DeafSpot.net is a popular deaf community website. An expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of knowledge, technique, or skill whose judgment is accorded authority and status by the public or their peers. ... The word deaf can have very different meanings depending on the background of the person speaking or the context in which the word is used. ...

History

DeafSpot.net did not start out as a deaf community website. It started in 1996 as Frank Patrick Adams's personal website, and slowly became the website for the University of Kentucky/Lexington Community College American Sign Language Club. The club was started in 1996-1997 under the guidance of American Sign Language teacher (and interpreter) Karen Cross. Frank Patrick Adams was a founding member and the club's first President. Casey Meadows served as Vice President, Michelle Eads as Secretary, and Joleen Siler as Treasurer. 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The University of Kentucky (also as UK or simply Kentucky) is a public, co-educational university located in Lexington, Kentucky. ... Lexington Community College, now known as Bluegrass Community and Technical College, is a community college located next the University of Kentucky campus, in the shadow of Commonwealth Stadium. ... American Sign Language (ASL, also Amslan obs. ...

The orignial site was hosted by Angelfire free webhosting and had a long and hard to remember web address. In 1998, Dunlap Services donated webspace that allowed Deafspot to have the address "http://deafspot.ds.net". Angelfire, an Internet venture offering free space for Web sites, was long known for providing advertising-free hosting, was later bought by search engine company Lycos. ...

In 1999, DeafSpot became a volunteer project. Graphic designers and web designers from across the USA (and some internationally) participated in a redesign of the site and a new focus of DeafSpot as a web portal. The web domain DeafSpot.net was purchased as the permanant home of DeafSpot

Since then, the DeafSpot web properties group has grown to include DeafBlogs.net a directory of deaf web journals; Deafie.com a deaf event listing site; DeafDate.net a dating site specifically designed for the deaf community; and GallyPost.com a site for students of Gallaudet University to comment on their experiences at the world's only liberal arts college for the deaf. Gallaudet University was the first school for the advanced education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. ...

In December of 2005, DeafSpot and Hamilton Communications announced the new DeafSpot-Hamilton Toolbar. This toolbar allows deaf and hard of hearing individuals to access telecommunications relay services, google search, deaf community news, and deaf links more directly from their web browser.

DeafSpot has served the deaf community and there are rumors that DeafSpot's next move is to host local deaf events in major metropolitan areas, although this information has not been verified.