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Description
People with visual impairments are one of the most vulnerable groups in the society. Their access to accurate and timely information about current affairs is often obstructed due to the fact that news websites are inaccessible and they cannot tell between fake and real news. The project aims at setting up an information and media portal BLINFO with information relevant for the blind and their “point of view”. The content will be prepared by the blind because they can best identify the needs of the target group. The news and articles will be presented in an appropriate and user-friendly manner. Focus will also be placed on the issues and consequences of COVID-19 as well as possible solutions. The visually impaired people live in a closed community, in isolation and face a lot of stereotypes and lack of understanding about important issues. The problem faced by the blind growingly stood out in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Another serious problem is the consolidation of their community. This particular group of the population is highly fragmented and much more often face a much higher level of insecurity in their daily life due to the visual impairment. The project will aim at helping consolidation and making sure that the informationally “blind” be on the same page with the society. We seek to empower the blind, encourage them to communicate, so that everyone has space where they would be likely to share. The main goal of the project is to promote not only raising awareness but also encouraging people to share more and look for solutions together.
Summary of project results
With funding from the Bulgaria Active Citizens Fund, the BLINFO information and media portal was built, including topics such as Society, Health, Technology, Art, Science, Only for the blind, Curious, Music, Sports and tourism, Authors speak, Inspirational stories, Psychology with uploaded 57 articles. Through the Contact section, site users have the opportunity to provide feedback: express opinions, give recommendations, make comments and suggestions on published topics and articles. Many blind people prefer to give feedback over the phone and through face-to-face conversations. The other goal achieved is the creation of a media team of blind people who write for the media portal BLINFO, thereby achieving engagement of blind people, increasing their qualifications and confidence in their abilities. For the construction of the BLINFO Media-Information Portal, contributed the method used for researching the opinion of blind and sighted people from the society through a survey specially compiled for the purpose and distributed. The survey contributed to the creation of the BLINFO portal, helping to determine the interests of the blind and to create the rubrics of the portal. BLINFO is also accessible to the general public, aiming to acquaint them both with the problems of the blind and with their "point of view" on solving them. The BLINFO team is supported in its activities by professionals from Dir.bg, NGOBG.info, BNR Hristo Botev, as well as other media with which the foundation has long-standing cooperation.