Budapest, October 17, 2003

Axelero has created opportunities for disadvantaged groups to facilitate their use of the web. With the introduction of a technical novelty the company made the pages of the most visited Hungarian portal [origo] "visible" for the blind and sight-impaired, and donated one million forints worth of Internet access to the Hungarian Association of the Blind and Sight-impaired. Additionally Axelero and Matáv have launched free Internet training programs for physically handicapped and Roma people.

A new service offered by [origo] that is managed by Axelero is Hírmondó [News Reader] that enables the blind and sight-impaired to use the Internet. The voice browser can read out web sites and facilitate navigation by the sight-impaired on specially formatted texts. The browser enables diverse use of the Internet, the software can be downloaded free of charge from [origo]'s Hírmondó or Szoftverbázis [Software Base] pages.

In addition to the technological development, Axelero donated to the Hungarian Association of the Blind and Sight-impaired 50 unlimited Internet accesses for one year worth one million forints that will be distributed by the association to its members subject to application, primarily to people who use the Internet mostly for work or study.

Education also plays an important role for disadvantaged social groups. That is why Axelero and Matáv has launched free Internet training programs for physically handicapped and Roma people. The participants of the program receive 4-hour computer-aided training on the theoretical and practical aspects of the possibilities offered by the Internet. After the training each participant receives a free CD with useful information and 15-hour free Internet access to enable them to try out what they have learnt at the training.