Winners e-Inclusion and Participation
The content and services of the Hallatlan Foundation website News and learning with sign language, aim to provide an effective learning tool popularizing the everyday use of Hungarian sign language. The innovative display of well categorized content is viewable through video loops, providing an opportunity to practice mimicry and gestures, a key factor for effective communication in sign language. The website structure makes for easy searches and area-focused language learning. The content of the website, including the interpretation of the signs, is currently available in Hungarian, English, German, and Spanish. The project is not only an online sign language dictionary, but also offers additional services such as a forum, chat room, online quizzes, news and crosswords, all together not only a useful source of information, but also a great community site. A CD-ROM series is available, focusing on different target groups, with content customized to each groups’ needs. News produced by MTV, Hungarian Television, the national public-service television channel, is translated into sign language and made available at this site weekly.
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.
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The idea of Epooq is to create an experimental means for reliving past moments by recalling and telling stories. Epooq has three special features to reach the mark: INSPIRATION: The content of the service consists of 1) user stories; 2) historical events; and 3) thematic memory keys that refer to life phases of the user. The guiding idea is to inspire the user to recall past moments and reflect those experiences. STORYTELLING BY USING OWN VOICE: Epooq enables storytelling by using all avenues of multimedia. Users write texts, use images and record videos or audios, or mix these together. Video and audio are central functions. Stories gain a special quality when told by real voices, with personal intonation and slang. SHARING EXPERIENCES: While content is normally private to protect the privacy of the user, stories can be published or shared with communities important to the user. A key part of publishing is the opportunity to see one’s own story in its historical context. Epooq is still developing on the basis of user feedback, but comments of the first customers and users indicate, that it is hitting the right spot.
Mexico en Comunidad is a project developed by the ITCC in partnership with the Social Development Secretariat. Using information technologies, the project aims to support the poorest villages and towns in Mexico by focusing on two main areas: the Community Creation System and the Support Programs Platform. The Community Creation System provides an easy to use, non-specialized tool to create a web page for each community. Local users can provide information on the web page about specific topics: products, services, touristic attractions, festivities, as well as, information about customs & traditions, stories, myths or traditional recipes.
More than 300 communities have been highlighted and made visible to others using this system. The Support Programs Platform is intended to promote specific government and ngo programs, making their guidelines more understandable and accessible for non-IT liberated users. The programs focus on health, education, environment, economic development, housing and infrastructure. More than 15 different federal government agencies provide up-to-date content. Mexico en Comunidad is one the best examples of how to overcome the digital divide.
The Help for children webpage was created as an extension to the children’s helpline started in 2009 as a professional telephone phone-in service for children, teens and even adults, concerned about child rights protection. Recognizing that some children or teens are afraid to talk on the phone or prefer to write about their troubles, the website was designed to deliver better and quicker help for children and teens, who themselves need help or know about a child who needs help. Extremely easy to comprehend and to navigate, Help for Children is perfectly adjusted to its target audience – children and youths. Consultants address various abuses, whether drugs/alcohol dependency, unwanted pregnancy, child abuse, violence against a child, or family problems in general. Users quickly find professional help and support via this portal. With information about how children can also help themselves and where to seek help, Help for children also functions in a preventive way. This exemplary project empowers one of the most powerless groups in society – children and youth – to protect their basic rights and seek solutions to their problems.
