A friend visited me recently while I was reading postings from this list.
This particular lady suffers from 12 different disorders including
Myasthenia Gravis, Epilepsy, Addison's Disease and Diabetes to name but a
few. She was amazed how much information and how many support organisations
I could access by simply keying the name of a disease into a search engine.
She said "I have to have this!"
But of course, like so many people who are ill, she has little disposable
income and cannot afford Internet fees let alone the cost of a computer.
I have an idea for a scheme that might prove helpful to disabled and ill
folk in this community of 25,000 people which is 450km away from the nearest
capital city. We are all fairly well isolated from support and information
by distance. I must qualify that statement by saying that there is an
active Parkinsons support group in the area, but many people who suffer from
illnesses other than Parkinsons are thus isolated.
I would like to start an Internet Cafe for these people. I am confident
that I can find accommodation in a local Government or semi-government
building and I believe that funding would not be too much of a problem. I
need a lot of information to enable me to turn this idea into a reality.
If anyone can help me with information about software which enables disabled
people (such as vision impaired or even totally blind people or those with
other physical disabilities) to use computer terminals and to use the
Internet, I would be most grateful. Email addresses of anyone who knows
anything about setting-up such a thing would also be welcome.
I am a real rookie; I have no idea what hardware we will need and I will
need to be fairly specific when we apply for funding. (I am hoping to get
the entire project funded by the Government and/or the Lotteries
Commission.) My Internet provider was less than helpful when I approached
him today, which rather surprised me considering that there will be a large
profit at the end of all this and a lot of good publicity as well for the
supplier of the hardware.
I have been amazed at the response to any request for help on this list and
I am confident that my request will generate a similar avalanche of
information and suggestions. (In fact I am counting on it!)
If you don't wish to clutter the list with replies to this request (which
would probably be of no particular use to most other people who are on the
list) please email me off-list.
Thank you for the opportunity to make this request.
