Twelve years have passed since the Official Website of Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf, then called MCCID Online was launched. In 1997, it was the first school for the deaf, probably even the first in Asia that went online.
The site’s home city was in Athens. That is why its address was “www.geocities.com/athens/9385“. The site is still existing and freely hosted by Geocities.com, now Yahoo Geocities. The Internet company did not remove the site although it is expected to cease to exist by the end of 2009.
Important articles and news items that appear in the MCCID Online website include:
- Article about Deaf Culture;
- Ms. Heather Whitestone’s 1997 Visit to the Philippines;
- Prominent and controversial news on Filipino Deaf like the Supreme Court’s decision favoring Deaf workers against a major bank and the blow-by-blow account on Marlon Parazo, the first Filipino deaf convict;
- Detailed directory listings of deaf schools and organizations in the Philippines.
That site has received a few awards including the Deaf Watch Awards and a nomination in the 2nd Philippine Web Awards. It was even used as a credible online resource information pertaining to deaf people and institutions in the Philippines by Deaf Child Worldwide, Asia Disability Japan, Google Directory Asia, Deaf World Ministries (Deaf Culture) and The Interpreter’s Friend. In one occasion, it was even used as a reference by Gallaudet University.
After that, MCCID went into three revisions. The current version is the fourth one. Here is the chronological history of MCCID ONLINE website.
| April 1997 | – MCCID Online First Edition using the free Geocities web service was born using the www.geocities.com/athens/9385 address. |
| August 2000 | – www.mccidonline.net domain name was registered. |
| April 2003 | – Website Second Edition had major make overs including flash animations. |
| July 2004 | – www.mccidonline.net site had a change of design showing simplicity yet completeness in information. |
| March 2005 | – As an observer in ICT Accessibility forum, MCCID Online Third Edition had major revisions including accessibility features and contents. |
| December 2005 | – MCCID Online became the most popular website information about the deaf in the Philippines according to www.alexa.com rating . |
| February 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph was registered. www.mccidonline.net was retained. However, the site houses websites freely designed by MCCID students as part of their thesis. It was renamed Web Accessibility Designs Philippines. |
| April 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph becomes fully accessible to Persons With Disabilities and passed the W3 Org Standards in XHTML Transitional. |
| May 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph was presented as an example of web accessibilty during Webmasters’ Interface at Cebu City. |
| May 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph passed the W3 Org Standards in XHTML Strict. |
| May 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph added MCCID YouTube Channel |
| June 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph was acknowledged by the UK based international Guild of Accessible Web Designers. |
| July 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph was awarded as the 3rd Disabled Friendly Website by NCC, NCWDP, CICT and Vision Office |
| December 2006 | – www.mccid.edu.ph was nominated in the 2006 Digital Filipino Web Awards under the Education Category |
| November 2008 | – www.mccid.edu.ph Fourth Edition made a complete redesign and shifted into a Content Management System using very popular WordPress CMS. The website currently enjoys a Google PageRank of 4 and listed in Site Dossier. |
| March 2009 | – www.mccid.edu.ph video log (vlog) about Philippine National Anthem using Filipino Sign Language was cited by Filipina Soul Culture Blog and Pinoy Away from Home Forum |
For a more personal insight or story behind the design, visit this blog post made by MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr.
Update:
Yahoo Geocities was already decommissioned last year. So most of the links from the original site are already dead. Fortunately, there is another site which housed the old MCCID Online which is still existing up to now. The free add-ridden site is http://mlachrst.tripod.com. You can also view the same page in Internet Archive.
