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Webwatch
Our regular review of the best and worst of the web
Essential link for daily living
It’s often said that what’s needed is a one-stop shop where you can get those things disabled people need which aren’t available from mainstream retailers. Agnes Fletcher checks out a site which claims to offer just that
Lights...camera...action...mouse
Having recently attended the official launch of a new online resource for deaf and disabled would-be film-makers, Mik Scarlet was so impressed at the quality of the films shown at the event that as soon as he got home he checked out the website, and was equally impressed at what a superb resource it provided
Peck's picks from the web
Disability Now reporter Sunil Peck talks us through his ABC of the web: archives, books, blogs, cash and campaigns
Site makes right move on transport
In this season of leaves on the line, Annie Makoff looks at a new initiative for airing our grouses over late trains and other transport problems
Let the web do the talking
Actress Kiruna Stamell got so fed up with inappropriate questions from journalists and their innocent use of offensive terms that she now tells them to prepare for interviews by visiting her blog
Speaking out: Joe and Jill blogs
In this first in an occasional series, Blogger and activist Martyn Sibley checks out the impact that disabled individual and collective bloggers can have
YouTube if you want to
Video logger Edmund West has been using YouTube to promote his own culture and causes. Here he reflects on the site’s usefulness not just to him but to people in other areas of disability culture
Linking to a brighter future
Do you want to change the world or just have a burning passion that you want to share with whoever will listen? E-campaigner Martyn Sibley says there are now tools at your fingertips that really could enable you to leave your mark on the world
Log on, check in, hang out
Forget frustrations over stages without ramps. Sunil Peck finds a venue where anyone who cares to listen can hear musicians performing
A chance to share
In the jargon it’s known as “peer to peer”, the chance to share experiences with like-minded people. Sunil Peck reports on a new web venture
Triumph over cuts tragedy
Disabled peple don’t always feel we have the option of taking part in street protest. But this doesn’t have to mean that voices go unheard. Online activist Emma Crees reflects on the momentum gained by her web-based protest, One Month Before Heartbreak
A sense of DotComUnity
dotcomunity.org.uk is a fully accessible directory of services, events and activities across the UK. Annie Makoff checks it out
Tweeting out: Broken of Britain
Despite barriers to full access, the internet is a place where disabled people can, at least in theory, have the opportunity to make ourselves heard as much as other people. The new digital based lobby group The Broken of Britain is a great example of this. Founder member Kaliya Franklin - aka Bendygirl - tells more
The fix is in
We've all experienced problems with websites before. Sometimes it's a minor irritation that can be worked around, but sometimes it's a major obstacle with no solution. Leonie Watson thinks that a new initiative from Citizens Online called Fix The Web could be the answer we're looking for
Be part of our brighter future
We're starting to hatch our plans for a relaunched Disability Now website and, says editor Ian Macrae, we want to hear from you
That virtual virtuous feeling
If lack of access has been your reason for not going to your local gym, Kelly Mullan points out that this may no longer be a valid excuse
Pick of the blogs
Physically disabled journalist and blogger Sarah Ismail wouldn't be without the internet for anything. Here she highlights some of her favourite disability blogs
Another brick in the wall
Graffiti is not usually recommended as a legal means of self-expression or stress relief, but Kelly Mullan has found an online resource where it is positively encouraged as therapy
Only dis connect
Ouch!, the BBC's disability web pages, are well known for their full-on, unapologetic and often quirky approach to their subject. Kelly Mullan reviews a new video project that's just gone live
CAB puts BSL online
In a move to expand its accessible services, Citizens Advice has just gone live with a British Sign Language service for deaf customers. Sunil Peck reports
Off the pace in the virtual race
As some people have pointed out, the virtual world can be a lot more accessible than the real world!
Mixing business with pleasure
Artist, model, TV presenter and businesswoman Sophie Morgan is clearly a woman of many parts. But online at least, she’s fighting a losing battle to keep work and leisure strictly separated
Surfing back to my roots
Actress Julie Fernandez tells us how she’s using the web to brush up her Yiddish, drool over life in a Turkish cave and find a new fascination with beards
Days of Future Past
Recently voted one of the top ten fourth plinth exhibits in Trafalgar Square, performance artist Liz Crow finds solace from the past in the past present and future
Wool gathering on the web
Multimedia design professional and amateur knitter, Karen Virapen tells Disability Now where she finds creative inspiration – and a pattern for a woollen G-string – online
Banking on access to your money
Of all the developments of the online age, few have had as much impact on the everyday lives of disabled people as internet banking, says Paul Carter. But now some banks are introducing a gremlin that may reverse the progress
Special screenings
Does the fact that a website is aimed especially at disabled people mean it’s no fun asks Cathy Reay
Web of confusion
It’s coming to something when someone like Robin Christopherson, a consultant on web access, finds himself avoiding the internet because it fails to meet his own access requirements
In on the ground floor
In the early 90s, when the web was still the “Information super highway”, Julie Howell was one of the first to travel on it
The low-down on downloads
Digital downloading is the fastest and cheapest way to access your favourite hits. But, as Cathy Reay found, it’s not that easy if you’re disabled
Designs for living
Passionate about form and function, Denise Stephens (left) was inspired to set up Enabled by Design when her growing collection of assistive equipment made her home look more like a hospital than a machine for living in
Bags of opportunities
For Kate Waugh, a lifelong love of handbags has helped her get a handle on an enterprising business venture that’s also a hobby
Things can only get b3ta
Do you have to be an Alpha to love b3ta? Digital creative Max Zadow ponders the dilemma the site poses for disabled people
Filling Wembley with Smarties
Leoné Watson, of digital development agency Nomensa, loves to quest for information, entertainment and trivia
Shopping sites have much to learn
Ask any of my friends what my favourite hobby is and they’ll respond, possibly a little too quickly for my liking: shopping
Space freaks, corsets and Youporn
If you want to get ahead, get a virtual hat, says Lara Masters, who also uses the web to grow her prodigious vocabulary and research burlesque and bizarre film roles
Wasting time for fun
Comedian Steve Day has a good return from thousands of hours on Facebook: one gig booking and one lost friend
Brains, bikes and bodies
Motorsport journalist Chris Dabbs spends many of his web hours surfing sites that defend motorists from over-zealous policing. But he still has time to check out developments in cannabis drugs, the US election and the odd sexual carnival
Ouch and about
Damon Rose is editor of the BBC's disability website Ouch!. We asked him to share some of his favourite web haunts
Navigation's what you need
Web developers need to remember that not all computer-users are able to use a mouse to move around the screen, says Shaw Trust’s Stephen Lloyd
Are you being surfed?
A new web access standard should make life easier for disabled surfers, but it could be 20 years before the internet is truly accessible. Sunil Peck reports
Hitting the virtual floor
Cutting edge, fashionable and stylish – all things associated with modern club culture. But just how good are the major nightspots’ websites at detailing their facilities for disabled people, asks Paul Carter
Reading the news
A new report compares the accessibility of national newspaper web sites. Sunil Peck reports