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WEB PORTAL FOR THE BLIND

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The project could be briefly described as designing of a web site adapted for blind users.
Technically speaking, it is the regularly updated Internet database to which new data is constantly being added.
It contains the following items:

- the news from other web sites, epitomized for the use of the blind.
- a search/web directory epitomized for the blind.
- digital text archive (of books, publications and textbooks) including audio files (digital audio books etc.) with searching possibilities.
- Chat forum where the users would be able to communicate with each other and with other web visitors.
- The links to the chosen web sites, web services and web applications.
- Blind users' requests. Blind users could ask for any kind of assistance: they could search for a certain item of information, or ask for other types of assistance (outdoors or indoors help) This section of the web site is aimed to help to the sighted Internet user to get into a closer contact with the blind users of this web site. It will be necessary to attract a certain number of web volunteers who would then give their support to the blind. To achieve this goal we will organize a wide range of web marketing activities in order to increase the number of web visitors.

The project is divided into three main parts: design, maintenance, and marketing.

The design implies all the activities which will make this web site a reality:

- server platform architecture
- database creation
- development and addition of the new data
- user interface design (the web site)
- administration tools creation to update the database
- making the documentation

The maintenance is related to all activities needed for everyday web site functioning:

- administration of the server
- database administration
- the contents updating (by means of the administration tools)

The marketing implies all public promotion activities and the activities which should attract web visitors:

- web marketing which should bring together web volunteers (for the requested assistance)

- web advertising through banners
- registration at indexes and search engines (national and international)
- usenet advertising
- creation of a mailing list

- web visit statistics (according to which all marketing activities are revised)
- public relations and publicity
- Internet and non-Internet activities aimed at the promotion of the project; bringing the general public into the project as well as organizations, institutions etc.
- internal marketing
- making the information available for the blind basic seminars and courses about the use of the web site, bringing new people into the project through the active participation on the mailing list, or forum etc.

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