Digital+Living+Supports+Links

Virtual Ability Inc. @http://virtualability.org/default.aspx Virtual Ability, Inc. is a non-profit corporation based in Colorado, USA. Our mission is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds like Second Life®.

SL Healthy http://slhealthy.wetpaint.com/ SL Healthy gathers information about consumer health locations and groups in Second Life, with general health education resources as well. For science and technology related information, please see Science-Related Places from the Science Center Group. Please also refer to and support the Accessibility section of the Second Life wiki from Linden Labs ("Info about available Resident-created tools to make Second Life easier for the disabled").

Cybergrrl Oh - Living a 2nd Life podcasts. http://cybergrrloh.libsyn.com/

Gimp Girl Community http://www.gimpgirls.org/ "GimpGirl Community, a program of People Helping People, is a place where women with disabilities come together to share their lives, experiences, problems and successes, in a safe space that focuses more on our commonality as women, and less on what disabilities [we] have." Gimp Girls meets in Second Life, but does have an internet relay chat (IRC) option so those with difficulty accessing SL, can still participate be active in the community.

DisabledCommunity.org http://www.disabledcommunity.org/ ===="Our website makes a great starting point that provides resources and information to help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, their family, friends, caregivers and social service agencies."====

// "DisabledCommunity.Org // (DCO) seeks to educate by sharing information both online and in the community. We are run by volunteers."
Virtual Helping Hands www.virtualhelpinghands.org "Virtual Helping Hands is a non-profit organization helping individuals from all over the world by coordinating virtual and non-virtual resources to assist with mental, physical and spiritual health. The organization networks via the Internet to work within a global community that reaches out to impact the world around them. The purposes for which Virtual Helping Hands is organized are: Virtual Helping Hands plays an activist role by experimenting and developing technology to ensure that everyone - including those with disabilities – has equal access to education, employment, entertainment, and social engagement via virtual worlds and the immersive Internet. Like helping hands reaching out to the world, VHH acts through projects such as the SecondAbility Mentors, Accessible Builds, Club Accessible, and Max the VHH Virtual Guidedog, to provide inclusion for all."
 * To make the immersive Internet (virtual worlds) accessible to disabled individuals.
 * To provide assistance to those that are disabled.
 * To provide resources to those that are disabled.
 * To develop and make available new or enhanced existing technology to the disabled which enhances their opportunity for social engagement.

Second Ability Mentors @http://www.secondabilitymentors.org/ "The mission of the SecondAbility Mentors group (lovingly called SAM by the members) is to provide training for dedicated volunteers on how to appropriately assist real-life disabled individuals as they gain entrance into and explore Second Life."

Club Accessible @http://www.virtualhelpinghands.org/projects/clubacc.htm Club Accessible, formerly known as Wheelies, was the first club devoted to providing assistance and a social atmosphere dedicated to persons with disabilities. The club was founded to serve as a meeting place for friends, a dance club, an educational venue, a site for social interaction, a place of employment for DJs, and a home-base for many Second Life residents.

VIrtual Guide Dog @http://www.virtualguidedog.com/ Max, the Virtual Guide Dog, "is a real, assistive device so that we can all enjoy the Immersive Internet together." "The mission of the Virtual Guidedog project is to ensure that those who unable to use standard interfaces have equal access to the virtual worlds of the Immersive Internet (for example, those who are visually impaired, totally blind, print impaired, or mobility impaired)."

Accessible Builds @http://www.virtualhelpinghands.org/projects/accessbl.htm Accessible Builds was founded in May 2008 by Chade Villota and Polgara Paine when they purchased Taupo Region to house the club now known as Club Accessible. The plan was to develop the region as an inclusive community where people with or without disabilities could live in a safe, welcoming environment.