Project to assist disabled people

Hello,

I am going to cut the preliminaries short. I have been involved with a very special girl for about a month or so, and she has inspired me beyond belief. Just about everything that you can think of that can go wrong in the human body, she has had or currently excperiences. To give you a few examples:

1. She has osteoporosis, which means her bones break very easily, yet she is allergic to plaster of paris. This means that she often has to walk around with broken bones in her body, without being able to have it supported by a cast to help it grow back straight and ease pain.
2. She is diabetic, and because of that (and the cyst she had in her head 5 or 6 years ago), she is totally blind for the last 5 years.
3. She has kidney, heart and liver problems.

I believe you get the picture. If I say too much more, it would sound as if I am asking for donations! Hehehe.

With the background information out of the way (more can be provided to interested parties) I will start with the reason why I am writing this note.

I am trying to orchestrate a whole new living experience for disabled persons, with a focus on Information Technology. We have all the technology available, so why not refine it to be suitable for disabled people.

This project will start on a small scale, in other words, it will benefit only one person to start with (apart from the modules that result from this venture - these will be ploughed into Drupal should they be useful) but eventually, I want to expand to all disabled people in the world by establishing a stable supplier network, good software, and a supportive community.

Many disabled people are still capable to work. For example, blind people can't drive, but they can perform fairly regular jobs from home. The same for people who can't walk, or are deaf, etc. This project is to create a working environment (and a play environment) for disabled people to give them a sense of self-worth by providing them with a job if they don't have one, or, at the very least, bring the technology to them.

As you can imagine, a lot of disabled people are also lonely. This project would also ease this problem...

Here is what we need to get this project started for one person:

1. Decent home computer (Busy negotiating with a few companies for hardware).
2. Internet connection and ADSL or some other subcription service (Busy negotiating with a telecoms company for line rental/sponsor).
3. Software that will let the disabled person speak to his/her computer, and let his/her computer speak to him/her.
4. This project's software component.

The purpose of this mail is to discuss the project's software component. Let's get on with it:

Since the first person to benefit from this project is blind, the initial stages will involve specifically focusing on making the web a reality for blind or poorly-sighted people. Although many blind people already use the web, their use thereof is very limited.

Here is what her initial website will entail, which will utilize all software we need to make her computer speak to her:

1. A "personal" section (these can be separated by Taxonomy) where she can have all kinds of things she is interested in, which can be imported via RSS or whatever other technology can work for her.
2. A "commercial" side, which will handle the aspects of accepting donations.
3. A "productivity" side, which will be used to create a specific job environment for her, in a field that she has experience in.

These three components, or sections, will be completed in that order. The first one can be done once I have arranged for all the hardware and software required to make the site, and give her access to the Internet. I can develop some of the code for her site, and developers in this community can also contribute if they wish. As the project grows and expands, the second and third sections can start to realize.

I am currently studying Human-Computer Interaction, and I want to apply my knowledge to the usability of this website, specifically for blind people or people with reduced sight. Likeminded people with good inputs will be gladly welcomed into the project. This includes designers, developers, usability experts, and so on.

Here are some preliminary ideas of what I am thinking of doing:

1. Via RSS (or whatever technology is the best for this purpose) gather information about the disabled person's interests and categorize it into reading material, special offers, entertainment, etc., etc., etc., and present it in a way that the disabled person can easily retrieve the information, make use of offers, make payments for these offers by using her profile with a merchant, such as paypal, with money that has been donated to them, or which they earned themselves by working when section 3 is completed and working.

2. Establish an interactive community where the disabled person can chat to other people and make friends. Us regular people take things like MSN or IRC for granted. I can't speak for all disabled people, but my friend, for one, will really LOVE such a feature, as she is a very outgoing person, and always up for a good chat. This community can also act as a support group for each other.

There are so many more ideas running around in my head, and I unfortunately haven't turned them all into words yet, so I can't say much more at this time.

Yes, you've guessed it. I want to use Drupal for the project... :) Interested parties can contact me by means of my Drupal personal contact form.

Regards,

Kobus