Accessibility services

Imagine modern life without email and the Internet - Go on, try.

Impossible, isn't it? Ten years ago you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people you knew with an email address. Today it is the preferred method of communication socially and throughout the business world. The Internet is our lifeline. We browse it for information. We use it to handle our financial affairs. We do our shopping on it. It is, in fact, the beating heart of commerce. It's the place we go to find the best deal or to track down otherwise impossible-to-find items, like rare books or goods from overseas. It's fast, easy and efficient. It's our answer to everything. It's the way we manage to conduct our hectic lives.

And the Internet is accessible to everyone - rich and poor, old and young, residents of every country on the planet. The web is the great leveler. Right?

Well sort of...

Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection has a wealth of information at their fingertips. That is, of course, anyone able to see the monitor and operate a mouse. Unfortunately, as accessible as the web has become, both in price and popularity, it is still out of reach to some.

Surprisingly, it is estimated that approximately ten to twenty percent of the population of even the most developed countries have difficulty accessing the web. And not for the reasons you would imagine.

The problem is not finding a computer with a modem. These days even the tiniest villages - in jungle or desert environments - often have an Internet café. The problem is for people with difficulty seeing, hearing, or understanding what they find when presented with a web page.

Sadly these people are often the ones who could benefit most from the convenience of the Internet. They are people with sight problems, hearing disabilities, or maneuverability handicaps.