Website set up for disabled kids

A website designed purely for children with disabilities has been launched by the Children’s Society with a grant from the Lottery fund.

The Askability website is designed to provide the sites users with access to news, sports film and music reviews plus fun stuff that they would normally be excluded from because of the way most websites are designed.

Using a language called Symbol, information is accessed by use of pictures instead of words. So instead of being heavily text based, even children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia who struggle with the written word are able to use the site.

Children using the site are also encouraged to interact with other visitors by providing their own stories, feedback and jokes.

They don’t need to know how to convert what they input to the special language because any content created is automatically converted to Symbol.

The website is the brainchild of Children's Society project in Solihull in the West Midlands. The Society said these young people often felt isolated from their peers because mainstream news and other content on television and newspapers and other sites are not easily accessible to them.

"Askability offers disabled children the chance to enjoy their own website," said Maureen Murray, project manager at The Children's Society in Solihull who came up with the original idea of a symbolised website.

"I hope they find it fun, user-friendly and informative - it's obviously a massive development for children with special needs," she said.

The site took 18 months to create and is part of a three-year project. There are currently two part-time employees. The technology behind Askability comes from two companies, Solutions Squared and Widgit Software.

The future could be even brighter for these youngsters and even for older disabled people as this is a system that can convert any website into Symbol and there is even a browser using Symbol .