I of course believe that the internet provides enormous life-improving opportunities in our modern world. For me it is my livelyhood. But for everyone else too the internet can make life much easier and save lots of money. I was surprised to learn the findings of new research* that about 17 million people in the UK have never used a computer! The research shows that 33% of adults don’t use the internet and 27% have never been online!

The message of Get online day, organised by UK online centres, is that the internet can be used as a tool to make your life easier and save you money. It is estimated that a family can save up to £300 a year by shopping online*, using comparison websites and taking advantage of online offers. Today, many government services are available via the internet and home delivery services are now commonplace.

So today up and down the country community centres, learning centres and local libraries are taking part in Get online day 2008 and working hard to bring the benefits if the internet to the millions of digitally excluded.

To find you nearest Get online centre call 0800 77 1234 or visit the Get online day website.

*BBC News at One: 23/10/2008

http://www.hse.gov.uk

I worked for the HSE as a contract Web Designer for nine months. It was great to have the opportunity to work on one of the UK’s largest pubic sector websites that constantly ranks higher than all other UK government websites in the Site Morse league table for quality and accessibility. This work required advanced knowledge of XHTML, CSS, W3C standards and WCAG.