Profile on Indie

By Don Barrie

In June, a number of organizations, including the Canadian Abilities Foundation, officially launched Indie -- the Integrated Network of Disability Information and Education. Indie is Canada’s official website for groups representing people with disabilities.

The concept of Indie began in a meeting that was held in Calgary, Alberta, in May, 1995. Thirty organizations serving people with disabilities discussed "emerging trends in electronic communications and what the Internet could mean for Canadians with disabilities and their organizations," according to an article by Ray Cohen, President of the Canadian Abilities Foundation.

Since its inception, Indie is rapidly becoming one of the most visited disability-related places in cyberspace, gathering together a community of resources on various forms and types of disabilities and the kinds of services that are geared toward the needs of people with disabilities. Indie has something for everybody, regardless of whether or not they have a disability. Indie’s text is available in English and French formats, and can be read with or without graphics, according to your preference or needs.

When logging on to the Indie homepage, you will discover that the information is divided into 14 relevant categories: Adaptive Technology; Disability Type; Disability Organizations; Employment; Government; Housing; IndieMall; Media; Recreation, Arts and Culture; Rehabilitation; Resource Centres and Libraries; Social Development and Legislation; and Transportation. All of these main categories have subcategories. For example, IndieMall consists of Adaptive Technology, Community Services, Home Support Services, Legal and Transportation information.

Each area provides links to other websites offering information related to these specific topic areas. This makes it convenient for people to browse through each topic area to find the information they need in a structured format.

Indie is updated frequently to include news on special events. For example, currently you can access information on the National Conference on Disability and Work, to be held in Toronto from October 7 to 9.

As previously mentioned, Indie can be regarded as a community of resources in cyberspace. And what is crucial in the successful expansion and maintenance of such a service is participation.

Non-profit groups are not required to pay hosting fees. Indie provides 24-hour technical support. Companies that wish to launch their own websites through the Indie server are quickly connected.

Advertisers, like the services that provide website links and the users who "visit" Indie, are encouraged to participate in this growing and dynamic community. It is easy to advertise on Indie, because the rates are reasonable.

Because access to Indie is free, "supporters," "friends" and "patrons" are sought to act as sponsors, contributing various levels of support. Individuals who are not affiliated with an organization can establish their own web page on Indie. And because it is linked to the government, Internet users have the opportunity to voice their ideas or their positive and negative criticisms on the government’s mandate for people with disabilities throughout Canada.

As I am one of those consumers who is able to use the Internet with graphics to complement the text, I would enjoy seeing more graphics used on Indie, and prefer more of them to be clickable. (The graphics that are there so far are impressive.)

Indie is a service that is definitely a work in progress; it is being updated constantly to include new links and sources of information. This is always evident whenever I use Indie. As Indie grows, so will its wealth of information. Users are encouraged to "add a link" to the bottom of any Indie page.

Some future additions that are planned for Indie include directories of Internet resources in Canada and worldwide, and a directory of disability resources and databases.

This is just an idea of what you will find on Indie. Be a part of the community, and participate! Check Indie out online at http://indie.ca.

(Don Barrie is an undergraduate English student at Carleton University in Ottawa.)