Most of us know that accessibility for disabled people (OKU) in this country isn't that great but how often do we think about accessibility in terms of the digital world?

MYNIC, the official .MY domain registrar under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry did think of it and have come up with plans to help businesses that are run by the disabled to go digital.

The organisation is giving a 50% discount, for life, to businesses run by people who have OKU cards when they buy a website domain with MYNIC.

Usually, businesses have to pay a yearly fee of RM120 to own a domain name, but with the discount, it'll only be RM60.

OKU Sentral founder and chairman Ras Adiba Mohd Radzi, during the press conference, said that the discount would help, as many disabled people do not have access to a stable income.
Online business could help disabled people to generate income
National Council for the Blind Malaysia Executive Director Moses Choo said that blind people could not afford to be left out when it comes to the digital world and the effort by MYNIC is very much welcomed.

"For us, blind people, how do we make money? We want to go beyond. We are in business too, and we want to expand our businesses," he said.

MYNIC is also working with several disabled associations such as the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf, Persatuan Pemulihan Orang Cacat Malaysia, OKU Sentral, National Council for the Blind Malaysia and more to help train them to digitise their businesses.

The training will help accelerate the move of businesses from offline to online through improved SEO and digital marketing using social media.

MYNIC Chief Executive Officer Datuk Hasnul Fadhly Hasan said that the goal of the programme was to bridge the opportunity divide by providing digital tools to everyone.

"We want to level the playing field and promote digital enablement opportunities to the OKU community so that they too can reap the benefits of Malaysia's digital revolution," he said.
(From left) OKU Sentral founder and chairman Ras Adiba Mohd Radzi, MYNIC Chief Executive Officer Datuk Hasnul Fadhly Hasan, MYNIC Chief Operations Officer Norzaiton Senusi, National Council for the Blind Malaysia Executive Director Moses Choo, and Founder of DAPE Garage Mohd Afiq Barni.
Besides helping the disabled businesses go digital, MYNIC is also encouraging existing companies and organisations to make their digital platforms more disabled-friendly by engaging with them and giving out awards.

The award ceremony will be held in March, and the shortlist is already available online. The categories for the awards include government agencies, media, banking and businesses.