In February 2003, the association Handicapzéro launched a general
portal for visually impaired French-speaking internet users, offering
free access to national and international news, sports news, TV
programs, the weather forecast, and access to a full range of services
for health, employment, consumer goods, leisure time, sports, and
telephony. Handicapzéro -- founded in 1987 - has aimed to improve the
autonomy of visually impaired people in the French-speaking world, that
is to say around 10% of the population. Launched in September 2000, the
first website of the association quickly became the most visited
"adapted" website in the French-speaking community, with 10,000 queries
per month. Since October 2006, a revamped portal (based on the one
launched in February 2003) has offered more tools for blind people, for
visually impaired people, and for people who want to communicate with
them. The portal was used by 2 million people in 2006.
March 2003 > Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian novelist, made a digital
experiment
In March 2003, Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian novelist, and the author of
The Alchimist, decided to distribute several novels for free in PDF
format, in various languages, with the consent of his publishers. In
early 2003, his books, translated into 56 languages, were sold in 53
million copies in 155 countries.