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Re: Need: accessible discussion group file sharing platform

for

From: John E Brandt
Date: Sep 8, 2011 12:09PM

Jim,

I am not sure exactly what you are looking for either. If you are looking
for a listserv solution, there are several open source options. You would
only need a web server to host it and might be able to add it to your
current hosting plan or web server for free. The listserv can be set up to
allow for file attachments and since it simply uses e-mail, it should be
completely accessible. The limitations of file size will be contingent upon
the users' mail limits. I've used Mailman for years http://www.list.org/

If you are looking for something a bit more complex, you might want to
consider a wiki. There are open source solutions that (again) you can
install on a web server and might meet your needs. You could also use
something like Wikispaces which still has a free option
http://www.wikispaces.com/ - It is not completely accessible (there are a
couple of input boxes not labeled and some images that need ALTs) - but you
might want to check it out. Wikispaces does allow "members" to upload files.


You could also build a Moodle and have discussion groups, wikis, internal
e-mail and many other features. Although intended to serve up on-line course
information, I have used it as a group discussion tool in the past. And
Moodle is very accessible. http://moodle.org/

If the file sharing part of your situation is the most important, and the
files are large, there are free services like Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com/features that might be usable.

Lastly, I see you are using Joomla as the CMS for your school. There are
tons of discussion group and file share extensions that you could use.

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA