But in example 1, I would think that is the exception; the vast majority of Africans (disabled or not) would probably never have access to a computer, let alone web access. The current thinking in Africa is that mobile phones will probably be the most common route for people in rural Africa to use to access the internet. that brings some new issues as few phones are accessible, an for basic functions, let alone wet browsing. I am not aware of a stable, affordable accessible web browser that can operate on the typical mobile phone operating systems. Many of the usual phones are only basic entry level.

I can certainly imagine easier solutions to the second 2 examples.

There are also people in situations similar to #2, except they don’t have training resources available. Maybe they’ve obtained computer and Internet access, but they don’t know about search engines or the concept of distinct web sites vs. the Internet as a whole and have no understanding of how any of it really works. They may or may not know how to find out more about these things, or even that these kinds of concepts and issues exist. There’s a lot of room for variation here, some people have a really difficult time wrapping their minds around the very logical way that computers work…the training issue almost comes back around to an accessibility issue at that point.

Three difficult choices and I can’t say that I could fairly prioritize them but I did want to welcome you back to blogging regularly. I look forward to reading your insights.

Scott