Radar
www.sonokids.com
The Sonokids foundation is founded by Phia Damsma, who for a
long time dedicates herself to the blind on the internet. In the spring of 2003
Sonokids launched the webtool Max. With this tool blind and partially sighted computer
users can build their own website in a simple way. These websites are accessible
and attractive for the visually handicapped as well as for sighted visitors. The
webtool was used successfully, but mainly by adults and older youths. The
webtool’s adult manual wasn’t usefull for young children, because of their usual
lack of knowledge and skills concerning internet and websites. With the help of
Digitale Pioniers an online, inter-active, challenging application was
introduced, especially for children, in an accessible style.
Final Products
is developed to teach young and visually handicapped children especially what
the internet is, with the help of a mole, a bat and a dolphin. It also teaches
children how to find things on the net, and how to communicate with other kids
via the net. Radar is built up out of missions that consist of stories (spoken
in by Erik van Muiswinkel and Frank Groothof among others) and assignments. The
missions deal with, among others: navigating (without the use of a mouse),
filling in an online form, searching online, communicating (safely) via the
internet (chat, e-mail, forum), working with pictures and music, and building an
own website using the Sonokids webtool. When a child has fulfilled all
assignments, he has actually built his own site. In the library one can find
Phia Damsma’s experiences with involving the target group. For Radar John
Norgaard stretched the possibilities of Flash. On
www.sonokids.com one can find his newly developed idea to navigate through a Flash application in
a common way to blind children.
Impact
The fact that Radar is now completed eases Sonokids’ desire
to start (international) cooperations. Many organizations think it’s important
to do something for blind children, but without a working model it proved tough
to make deals. Organizations now come to Sonokids instead of the other way
around. The Scottish School for the Blind is going to translate Radar into
English, so that the reach of the game can further expand. A real song contest
is going to decide who is going to sing the songs in the English version of
Radar. Children without a visual restriction benefit from the game as well. A
Dutch primary school uses the game in class. The most beautiful thing is the way
in which every finished game contributes to the expansion of the number of Max sites and therefore to the number of sites for blind children. Sites made with Max enter Sonokids’ portal automatically and offer an entrance to a community
that already consists of more than 1,000 members.
Contactgegevens
Stichting Sonokids
Phia Damsma
www.sonokids.com
