Is the web designed by the west, for the west?

GLOBAL – That’s the question Tim Berners-Lee asked when he was speaking to the BBC to publicise the launch of his World Wide Web Foundation. The Foundation is set up to improve the web’s accessibility, particularly for those in developing countries. According to the story on BBC news “only 20 per cent of the world’s population have access to the web.”

Mobile access is high on the agenda, to help improve access in Africa
and other parts of the developing world. That’s a belief long held by
Nokia’s own futurologists and a subject we’ve discussed plenty on here
in the recent past.

Interestingly, the Foundation is also planning to look at ways of
improving access for those who can’t yet read or write. That’s not
something we’ve covered much of before and, given that there are plenty
of developed countries with low literacy rates (and it appears to be
worsening) it’s an interesting subject to explore.

But how to tackle it? We’re going to do some digging on how this stuff
is being dealt with internally, meanwhile let us know if you’ve come
across anything interesting.

Meanwhile, Tim Berners-Lee is looking to raise $100million for the Web
Foundation. Trip over to the site and help out if you see fit.

Related posts:

• Symbian Foundation – things are developing nicely

Tags | access, BBC, developing countries, World Wide Web Foundation