Web CMS for Blind Users

Hi All,

The National Council of the Blind, Malaysia (NCBM - http://www.ncbm.org.my) 
wants to develop a web-publishing system that will make it easy for the 
blind to publish online content. NCBM is not expecting too much, what they 
want is a simple CMS that will allow a blind person to update their 
homepage.

The Swiss Embassy in Malaysia has invited NCBM to apply for a grant that 
goes up to USD24,000 to develop this system. Would you/your company be 
interested/available to help NCBM develop this system? The most important 
criteria is that the system must be easy to use for the blind(used in tandem 
with a screen reading software such as JAWS) and is compliant with web 
accessibilility guidelines (W3C WAI & DAISY). You/your company would get 
massive publicity for this CMS not just in Malaysia, but globally as well. 
You would also be contributing something valuable to society and adding 
value to the lives of millions.

The main requirements for the system is as follows:
This web-publishing system will be designed to:
- Work in tandem with screen reading software such as 
JAWS(http://www.freedomscientific.com), which is a separate software tool 
for the blind and not part of this web-publishing system;
- Run in a server-client based environment, hence making it 
platform-independent. Anyone using a Windows, Macintosh, or Linux operating 
system will be able to access the same web-publishing system using an 
Internet-enabled web browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer;
- Be compliant with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility 
Initiative (WAI) Guidelines on creating online content for the blind 
(http://www.w3.org/WAI/), as well as the DAISY Consortium's guidelines on 
creating Digital Talking Books (http://www.daisy.org).

This web-publishing system will make it easy for the blind to:
- Publish online content that is WAI and DAISY compliant;
- Upload, Manage and Publish text, images, documents, audio, and video 
files;
- Convert published online content into documents that can be printed out on 
a Braille embosser;
- Option to publish online content via e-mail and mobile phone;
- Option to convert published online content into RSS feeds or Digital 
Talking Books.

Main Objectives of Creating This Web-Publishing System:
- To allow the blind to easily create/publish online content;
- To generate more blind-friendly content on the World Wide Web;
- To create opportunities for the blind to generate income from online 
content/intellectual property.

If you are interested to tender for this NCBM project, what we need from you 
to proceed is:
- an outline/blueprint of proposed system and modules based on the main 
requirements above;
- timeline of how long it will take to develop this system;
- costings breakdown;
- gantt chart format is fine.

If you need more info, pls contact me directly.

With warm regards,

Ian Gan
Volunteer Webmaster, NCBM
web: http://www.ncbm.org.my
E-mail: ian@xoulmedia.com

Received on Tuesday, 11 April 2006 01:05:32 UTC