Discapnet
According to the specialist consultancy firm McKinsey Discapnet es, is the only global portal of reference in regard to disability, at national level. It was promoted by the ONCE Foundation in 1999 and received co-financing from the European Union up until December 2008.
It includes a broad scope of contents, information and services, especially aimed at people with disabilities, their families and the professionals who attend to them.
Discapnet.es is, at the same time, an information service for non-profit organizations linked to this sector, for the public administration and for individuals directly related to disability.
In addition, it has become a platform for the provision of interactive services aimed at improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, their personal autonomy and their full participation in the new knowledge society, through their familiarisation with the use of Internet.
The contents of the portal are structured in thematic areas especially related to the information needs of the disabled and their environment (health, rights, accessibility, technology, culture). In addition to the specialised information, specially drawn up for the portal by an extensive multidisciplined team, the portal also contains a wide spectrum of news items related to each one of the thematic areas and to general information, updated in real time. All of this is accompanied by a group of tools and specialised services (blogs, hosting of personal pages and those belonging to associations, electronic mail services, forums, etc) orientated towards guaranteeing maximum participation of the portal’s users in the generation and evaluation of its contents, and establishing interpersonal relationships which allow the creation of a truly virtual community around the portal. The technical development and design of the portal combine the use of the most advance technologies used on the Web, fully respecting the maximum standards of accessibility and the functional abilities of all our users.
The transcendence and future orientation of the portal can perhaps be better evaluated with some quantitative data. According to the data included in the ONCE Foundation’s annual report, in 2008 Discapnet received a total of 10,267,338 visits and served a total of 119,537,231 pages, with daily averages of 28,052 visits and 326,604 pages viewed, which represent increases of 9.09% and 60.91% respectively on the figures from the previous year. As of 31st December 2008, 3,335 users receive the two Discapnet bulletins (general and legislation) in their electronic mail, 17% more than in 2007; 1,142 receive news alerts via text-message, and 1,208 receive personalised information about job offers on their mobile telephones, tripling the number of subscribers to this method. During 2008, 10,774 Discapnet users made suggestions regarding the portal or received replies to general consultations on disability, 887 received specialist responses to consultations regarding legislation and 421 regarding health. This represents 47.59% more communications attended to than the previous year.
In any case, the best way to get to know a live and changing tool such as this, is to navigate directly through its renovated structure, published in June 2009.