www.net-cymru.co.uk
Eich Gwefan Chi / YOUR Site on the Internet
Site Objectives and Policies
Although Net-Cymru as a website is under the control of one individual
it is intended that it should both reflect community life in Wales and
serve as a vehicle for strengthening communities and local businesses and
to work toward the objective of keeping the decision-making which affects
the lives of people as much as possible within the communities themselves.
Invitations are extended to people with particular experience of community
life to contribute to the site. The site offers community organsiations the
opportunity to publicise their activities and for people involved in local
business to share their experiences.
It is natural for anyone making such contributions to a website to want to
know what it is they be associated with. In order to do this as clearly
as possible I have set out the guiding princliples and policy framework
for the development of the site.
Objectives
To improve the quality of life in the areas covered by the website
through encouraging people to participate actively in community life.
To improve peoples' awareness of what is going on in their community.
To increase awareness Wales and Welsh communities amongst people living
elsewhere, both nationally and internationally.
To work toward enabling all who wish to do so to become involved in
community life, no matter what their background (i.e. in terms of race,
gender, age, religion, language, sexual orientation, etc.), provided they act
with tolerance and respect toward others and to consider particularly the
obstacles faced by the disabled and elderly
To encourage people to increase their awareness of the wider world and
to think positively about how they can work toward improving intenational
understanding and the environment.
To work toward improving the economic prospects of local communities.
How it is intended to achieve those Objectives
A prerequisite to participating in the life of the community is to possess
information about the community. It is intended to concentrate on this site
information about organisations in the community - subject to willingness
of the orgnanisations to have their material placed on the internet and their
willingness to accept the objectives of this site.
Publicity for the site will be sought locally through
the press, libraries and the participating organisations themselves. It is
hoped to have a weekly calendar of events making it easy for people to chose
what to do on a particular day or time.
Material on the Internet is available World Wide. Search engine sites will
be contacted at a suitable point in development to make the presence of the
site known to people who are looking for information about Wales or
the types of activities featured.
Access will be made as wide as possible. A simple format will both present
the least obstacles to people with some types of disability (eg. the blind
who may be dependent on ASCII readers) as well as minimising the financial
obstacle to access by making the site readable with the simplest browsers, so
that even cheap, second-hand equipment is suitable. Where appropriate
material from the site will be made available in print form.
The site will be
publicised (provided permission can be obtained) at points of free access
such as public libraries.
Submissions are welcome in any language and
positive encouragement is given to contributions in the Welsh language.
Translations or summaries will be provided in English.
It is intended to provide links to other sites of interest. Sites will
be reviewd in order to enable visitors to judge the usefulness of the content
before transferring to the reviewed site. Sites will be selected on the
basis of educational, environmental, cultural interest with particular
empahisis on sites relevant to Wales.
Advertising will be offered to local businesses on the basis of a single
type of listing for everyone. The site will be arranged so that visitors
will be able to find quickly and easily the services they require without
being distracted by advertising irrelevant to their needs. This will provide
local businesses with a low-cost means of enabling the community to become
aware of their services.
By providing a cost-effective means of advertising their services locally
it is intended to make it easier for people to become self-employed.
Administrative arrangments and Policy Constraints
Presence on this site will be free for organisations with social rather
than economic objectives.
Presence on the site will be available to organisations, some of whom may
be promoting controversial aims. Their presence on the site doe not imply
any approval for the organisations and it is expected that groups who oppose
each other may both be present on this site. Within reason individuals and
groups will be encouraged to express their opinions. The right is maintained
to refuse any material presented.
Charges to businesses will be small compared
to other media, hence reducing the barrier to going into business. Small
businesses will be able to provide substantial descriptions of their services.
Presence on the site should not imply approval or guarantee of the quality
of the product or service.
Feedback
Contributors of all types are encouraged to visit the site periodically to
ensure that it develops according to the the above principles. Your comments
are always welcomed and constructive criticism will be considered seriously.