Indie

By Raymond D. Cohen

INDIE. For many people, this word immediately brings to mind the premier auto racing event on this planet. For others, visions of young, hip music groups independently producing their own rock videos and CDs leap into consciousness.

But for people with disabilities, the word INDIE is about to take on an altogether new connotation. For people with all kinds of disabilities -- and there are literally millions of Canadians who fit into this category -- INDIE is about to become the on-ramp to the information
superhighway: the Internet. And Canadians with disabilities, bound and determined not to be road kill on this thoroughfare, are gearing up for the journey!

Just to drive the point home, the potential use of the Internet by this population is vast. It is worth noting that people with disabilities already constitute a considerable percentage of our population (15.5 per cent, or 4.2 million individuals, according to the most recent federal government Health and Activity Limitations Survey), and this number is increasing. Baby boomers are on course to seniorhood, and so the average Canadian adult is now older than ever. As our population ages, the number of Canadians who find themselves with various disabilities increase proportionately. In fact, modern medicine pretty much ensures that most of us will live long enough to experience
disability firsthand.

People with disabilities are participating as never before in all aspects of mainstream community life: education, recreation and employment, for example. But perhaps the greatest facilitator of all has been the new technology. This includes computers, this includes the Internet, and now this will include INDIE.

INDIE is an acronym for the Integrated Network of Disability Information and Education. Indie was conceived of in Calgary, Alberta, in May, 1995. Members of approximately 30 organizations representing virtually all disability interests got together to discuss emerging trends in electronic communications and what the Internet could mean for Canadians with disabilities and their organizations.

Briefly, for the yet-to-be-initiated, the Internet is a worldwide network of computers capable of receiving and transmitting information almost instantaneously. In a very real sense, the "information superhighway," as the Internet is often called, represents the sum total of
humankind’s knowledge to date. This is because virtually all of the institutions holding this knowledge -- universities, libraries, museums, major organizations, industries and governments -- are participating actively in electronic information-sharing. A recent estimate pegs 6 million of
these information storehouses as participating "stops" on the information superhighway.

The Internet is growing at a mind-boggling rate as more and more organizations and individuals discover the ease with which it means communication can take place. Statistics vary, but at last count the Internet had up to 200 million users. No one can calculate exactly how many people with disabilities are out there on the ’net. But the truth is that it is of no functional significance. On the information superhighway, no one knows what you look like, how quickly you move, or whether you have one of any number of possible sensory or physical disabilities. Today’s technology can equip anyone to travel the ’net, regardless of ability -- or disability.

Which brings us back to the conception of INDIE. The Calgary group adjourned after meeting for only half a day. Incredibly, after that half-day, an administrative structure was developed, a steering committee was struck, and INDIE moved one giant step closer to becoming a reality, while Canada moved one giant step closer to providing the world with one of the most valuable information resources on disability ever compiled.

It is important to bear in mind that the assured success of INDIE comes from its roots: people with disabilities themselves. While the organizations, links and individuals collectively comprising INDIE will come through numerous channels, including public, private, industrial, academic and government, the relevance of this effort comes from the fact that it has its roots and its leadership emanating from the national community of people with disabilities.

Scheduled for launch this year, INDIE will serve as a gateway to the thousands of disability- related sites worldwide already up and running on the Internet. INDIE will also provide information on thousands of disability-related Canadian organizations, through a searchable directory; it will profile hundreds of products and services invaluable to people with disabilities; it will allow easy access to news and cutting-edge legislative information; it will facilitate public forums on disability issues; and it will provide access to on-line publications. In other words,
INDIE is about to make a huge impact on the information needs of people with disabilities in Canada -- and around the world.

Similarly, academics, rehabilitation professionals, family members, industry leaders, communication specialists, media and government representatives will all find their places on INDIE.

In today’s high-tech world, where information is the universal currency, INDIE acts as a bank, keeping the currency in circulation and making investments for the future. INDIE will be a place where all stakeholders are constantly on the lookout for ways and means of creating a more
inclusive world, a world wherein people with disabilities are afforded the same rights, freedoms and access as all other citizens.

In a society where people with disabilities still have to shout to make their voices heard, it seems that full, equal and universal access is now most likely to exist in a virtual sense before it emerges on the physical plane. But information is a valuable tool for any social change. And for
many people with disabilities, an accessible on-ramp to the information superhighway is all they need to help them merge into the fast lane.

(Raymond Cohen is the Editor/Publisher of ABILITIES.)