this year. But applicants must at least be able to help themselves and to travel to work on their own. Computer and English skills would be a plus.

As part of the programme, Standard Chartered has donated 105 computers with screen-reading software to 13 schools for the blind in many parts of Thailand including Chiang Mai, Phrae, Lop Buri, Pattaya, Hat Yai and Nakhon Ratchasima.

Last year the bank also set up a training course to teach 19 teachers to use the software, so they and their students can make the most use of it at the blind schools.

The bank has spent around five million baht on the computer donation. What the bank gets in return, Mr Somboon said, is "to help society begin to perceive the blind as a valuable asset for the country rather than a burden".

"That's the most valuable return for us," he said.

The bank recently received a recognition award from Princess Ubolratana for the global "Seeing is Believing" programme, including its efforts to increase local awareness, raise funds, donate computers, read audio books and the iSight Lab project to help the blind access the internet through text-to-speech software.