Stories

Although website accessibility was a core principle in the use and development of the Internet, most websites are far from being accessible to everyone. In response, the project “Enhancing the barrier-free Internet through blind people empowerment”, aims to address this issue.

Brazil is known for its complex bureaucracy and misunderstandings or attempts to avoid it have left many community networks operating irregularly or even illegally. As a result, many fear getting classified as ‘clandestine telecommunications services’, which can bring fines of $10,000 reais (USD $1,790) or imprisonment of two to four years.

On the fringes of the Amazon in northeastern Brazil, many communities live in fear of attacks by invaders who slash and burn forest to make way for illegal mining, cattle and soy plantations. This is also one of the country’s poorest regions and the low potential profits have left most communities without Internet access.

Like many Haitian youth, Obed Sindy first accessed the Internet in a high school computer lab. In Haiti, the Internet is still considered a luxury, with just 32% of the population using it in 2018.

To help individuals and communities grapple with the impacts of COVID-19, the Internet Society Foundation recently awarded Beyond the Net Small grants and several projects focus on addressing challenges that have emerged in light of the pandemic: work, schooling and access to reliable health information.

When COVID-19 hit New York City, the Streaming Station Community News Project was barely getting started, after receiving an Internet Society Foundation Beyond the Net grant for close to $30,000 in December 2019.