Web Accessibility Forum 2011

Video presentation of Philippine National Anthem made by MCCID Batch 2010 students

NCC's Ms. Merce Nicolas gives her opening remarks.

NCDA Chief Nelia De Jesus introduces the participants.

ATRIEV's Julius Charles Serrano explains about user experience in accessing the web.

Deaf participants Feliciano Manio Jr. and Moises Libot (MCCID)

MCCID Training Director and PWAG President Jojo Esposa

NCDA Deputy Executive Director Mateo Lee Jr. and DepEd's Lauro Purcil gives certificate of appreciation to Sir Jojo.

Participants in Photo Ops

As part of this year’s celebration of White Cane Safety Week, a half-day web accessibility forum was held anew last August 2 at Occupational Safety and Health Center Training Room in Quezon City.

Julius Charles Serrano, a web accessibility advocate and PWAG representative gave his insights on user experience in accessing government websites. He also explained some accessibility barriers met by a Person With Disability in getting content from websites.

For his part, MCCID Training Director and Philippine Web Accessibility Group President Jojo Esposa elaborated on the topic by introducing ICT as well as discussing international and local laws/circulars pertaining to equal access to the web. NCDA Chief Nelia De Jesus challenged the participants to do their share by adhering to the call of making their sites accessible to everyone.

Sponsored by the National Council on Disability Affairs-White Cane Safety Week Organizers and the National Computer Center, this forum was participated in by web developers and representatives from various national government units as well as key stakeholders.

stcamilluswebsite

Sir Jerome explains his draft design to St. Camillus Officials.

Fr. James signs the web design contract

Sir Jerome signs the contract.

Sir Jerome with Fr. James

St. Camillus Hospital Facade

MCCID will now design a hospital website.

Sir Jerome Marzan, MCCID Deaf Trainor was tasked to develop the Official Website of St. Camillus Hospital in Calbayog City, Western Samar for a fee. The site must showcase the programs and services of the hospital.

St. Camillus Hospital is run by Camillian Order led by Dr. Fr. Jaime Roa. The website address is http://www.stcamilluscalbayog.com.

Sir Ervin explains the five website templates he designed.

Sir Ervin Reyes, MCCID Deaf Coordinator was tasked to develop the official website of Transparency International – Philippines, one of the seventy national chapters of Transparency International. Their site will be used to disseminate information and o facilitate the establishment and strengthening of multi-stakeholder coalitions for good governance and corruption reform; bringing together government, civil society, business and other sectors that would see to functional National Integrity Systems [NIS].

Transparency International Philippines’ Official Website is at: http://www.transparency-ph.org.

Bro. Jonie Gibaga of BOC signed the contract as witnessed by Teacher Teddy Badanoy and Sir Jerome Marzan.

Meanwhile, Sir Jerome Marzan, MCCID Deaf Trainor accepted the contract to develop the official website of Brothers of Charity Philippines, another local chapter of Brothers of Charity International.

Brother’s of Charity Philippines operates an Ortopedagogical Institute in Caritas, Pandacan, Manila; a Local Formation House and a School for the Deaf (San Lorenzo Ruiz SPED Center) in Baguio City and a Rehabilitation and International Formation Center in Tabaco, Albay.

Brothers of Charity Philippines’ Official Website is at: http://www.brothersofcharityphil.org.

MCCID’s Sir Ervin Reyes and Sir Jerome Marzan, deaf web designers together with Sir Jojo Esposa got the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of meeting WordPress founding developer Matt Mullenweg when they attended the third WordCamp Philippines held at the College of St. Benilde last October 2, 2010.

Close to 300 web designers, developers, bloggers and enthusiasts attended this year’s event sponsored by Avatar Media. WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS), often used as a blog publishing application, powered by PHP and MySQL. It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. Used by over 12% of the 1,000,000 biggest websites, WordPress is the most popular CMS in use today.

Matt Mullenweg delivers his State of WordPress Address.

WordPress has been included in the web designing course of MCCID since 2008. It makes web developing easier and more customized. Current deaf students find web designing faster since they are already taught how to make websites using HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).

Mr. Mullenweg gave his State of WordPress address at the camp. He was pleasantly surprised that there are deaf web designers in the Philippines who are familiar with WordPress. When asked if he already met deaf web designers, he said no. This is his first time.

MCCID web designers with Matt Mullenweg.

WordCamp is a conference type of event the focuses on WordPress. They are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. It was held in nearly 40 countries.

Aside from attending various break out sessions, raffle draws were held. It was very fortunate that Sir Jerome and Sir Ervin won free one-year webhosting subscription from solidhosting.ph while Sir Jojo got a free t-shirt from Google Philippines.

MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr. conducted a free three-day workshop on web accessibility and WordPress Content Management Systems (CMS) from June 23 – 25 sponsored by the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA).

The seminar/workshop was held at the NCDA Board Room. It aims to expose the government partner agencies as well as local government units about making their website accessible to everyone especially those with physical impairments.

MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr. conducts the seminar/workshop to government employees.

On the first day, Sir Jojo explained about introduction to Accessible Information and Communications
Technology. He also tackled on the popularity of online social networking and how it changed the lives of Filipinos. In the afternoon, he focused on access barriers of persons with disabilities and how web accessibility can help them remove those challenges.

On day two, he introduced the Philippine Web Design Accessibility Recommendations as well as the Manila ICT Design Recommendations. He also made a demonstration on how to validate web sites online as well as manually. On the third day, he introduced Content Management System using WordPress. The attendees were able to install web servers and WordPress CMS on their demo-computers and created their first simple website.

Ten government agency representatives working under their Management Information Systems/Information Technology departments were initially selected to participate in the workshop. Three of the attendees came all the way from Misamis Oriental and Iloilo.

Workshop/Seminar Participants

In his welcome speech, NCDA Executive Director-OIC Mateo Lee expressed his full support in promoting web accessibility as well as encouraging other stakeholders to be more concerned with visitors of their official website with which some of them might have difficulty accessing. He also promised future follow up seminars for others who were not able to attend.

Certificates were awarded to all the successful attendees.

Web Accessibility Forum

MCCID students took part in the web accessibility forum.

MCCID National Anthem Sign Language video shown on stage.

NCC Angelita Nicolas gave the welcome remarks.

DAISY Head Lauro Purcil also gave his talk.

DOTC Rizal Morales gives his inspirational address.

ICT Video is shown featuring Sir Ervin Reyes.

Sir Jojo gives his lecture on web accessibility.

Sir Jojo receives certificate of appreciation together with NCC Angelita Nicolas, DOTC Rizal Morales and NCDA Nelia De Jesus.

Web Accessibility Forum participants together with MCCID College students

Third year batch 2010 students of MCCID attended the first Web Accessibility Forum conducted by the National Council on Disability Affairs Sub-committee on Information and Communications Technology held last July 20 at Philvolcs Auditorium in UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City.

Aside from NCDA, other cooperating agencies include the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) – National Computer Center (NCC), the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). NCDA member agencies like DOH, DSWD, Philippine Information Agency, DOST and DFA also participated.

MCCID Training Director and Philippine Web Accessibility Group Current President Jojo Esposa Jr., was one of the main lecturers. He expounded on the Accessible Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and how important it is to everyone especially those who are with physical impairments. He enumerated some access barriers experienced by PWDs when they open government sites. He also introduced a few tips on how to make websites accessible.

For his part, ATRIEV Executive Director Antonio Llanes together with Project Director Rene Orense demonstrated some assistive devices used by visually impaired and those with low vision. These includes screen readers and screen magnifier softwares.

Among those who gave their inspirational messages were DOTC Senior Transport Development Officer Arch. Rizal Morales, Philippine DAISY Consortium President Lauro Purcil and NCDA TCD Chief Nelia De Jesus.

The highlight of the forum is the announcement of the official signing of NCC-NCDA Joint Circular No. 1 requiring all websites of government line agencies including their attached, regional and state universities and colleges to redesign their websites in order to pass the web accessibility design standards set by Manila ICT Design Recommendations through the Philippine Web Accessibility Group. NCC IT Officer Angelita Nicolas gave the announcement. She also informed the participants about future workshops and seminars that will be held.

Aside from MCCID, other Persons With Disabilities Non-Government Organizations also attended the forum. These includes ATRIEV, Philippine Network of Daisy Consortium and Philippine Deaf Federation (PFD). PFD President Raquel Estiller-Corpuz requested all government agencies to open their doors to PWDs especially those who don’t have funds to connect to the internet to offer their services free.

The forum’s objective is to make the participants understand the concepts of web accessibility towards a “disability-inclusive” Philippines where information accessibility for persons with disabilities is based on human rights principles. It also aims to encourages the attendees especially the government sector to make their websites compliant to web accessibility standards under the Manila ICT Design Recommendations and/or the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

The activity coincides with the country’s annual celebration of the 32nd National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week (July 17-23). This year’s theme is “Sa Istrukturang Accessible, Lahat ay Able“. DPWH is this year’s lead agency.

From Left: Ms. Meikah Delid, Mr. Edward Ling, NCDA's Dandy Victa, MCCID's Jojo Esposa and Digital Filipino President Janette Toral

From Left: MCCID College of Technology Director Jojo Esposa Jr., NCDA Asst. Chief for TCD Dandy Victa and Bitstop Network Services Representative Maria Cristina Bayno

The Digital Filipino Web Awards were given last Friday, November 13 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City. It was part of the Digital E-Commerce Summit, which started in Thursday.

This is the first time that the NCDA site won the award given annually by the DigitalFilipino.com Club whose members judge the nominations from the public in over 40 categories. The official site was designed by MCCID College of Technology. See related story here.

The NCDA site award was received by Mr. Dandy Victa, Assistant Chief of Technical Cooperation Division. MCCID College of Technology Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr., gave the 5-minute overview of the website. He also focused on the promotion of web accessibility.

Find more videos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network

The websites were reviewed and judged “for their ability to create a noticeable presence on the Internet—their ability to be seen and heard among all the noise and clutter of the Net,” said the award body.

“The DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards aims to advocate the use of Internet and e-commerce for business development, through the identification, promotion and highlighting of best e-commerce practices from various websites in the Philippines,” it said.

Nominations were open from Sept. 19 to Oct. 19.

4th Digital Filipino Web Awards Logo

The criteria for determining the winners were:

• Search engine readiness—title tags, keywords and page strengths.

• Content/organization—clear purpose, target audience clearly defined, citation of sources whenever used, freshness, originality and accuracy of information.

• Structure and navigation—opening page, content connection and transition, writing and conventions, ease of navigation and link usefulness.

• Design and functionality—overall layout, colors, background and text.

• Technical performance—page loading, browser flexibility and live links.

• Interactivity—audience involvement and overall experience

To view the complete list of awardees, visit the Digital Filipino Web Awards Official Website.

This year’s “Disabled Friendly Website Awards” were held last July 10 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) as part of the very first Philippine Web Design Conference spearheaded by the newly formed Philippine Web Designers Organization (PWDO).

PWAG President and MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa explains about the awards. (Photo from Annemich928)

The Philippine Web Accessibility Group through its president and MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa and the National Council on Disability Affairs presented the plaques of appreciation to the following recipients:

1. www.philcecnet.ph – Official Philippine E-center Community Portal of the National Computer Center represented by Ms. Eloisa San Mateo (Government)
2. www.blinding-light.com – Personal Website of Ms.Miko Reznor (Anna Monica Esguerra)
3. www.lilianefoundationphil.org – Official Website of Liliane Foundation Philippines represented by Sis. Agnetia Naval, National Coordinator (Non-government Organization)
4. webstandards.raquedan.com – Web Standards Website of Regnard Raquedan (Personal Website)

Awardees (from left): Regnard Raquedan, Eloisa San Mateo, Sis. Agnetia Naval, Anna Monica Esguerra, Jojo Esposa and NCDA Director Geraldine Ruiz.

Panel of Speakers

They all received a plaque of appreciation courtesy of the NCDA. Incidentally, the official website of Liliane Foundation Philippines was designed by an MCCID alumnus Kerwin Tamanu. He also currently works in that organization.

(From Left) NCDA's Dandy Victa, MCCID's Jojo Esposa, RBI's Mayette Regala, Filmmaker Ralston Javier and APCD's Ryuhei Sano

MCCID Alumnus Gimar Aguillon prepares for interview. Gimar currently works as a web designer at Nova Management, Inc.

Sir Ervin is being interviewed by Mr. Sano.

The Asia Pacific Development Center for Disability (APCD) funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA) collaborated with Filipino stakeholders to create a 15-minute documentary film about the history and development of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Persons with Disabilities.

The Philippine counterpart is composed of the following major stakeholders:

1. National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) – representing the government;
2. Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI) – representing the visually impaired sector;
3. Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf (MCCID) – representing the deaf sector.

The agencies were selected based on their active participation and contribution in the establishment of accessible ICT for Persons with Disabilities. NCDA is in the forefront for disseminating information about accessible ICT by sponsoring workshops and sending delegates to international foras. RBI produces assistive devices like braille printouts and DAISY while MCCID designs websites and actively promotes web accessibility to other non-government agencies. The three were also APCD-JAICA associate members.

Other agency that participated in the documentary includes the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) where deaf encoders and MCCID alumnus Rona May Savares and Renato Moran were interviewed at their workplace in DFA Passport Division. Nova Foundation, ATRIEV School for the Blind and the Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG) also took part in the documentation.

The main objective of the short film is to document the development of accessible ICT and best practices in the Philippines. It also showcases a short timeline between the implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework in 2002 outlining issues, action plans and strategies towards an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with disabilities up to the landmark Philippine contribution on Article 9 – Accessibility which formed part of the UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities in 2007. The Philippines signed the treaty into law in 2008 and held a unity rally celebrating its ratification in April of the same year which MCCID is one of the participants.

The group chose to get the services of award winning filmmaker and screenwriter Ralston “Joel” Jover because of his professionalism and meticulous work detail. APCD Chief Adviser Mr. Akiie Ninomiya commended Mr. Jover’s attitude of diligently following the instructions set by the group without compromising his cinematic style. Jover’s famous films includes “Kubrador”, “Tirador”, “Manoro” and soon to be shown “Marlon” a docu-story of an 18-year old unschooled blind person.

The “Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability” (APCD) Project is a technical cooperation project between the Government of Japan and the Government of Thailand, which is started in Bangkok on 1 August 2002. The Overall goal of the project is to promote the empowerment of people with disabilities and a barrier-free society in developing countries in the Asia and Pacific Region.

The docu-film is expected to be finished and shown during the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week Celebration this July and at Disability Summit this September. SM Supermalls Committee on Disability Affairs also promised to assist in the presentation of the film in its selected activity centers. APCD will also lead the way for its international release. The short film has an English sub-title and sign language inset. It will also have Tagalog, Cebuano and Ilocano versions.

Second Edition Design (2003)

Third Edition Design (2005)

Fourth Edition Design (2008)

Twelve years have passed since the Official Website of Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf, then called MCCID Online was launched. In 1997, it was the first school for the deaf, probably even the first in Asia that went online.

The site’s home city was in Athens. That is why its address was “www.geocities.com/athens/9385“. The site is still existing and freely hosted by Geocities.com, now Yahoo Geocities. The Internet company did not remove the site although it is expected to cease to exist by the end of 2009.

Important articles and news items that appear in the MCCID Online website include:

• Article about Deaf Culture;
• Ms. Heather Whitestone’s 1997 Visit to the Philippines;
• Prominent and controversial news on Filipino Deaf like the Supreme Court’s decision favoring Deaf workers against a major bank and the blow-by-blow account on Marlon Parazo, the first Filipino deaf convict;
• Detailed directory listings of deaf schools and organizations in the Philippines.

That site has received a few awards including the Deaf Watch Awards and a nomination in the 2nd Philippine Web Awards. It was even used as a credible online resource information pertaining to deaf people and institutions in the Philippines by Deaf Child Worldwide, Asia Disability Japan, Google Directory Asia, Deaf World Ministries (Deaf Culture) and The Interpreter’s Friend. In one occasion, it was even used as a reference by Gallaudet University.

After that, MCCID went into three revisions. The current version is the fourth one. Here is the chronological history of MCCID ONLINE website.

For a more personal insight or story behind the design, visit this blog post made by MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr.

Update:

Yahoo Geocities was already decommissioned last year. So most of the links from the original site are already dead. Fortunately, there is another site which housed the old MCCID Online which is still existing up to now. The free add-ridden site is http://mlachrst.tripod.com. You can also view the same page in Internet Archive.

After nearly four months of negotiation, the National Council on Disability Affairs, an official government agency tasked to oversee and monitor disability related programs and issues in the Philippines, has finally entrusted MCCID College of Technology to design their official website.

NCDA Chairperson Rosie Lovely Romulo, through the recommendation of Executive Director Geraldine Ruiz, has approved the complete re-designing of their website. In the Memorandum of Agreement signed by both parties, NCDA will pay an undisclosed amount to MCCID College to design the website that must be completed within ninety working days.

NCDA Technical Cooperation Division Chief Rizalio Sanchez reasoned out that they selected MCCID because of their:

• Proven expertise in the field of web accessibility by participating in various NCDA-NCC led workshops, 3rd recipient of Disabled Friendly Website Award and a member of PWAG and international Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS);
• Web designing experience by creating working websites for more than 20 non-government organizations;
• Long time partnership with NCDA on its numerous activities;
• Champion deaf web designers;
• Member of the PWD (Deaf) sector;
• As a non-profit academic institution

Last April 13, Sir Jojo Esposa Jr., MCCID Training Director presented the Web Development Project Plan to the officials and employees. He also thanked the agency for entrusting MCCID to do the project. He explained that the proceeds of the work will go directly to the school’s scholarship fund especially to support deaf students from the provinces. Deaf alumni will be tasked to do the project under the supervision of Sir Ervin Reyes.

National Council on Disability Affairs is the national government agency mandated to formulate policies and coordinate the activities of all agencies, whether public or private, concerning disability issues and concerns. It is formerly an attached agency of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. It is now under the Office of the Philippine President.

As part of their thesis project, all third year students are required design free websites to organizations that are related to the deaf and disabled persons.

A total of four groups were formed. Before, there are three members for each group. This time, only two students per team will design. 

Here is the tentative list of institutions and the deaf lead web designers:

1. BAHAY BATA 127 c/o Ms. Ana Maria Dizon, Coordinator – James Christomar Santos (Leader), Aliza Berondo (Member)
2. SAN LORENZO RUIZ INTEGRATED SPED CENTER c/o Ms. Denise Pauline S. Osmeña, Principal – Jerome Marzan (Leader), Lorenzo Baraoil Jr. (Member)
3. ANGELIQUE VIZORO DEAF MINISTRY c/o Ms. Leonor Vizoro, Coordinator – Ace Diaz (Leader), Gibson Cruz (Member)
4. SUPPORT AND EMPOWER DEAF CHILDREN c/o Mrs. Liwanag Caldito, adviser – Mark Sampang (Leader), Princess Lorn Pagaoa (Member)

A “Free Web Design Service Contract” was signed between MCCID students and the respective organizations. The contract states that the students must accomplish the free design work within the list of rules that was agreed upon.

Websites must be finished before April 1 in time for their graduation program. Winning website will receive a special cash prize on their commencement exercises which will be tentatively held in May 21, 2009.

A total of eight groups were formed out of 26 graduating desf students. There are three members for each group. Something new this year is the adding of e-commerce sites to showcase the deaf products for sale to other countries.

Here is the tentative list of institutions and the deaf lead web designers:

1. Liliane Foundation Philippines – Kerwin Tamanu, Leader
2. National Federation of Cooperatives of Persons with Disabiliy – Anthony Francis Paez, Leader
3. House with No Steps Foundation – Aoi Bacsa, Leader
4. Capitol City Baptist Church Deaf Ministry – Edmond Guzman, Leader
5. Philippine Christian Fellowship for the Disabled Center – Christopher Calderon, Leader
6. Wheelchair for Disabled Foundation Philippines – Pia Joy Matias, Leader
7. Peter Ding Basa’s Pinoy Smile Products (E-commerce Site) – Ma. Ivy Ranola, Leader
8. Rolando Landicho’s Woodcraft (E-commerce Site) – Grace Anne Pico, Leader

Websites must be finished before April 1 in time for their graduation program. Winning website will receive a special cash prize on their commencement exercises which will be tentatively held in May 21, 2008.

Sir Jojo receiving the plaque of appreciation from Dir. Fermin.

www.mccid.edu.ph, the official website of Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf Foundation, Inc. is now the recipient of “3rd Disabled Friendly Website” of the Philippines.

In a simple ceremony held at the Max’s Restaurant in Quezon Memorial Circle last June 29, 2006, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Vision Office Limited and the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP) awarded a plaque of recognition to MCCID. Sir Jojo Esposa Jr., MCCID Training Director and Sir Ervin Reyes, Deaf Coordinator, received the plaque.

Other recipients of special appreciation trophy include, Mr. Jojo I. Esposa Jr., for his lecture on best practices in designing accessible websites and an introduction on deafness, Mr. Reynaldo Mendoza, former webmaster of the De La Salle University website for giving his insights on using cascading style sheets and Mr. Conrado Ordesta III of Cebu Provincial Government for providing invaluable assistance during the National Webmasters’ Interface held last May 18 – 21, 2006 at Mango Park Hotel, Cebu City.

The awarding ceremony/luncheon was attended by Dir. Catalina L. Fermin of NCWDP, Ms. Grace Amberong representing National Computer Center – CICT and Mr. Solomon Paz of DSWD. Ms. Nelia De Jesus also of NCWDP was the day’s emcee. Mr. Leo Valdes of Vision Office Limited, one of the signatories in the plaques, is based in Canada. Aside from the awarding program, video presentation of the Cebu seminar was shown, recent accomplishments from the NCWDP Sub-committee on ICT was presented and initial meeting of core group discussion for the possible establishment of Accessible Web Designers of the Philippines.

Plaque of Recognition

Ms. De Jesus, coordinator of NCWDP Sub-committee on ICT, also announced the fourth recipient which will be the “Web Development Team” of the De La Salle University Website. Mr. Rey Mendoza is one of the web designers of the DLSU Site. Awarding ceremony will be announced soon. All the four webmasters attended the first workshop. Aside from the DLSU site, she also informed the group that the fifth awardee will be the Cebu City Government website.

The award was given to MCCID “for creating the third disabled-friendly website in the country and generously sharing its expertise in developing accessible websites “gratis et amore” for disability-related organizations to boost economic opportunities for Filipinos with disabilities.” The National Computer Center – CICT is the sole government agency tasked to monitor and evaluate websites that complied with the 2003 Manila Accessible ICT Design Recommendations.

Applying for the .edu.ph domain name requires a school whether a government or privately funded, to be a duly registered educational institution located in the Philippines.

Well-known colleges and universities like the privately funded Dela Salle University (www.dlsu.edu.ph) or public schools like the Philippine Science High School (www.pshs.edu.ph) use the .edu.ph domain signifying their presence as premiers of education in the Philippines. The Philippine Network Foundation, Inc. a government agency tasked to oversee .ph website registrations was created by the Department of Science and Technology in 1994.

After being online since 1997, the administrators decided to apply for the .edu.ph domain and eventually changed the website address. However, the www.mccidonline.net website will continue to exist as a web portal for the deaf people in the Philippines. In that site, we will feature Deaf PenPals, Books for the Deaf that are for sale, latest news and happenings within the Deaf community, churches for the Deaf, Filipino Deaf entrepreneurs, special announcements related to Deaf activities, seminars and conferences, comprehensive list of deaf organizations in the Philippines, latest technologies for the deaf, Campus life, Deaf chat as well as Deaf success stories. In the meantime, it will temporarily host the four websites created by 3rd year batch 2006 graduating class.