Will the internet be censored by the Government in 2012?

Lars Hilse — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:44:47 +0000

Depending on what you are more worried about, I would – in that context – like to point out that information is the most valuable good the world economy relies on today.
I always get a smile on my face when I hear people screeming that some social network has shared their data in some way. Or spied on them. Yet on the other hand the same people are clueless about all the information being collected about them through their shopping behaviour, their credit score, their behaviour while surfing the web (yes, ISPs are in most countries forced to record that – not without a reason), etc.
In Germany the next step will be that the personal ID card will be equipped with a PIN which has to be entered whenever you buy something on the internet. The proclaimed reason by the corporate media is, that it would make online trade safer. And ideed it does, but it also makes every purchase transparent, thus giving your personal preference away and you make yourself auditable quite easily.
What I wanted to point out with the example above is that – like always – there are pros and cons. So do I trust a Chinese government to determine which content is available to me? Or is a western, more or less democratic government the better choice? None of them are. In the good old days of the internet there were the lone gunmen, usually referred to as hackers. If inappropriate or even illegal content would pop up somewhere on the web, they would hack the site, destroy the content and be gone. Today, these people have be discrimited and criminalized, are hunted down by the governments we entrust to run, yes to even control the internet, and – above that – are proclaimed to be the evil of the internet which certainly a wide scope of them is not. The only information source left to mankind that has – at least not on a massive scale – not been undercut by the corporate media pools and where sharing knowledge through blogs etc. is not or only minorly controlled is left in the hands of those that we have chosen to be our leaders. Perhaps we should start to dig for the root of evil?

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Accessibility on the web and SEO: Remember that blind guy you scrutinized? He’s got an internet connection now!

Lars Hilse — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:26:39 +0000

Not only do we regularly discriminate these people in the real world, which would probably be the reason that they cuddle themselves in their homes. But we go one step further and deny them access to the information in the virtual world from the same homes we have driven them into. Don’t believe me?

While you’re reading this post, please do me a favor and cover your eyes for a second. And what do you see? Exactly as much as on of the 37 million blind people worldwide will.
For the capitalists amongst us: you’re missing out on 37 million potential customers!

And while you’re spending 1000nds of dollars for cool looking website you’re not only neglecting and discriminating these people but search engines may be giving you a hard time obtaining appropriate raking also.

So what do we do about that?

I must admit that I’m preaching water and drinking wine to a certain extent. But I’m aware of the issue which is the first and initial step to take. And I’ve got people spilling their guts finding a solution. And what are you doing?

Raising awareness?
Hardly one company has heard about this issue. Get the word out – share this post, syndicate it or whatever!
Read about it?
The W3C offers comprehensive documentation on the web accessibility initiative WAI
Checking your website?
Maybe it even complies to the initiative’s guidelines already? Do this by going through this checklist (click)
Asking consultants who know what they’re doing?
There are several consultants out there who can help you out. I am one of them. So please feel free to contact me.

What effect does it have? Why the effort?

corporate social responsibility
if you don’t explicitly proclaim what you’ve done hardly anyone will recognize the difference. Yet you’ve done a good thing which is generally perceived in a positive way – not only by the disabled themselves who will praise you – but also by the general public
better search engine ranking
makes sense, right? Sort of like modern conditioning… Do something good and Google and co. will reward you. If your website complies to the guidelines mentioned above you will most likely see your site being rewarded a better raking.

The effort is – most of the times – pretty small.

Bottom line: Accessibility issues are not to be neglected. First of all you’re making the virtual world a better place for a hell lot of people and above that raise your image to the general public.

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Management Consultants for Web Strategy and E-Business Development, CRM, SEO, SEM, Paid Inclusion, Social Media, Marketing - Lars Hilse » internet

Will the internet be censored by the Government in 2012?

Accessibility on the web and SEO: Remember that blind guy you scrutinized? He’s got an internet connection now!