Ongoing advances are moving the Internet in this direction, but it is still far from accessible. Severely disabled users who seek to use the Internet are, therefore, limited by its shortcomings. ADA Technology is unwilling to force severely disabled users to wait for changes; it can surmount the ineffective, unfriendly Internet environment now. ADA Tech Network brings social and technological friendliness of the Internet of the future to the use for severely disabled students now.
Why local web network?
Severely disabled students who can not move their head and body, or those with limited hearing, sight, and/or speech have serious problems reading and navigating most public web pages even under the good circumstances, with computers adjusted to their disabilities. Often they can not access and use websites at all.
Connecting severely disabled students into a local learning web network is the only technologically and financially reliable way to ensure they are able to communicate and learn online. It is imperative to have each of these elements centralized and available. ADA Technology knows that it is possible to, and will, connect handicap-adapted computers and electronic devices to a particular local network and distribute web information that is formatted to be fully accessible for severely disabled users. This is impossible to do on the current public Internet.
Why social web network?
Socializing on the Internet with peers, and establishing effective communication with those who help them, are, to severely disabled students, crucial elements in their learning because:
The skills these students learn by working online not only significantly increase and enhance their ability to learn but also will give them greater confidence and self reliance, thereby adding to their quality of life.
Severely disabled students who can not move their head and body, or those with limited hearing, sight, and/or speech have serious problems reading and navigating most public web pages even under the good circumstances, with computers adjusted to their disabilities. Often they can not access and use websites at all.
Connecting severely disabled students into a local learning web network is the only technologically and financially reliable way to ensure they are able to communicate and learn online. It is imperative to have each of these elements centralized and available. ADA Technology knows that it is possible to, and will, connect handicap-adapted computers and electronic devices to a particular local network and distribute web information that is formatted to be fully accessible for severely disabled users. This is impossible to do on the current public Internet.
Why social web network?
Socializing on the Internet with peers, and establishing effective communication with those who help them, are, to severely disabled students, crucial elements in their learning because:
- severely disabled individuals can not learn on their own without the help of other people
- the quality of their schooling life depends on available, valuable communication with other people
- the Internet is quickly becoming the main way students gain or enhance their education and skills
Any disabled student can benefit from a local social learning network comprised of peers and helpers. But for those with severe health impairments, the friendly local web network, tailored to their needs and disabilities, is the only option for them to have equal opportunities. To wheelchair-bound students with severely motor impairments, for example, a local network is truly the only way to communicate and learn on the same level as their peers. The interactive web network will open the world of computers and the Internet to disabled students who have been unable to experience it; the potential benefits for them are unlimited.
Such local web networks that also offer a social community and/or outlet for severely disabled students will never lose their usefulness. Even in the age of the fully universal Internet, these networks will be necessary; the unique needs of severely disabled users will demand such services. In accessing, working with computers and the Internet, as well as other aspects of their lives, severely disabled students do not rely on technology alone. They heavily depend on communication with an educated, caring circle of people to help and work with them.
