November 15, 2008 by Voicebox
The work we will be doing will be so powerful and relevant that we will want to spread the word. We will work with the digital mentors, and the projects supporting them, to raise media awareness. We aim to get external sponsorship for special events and campaigns. And we’ll help CLG to disseminate lessons learned.
3 Responses to “Introducing External Communications”
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Voicebox is the online presence of a bid spear-headed by UK online centres, and others to tender for the Digital Mentor project from Communities and Local Government.
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Would a national day for voiceboxing help our cause… its an easier thing to bring sponsors in around and it helps to pull the network together…but it can be a fairly false feeling thing and get lost amongst all the other “days” that are in existence already… what do you think?
i thought it would be great if the CMA network organisations would be interested in using local radio etc to promote digital mentoring..
External communications are likely to be a critical factor in the overall success of the project. There are two key elements I want to think about - the first is that such comms will need to be a blend of both new media and traditional media, and the second ois that we need to ensure that all communications are fully accessible to people with a disability.
These two things are related, those that are digitally excluded will need to be reached through a variety of means, traditional radio, print and PR will be well tested ways of reaching those people, however as some are intrroduced to new media we need to make sure that those new channels are utilised in a way that maximised accessibility. So for instance if we are using YouTube it will need to carry subtitled video etc. That should mean that such material is more accessible via mobile phones and other devices as well
People digitally excluded by dint of disability are also likely to benefit from demo projects that are run by others with similar needs (learning disability would be a good example) so our communications must not exclude those with personal needs, despite the success of this group in getting online
Guidance, templates and resources for local coimmunication can be designed in accessible styles to ease this pressure both for the steering team and for demonstrator projects.
BT’s volunteer force of Digital Rangers and Microsoft equivalents should be approached to join this proposed scheme.
Do you want an approach to be made?