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Providing help and
training on computers for disabled people
 Disabled On Line is a Registered Charity and has been in
existence since January 2004. It was formed by the users of the
Trowbridge Internet Café for Disabled People after the previous
organisation which ran the Internet Café failed to
secure any funding. It is a well used and very successful facility. We
have five computers that are available exclusively for disabled people
to use.
In
a world where computers and the Internet are becoming more and more
used, disabled people find themselves at a great disadvantage by not
having access to these services. Very few facilities exist with the
capacity to provide specialist software and hardware and to offer
one-to-one help.
 We provide a resource for disabled people to learn
computing skills and to have access to the Internet within a social
environment. Training is available to a high standard and people can
study to obtain recognised qualifications at a pace and in a manner
which is entirely appropriate to them.
With
the help of the trainer, members use the Internet services provided for
a variety of purposes. This includes building their own web sites,
communicating by e-mail with friends and family around the world and
using the Internet as a research tool. As an example we have someone
who has very poor sight who has just completed her second short novel.
We also have two men with severe learning difficulties one of whom
wrote, with some considerable help, to his MP about a local hospital
closure, whilst the other has help from our enabler to research into
his passion for sport.
Conversations
between the members, the trainer and the enabler often help members
with problems outside the Internet Cafe. There is a very good
atmosphere
at Disabled On Line, with a real cross section of disabled people using
the Internet Café. We have people who are blind, partially sighted,
deaf,
who have learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health
problems. The trainer and enabler are very capable and have between
them many years of computing and caring experience.
The
service is invaluable to our users who gain such confidence by being
able to do things they never imagined they could do, that this
confidence is often carried over into other areas of their lives
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