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

If the word “directory” makes you yawn, think again. This online resource for disabled people actually serves a useful purpose. And what’s more, it’s socially-orientated. It relies on you, me, and her over there, to make it what it is.

And what it is, is bloody brilliant. Users select their desired location on a clickable map which brings up four colour-coordinated main buttons such as ‘Disability Directory’ or ‘What’s on in your area’. Buttons like the ‘Disability Directory’ button brings up further colour coordinated sub-categories such as ‘Community Services’, ‘Employment’ or ‘Housing/Home & Supported Living’. These include additional sub-categories, but don’t panic – everything is so perfectly organised that the reams of sub-categories actually make searching for a specific thing really easy. Rather than having to search laboriously through generic lists in the housing category, if what you actually want is home help listings, you can easily find them, using the finely-tuned sub-categories which narrow down search options through every button click.

Supporting every element of this highly organised community is a rather quirky feature. Every word on the website is linked to the Point system, a paid-for augmentative software developed by Widgit-online. Hover the mouse over any word throughout the website and the software generates a picture of the word’s meaning.

Designed with people with learning difficulties in mind, it is also ideal for those learning English and those who struggle with reading and communication for other reasons.

Listings in both the directory and the events & activities section are added and rated accordingly by registered users. The higher rating a listing has, the higher up it appears in the search directory.

A slight irritation for the registered user however, is the homepage itself. Users are unable to log in and access the members’ area (where they can write a review or add a listing) until they have selected a location on the map at the beginning.

In addition, because the site largely relies on user participation, there are several gaps in service listings in areas of the UK where there are very few registered users, especially in the South Yorkshire and Norfolk areas. Oddly, this is not the case for the area around the Scottish Highlands.

Yet the gaps do not affect the usefulness of the site as a whole, due to the sheer number of comprehensive listings elsewhere. And paradoxically, because it is user-generated, the gaps are not likely to stay empty for long. Clearly, the more people that know about the site (and actually use it), the better it will become.

• Visit dotcomunity.org.uk