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SACI Network will inaugurate website in November

In the month of November, a new website goes on the air: SACI - the Solidarity, Support, Communication and Information Network. It was created in August of this year in partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the NGO Amankay Institute for Studies and Research, specialized in projects for the disabled, and the National Research Network (RNP).

RNP is participating in the project by collaborating to install the website. The SACI Network is currently operating as well under the sponsorship of the Telephone Foundation, the Vitae Foundation and the State Agency.

The SACI Network website is being designed in conjunction with technical teams from RNP, USP and the Electronic Computer Hub at UFRJ (NCE/UFRJ). Data planning and website administration are being developed under the responsibility of CECAE/USP. The visual arts team at NCE/UFRJ designed the visual identity of the SACI Network, as well as the Kit SACI - a set of applications to help the disabled access the network. The team at RNP is designing a set of guidelines for web page editing in compliance with Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) recommendations. WAI is a special interest group of W3C engaged in promoting easier access to the Web for the disabled.

The W3C special interest group in accessibility works hand in hand with the Web project development community, taking into account the various types of impairment users may have so as to develop more accessible guidelines, tools and technology for Web documents in different contexts. W3C directives take into consideration situations in which the user may not be able to see, hear, or move: may have difficulty reading or understanding text material; not be able to work with a mouse or keyboard, and so on. Pages formatted according to W3C recommendations may be presented to users working with ordinary computers or to those interacting through a voice synthesizer, a Braille keyboard or in the absence of a computer screen.

[RNP, 11.08.1999]