Building A Web Site For Use By People Living In A Developing
Setting
— What should be Borne in Mind
by All Web Publishers
Web sites should be seen to serve their
intended purpose. In many developing countries, traditional
information sources have failed to provide adequate information
that people can use in their day to day lives. While there
are many web sites that are being created from within those
countries, a majority of these locally generated web sites
have only gone as far as establishing the Internet presence
of the organisation publishing the site and those web sites
that should be used to bridge information gaps in the areas
of health, education, agriculture, science and technology
are still thin on the ground. Web sites promoting tourism,
investment, the arts and culture are many compared to those
web sites that should be providing information that can be
used in many development activities.
There are few locally generated web sites
that are specifically built for the ordinary members of the
public living in developing settings. This is gradually changing
however as local people and organisations are realising that
ordinary people are not benefiting from these technologies
that are driving change in many Western based organisations.
While access to the Internet is being widened
to reach out to people at grassroots level in those settings,
equal attempts should be made to produce web sites that when
the access issues are solved will consequently make these
new technologies meaningful and useful in those settings that
have to grapple with other urgent development problems like
the need for better shelter, better health and better nutrition.
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