[multikulti-tech] Lasa Multikulti Website - Spring Newsletter

[lasa]

Lasa Multikulti Website Update  Spring 2005 
 
 http://www.multikulti.org.uk 
 
 *Progress on the Big Lottery Fund project
 In our last newsletter we were pleased to announce that Multikulti had been successful in its bid to the Big Lottery Fund for the further development of the project. Over the next three years we will be translating new documents for the Immigration & Asylum and Health topic areas of the site; we’ll also create a new Racism topic area, as well as adding two new languages – Urdu and Portuguese. We are currently recruiting new translators, deciding on new content for the site (though some is already appearing, see details on 11th & 12th round below), as well as reviewing and updating our existing content.
  
 *11th and 12th Round Translations now uploaded to site
 The 11th and 12th round documents are now available. Our new translations cover consumer issues: 'Buying Goods:, Your Rights' and 'Tricks – don’t get caught out. Beware of Fraud and Deception' (provided by Islington Law Centre). You’ll find these documents in the Debt topic area of the site.
 
 Our first new Health documents 'Post Natal Depression' and 'Post Traumatic Stress' (provided by the NHS) are on site. Also leaflets on 'Autism' and 'Asperger Syndrome' from the National Autistic Society. 
 
 The 10th round document Children’s ‘challenging’ behaviour is available in the Education topic area. In response to user feedback we will also translate the Multikulti site’s ‘disclaimer’ into Multikulti languages. 
 
 *New Languages – Urdu and Portuguese
 The first Urdu documents are now appearing on Multikulti. We expect to upload the new Portuguese documents in July. If you are a bi-lingual adviser with experience of translating or proofing community documents into Urdu or Portuguese then please get in touch with us at 020 7247 7226 or email mlashkari at lasa.org.uk. 
 
 *Email and Phone Queries
 We’ve been getting a number of messages and phone calls recently asking for advice on asylum and other issues. Unfortunately we cannot respond to these queries. The Multikulti project is a translated information website service only. Our project team cannot offer further advice other than what is contained in the information leaflets published on site. The site’s local agency finder, however, can direct people to agencies with the appropriate language skills who can offer one-to-one advice. 
 
 *Unicode Multikulti
 The Multikulti site delivers nearly all information as text in different languages including non-Roman scripts like Chinese and Arabic. This makes Multikulti documents easier to access and to edit, and also enables Multikulti to comply with accessibility standards like the Web Accessibility Initiative, and the Disability Discrimination Act. The ‘Unicode’ content is also searchable, so Multikulti’s resources are easier to find via Internet search engines. Making this possible across all Multikulti languages is a pioneering achievement in web technology. Because we are pushing the boundaries of multilingual technology we are still having some troubles with Bengali and Gujerati. We will continue to deliver PDF’s for these languages as well as Unicode. 
 
 *Multikulti User Group
 If you would like to become involved with the project, you can become a Multikulti User Group member. The User Group provides feedback to the Project Team on how the digitised Multikulti material is experienced by agencies and their clients. You will also be able to access Lasa’s free IT Helpline service and receive a free subscription to our magazine Computanews. For further information about the project or if you would like to provide feedback on the site, please email mlashkari at lasa.org.uk. 
 
 Lasa’s Multikulti project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund. 
 
 Multikulti Project, Lasa, Universal House, 88/94 Wentworth Street, London, E1 7SA 
 
 http://www.multikulti.org.uk 
 http://www.lasa.org.uk
 
 
 
 
 
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