Erada Portal
Original Title:
إدرادة
Country:
Egypt
Producer:
Egypt ICT Trust Fund, Ms. Marwa Elnokrashy
Erada is a specialized portal addressing the needs of people with disabilities (PWD) in Egypt. Information empowerment for PWD ensures their full participation and inclusion at all levels of society. Free, accessible, comprehensive, user-friendly, the Erada portal provides knowledge of concern to PWD in all categories of impairment: hearing, visual, physical, mental, as well as, autism and learning difficulties. Important topics such as definitions of disabilities, laws & rights, early intervention, genetic diseases etc. are covered. Erada also provides a web creation & technical support service to ensure sustainable knowledge for concerned communities. According to 2007 WHO statistics, approximately 11% of the Egyptian population, around 9.4 million, live with some kind of disability/impairment. Given a helping hand, they can get along independently and contribute meaningfully to society.
Jury Evaluation:
This site addresses a startling problem in Egypt: According to 2007 WHO statistics, approximately 11% of Egyptian population, around 9.4 million, suffer from some kind of disability or impairment. This online service by Egypt ICT Trust Fund reminds us that people with disabilities may be different but they have the same needs as everyone else. The Arabic language portal Kenana Online gives the disabled a valuable helping hand by offering assistance programmes and resources in a range of categories: hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical impairment, mental retardation, autism, and learning difficulties.
Disabled people need extra assistance in terms of awareness and access to legal resources such as disability laws & rights, which the site provides. Kenana Online also addresses early intervention and genetic diseases, thus giving people online access to relevant and authoritative information instead of having to rely on unfounded rumours or well-meaning but inaccurate advice.
This valuable resource is free and user friendly. It is a mature and well-developed service with 700,000 specialized pages, 610,000 daily visits, and 2,200 monthly blog entries. The site goes beyond content and also encourages the formation of communities to share their knowledge and experiences and find partners to improve their situation collectively. The interactivity of the site gives equal opportunities to visitors to learn and contribute without being constrainedby communication impairments. It can serve as a good basis for international or intercultural integration, for interconnecting virtual/social networks and communities and is yet another proof how modern web can positively affect people’s lives.
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