[adaptivetec] Fw: A review of Assistive Technology Players from AFB
- From: "Scott Blanks" <sblanks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Sun, 5 Oct 2008 09:01:00 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: Russ Kiehne
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Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 7:46 AM
Subject: A review of Assistive Technology Players from AFB
This is from the current issue of Access World from AFB.
AFB
ACCESSWORLD ®
Technology and People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
September 2008 Issue
Volume 9
Number 5
Product Evaluation
Now Playing: A Review of the Accessibility of Digital Audio Pla yers, Part 2:
Assistive
Technology Players
Darren Burton
This is the last in a series of articles, funded by the Reader's Digest Partners
for Sight Foundation and the Huntington Foundation, covering what I call
portable
media players--that is, players with built-in memory storage or removable
storage
cards, not CD-based players. In the July 2008 issue of
AccessWorld
, Part 1 of this review focused on mainstream players, such as Apple's popular
iPod
and the Creative Zen Stone. This article focuses on players that were designed
from
the outset specifically to be accessible to people with visual impairments. I
have
heard these players called adaptive players or assistive technology players,
but,
for the purposes of this article, I call them simply assistive players. I focus
on
using these players with digital music, books, and other sources of digital
information.
This article examines the BookCourier, the Victor Reader Stream, the Milestone
311/312,
and the players from Plextor. The Book Port is not included, since the American
Printing
House for the Blind (APH) has discontinued it. This article also discusses the
media
players that are included in several assistive technology PDA (personal digital
assistant)
devices, including the PAC Mate, BrailleNote/VoiceNote, Braille Sense/Voice
Sense,
and Braille+/Icon, as well as accessing digital media on cell phones using the
third-party
screen-reader software products TALKS, Mobile Speak, and Smart Hal. You can go
to
the View the Product Features links at the end of this article to get a quick
comparison
of each player's features, such as the types of book and music formats they
play.
Handheld Portable Media Players
I start with the handheld assistive players that were designed specifically for
accessing
digital media files.
The BookCourier
Priced at $395, the BookCourier, manufactured by Springer Design, is a
descendant
of the Road Runner, a text file reader. It is sold by Springer Design. The
BookCourier
has 15 keys with various sizes and shapes, measures 5 inches by 2.5 inches by 1
inch,
and weighs six ounces with batteries. It plays electronic files in text formats
using
the DoubleTalk speech synthesizer for reading those files, and although
DoubleTalk
is not the most popular synthesizer on the market, people who are familiar with
using
speech synthesis can certainly get used to it. The BookCourier also plays audio
books
recorded by live narrators. It plays books and music in several formats,
including
MP3, WAV, HTML, TXT, RTF, BRF and Microsoft Word DOC, and books from
Bookshare.org
,
audible.com
, and Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D.) It does not yet play the
new
downloadable books from the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically
Handicapped (NLS) or books from Overdrive or Net Library.
The BookCourier gives you several ways to navigate text files, including by
page,
paragraph, sentence, and word. The volume, pitch, and speed of the synthetic
voice
are adjustable, and you can switch between DoubleTalk voices. The BookCourier
keeps
your place in books and music when you turn it off or when you move to another
book
or song, but it does not have the ability to shuffle your music or use
playlists.
It has a built-in recorder to record voice memos, such as a telephone number or
a
to-do list, and allows you to set bookmarks in files, a valuable feature for
students
who need to highlight sections of textbooks.
The BookCourier stores your books and music on compact flash cards, up to 4 GB
in
size. It runs on 2 AA batteries and has a command to tell you the remaining
battery
level. It does not have a built-in speaker, so you have to use headphones or an
external
set of speakers. It has accessible documentation on board.
Springer Design announced that it is planning to release an updated BookCourier,
but its web site says that the release has been pushed back because of technical
issues with its vendors. The web site claims the following about the
enhancements
that will be part of the new BookCourier:
SD memory. The new BookCourier will support SD (secure digital) cards as well as
compact flash cards. In the first release, it will support SD cards up to 4 GB,
with
support for 8 GB cards in a future update, and will continue to support compact
flash
cards up to 4 GB.
USB 2.0. The new BookCourier will support the USB 2.0 communication protocol,
allowing
high-speed data transfers to and from your PC.
Time scale modification (TSM). While BookCourier has always had the ability to
control
the playback speed of text files, the new TSM feature will allow you to adjust
the
playback speed of audio files as well.
New audio formats. The new BookCourier will play lots of new audio file formats,
including OGG Vorbis, WMA, WAV PCM, and IMA-ADPCM.
State-of-the-art recording. Improved audio circuitry, as well as an external
microphone
jack, will allow you to create high-quality recordings in meeting rooms or
classrooms.
NLS compatibility. NLS support will be available as a firmware upgrade shortly
after
the new BookCourier starts shipping.
DoubleTalk. BookCourier will continue to use the DoubleTalk voice set.
The next firmware update following the release of the new BookCourier will
include
character navigation in text files, direct downloading for compatible files (so
you
can copy files to BookCourier without using the Transfer software), and the
ability
to copy a folder with all its files and subfolders from your PC to BookCourier.
For $149 plus shipping, you can return your existing BookCourier for an updated
BookCourier,
but you will have to wait until the new BookCourier is available. You can go to
www.bookcourier.com
for more information.
The Victor Reader Stream
Priced at $329, HumanWare's Victor Reader Stream is a versatile player and one
of
the most popular products to come on the assistive technology market in quite
some
time. It measures 4.6 by 2.6 by 0.9 inches and weighs 6 ounces, including the
rechargeable
battery. In her review of the Stream in the January 2008 issue of
AccessWorld, Deborah Kendrick describes its physical layout as follows:
The Stream is a handheld device similar in size to a deck of cards. Its controls
are all tactile and easy to operate, with the only visual indicator being a
small
LED (light-emitting diode) that enables the user with low vision to know when
the
unit is off, on, or charging. There are, of course, audio indicators for all the
operations as well.
The Stream fits in the palm of your hand. The front contains a 12-button
telephone-style
keypad. The 5 key has the familiar nib for quick orientation. Above the 1 key is
a square button, the Go To page or Heading key, and above the 3 key is a
diamond-shaped
button, which is the Bookmark key. At the top are the small speaker grill and
internal
microphone. Below the keypad is a raised-line separator, below which are four
more
buttons. The bottom three are the Play/Stop button, flanked by the Rewind and
Forward
keys. The fourth key, centered above them, is a sleep timer. On the left edge of
the unit are the round Power button and two arrow-shaped buttons that are used
to
control volume, speed, and tone. On the right edge are headphone and external
microphone
jacks and the Record button. Across the top is the small USB port, the AC
adapter
jack, and, in the center, the slot for the SD (secure digital) card, which
stores
all content played on the Stream.
In addition to Deborah's description of the Stream, our low vision testers add
that
it has high-contrast keys and buttons, making it attractive to people with low
vision.
The Stream plays several types and formats of audio files and electronic text
files.
You can choose from three English-speaking Vocalizer speech synthesizers from
Nuance
to play electronic text in TXT, RTF, BRF, and HTML formats, and it has
synthesizers
in seven other European languages. The audio file formats that the Stream can
play
include DAISY, WAV, MP3, AMR-WB+, and unprotected Windows Media Audio (WMA)
version
9.0 files. The Stream is also now compatible with files in the FLAC format,
which
is popular for archiving CDs. The Stream is compatible with books from Bookshare
and
Audible.com
, as well as the new downloadable books from NLS. It is also compatible with the
new NLS book cartridges that you can have mailed to you. However, the Stream is
not
compatible with protected WMA books from Net Library or Overdrive.
The Stream has a versatile navigation system, using the 2 and 8 keys to scroll
through
the navigation options, and the 4 and 6 keys to move by the chosen option. Text
files
and Bookshare books in DAISY format have many navigation options, including by
character,
word, sentence, line, phrase, page, and level, which usually moves to the
beginning
or end of the book. It also has Rewind and Fast Forward buttons, so you can
quickly
review missed segments or skip past segments. Audio books from
Audible.com
and NLS have less markup, usually limited to chapters and the beginning and end
of the book, and the Stream does not have the ability to add word, sentence, and
paragraph markup to unstructured audio files. However, the Stream has a Time
Jump
feature, allowing you to jump 1, 5, or 10 minutes at a time. It has a Key Lock
feature
to avoid accidental button presses that may cause you to lose your place in a
book.
No special transfer software is necessary with the Stream, so you can transfer
books
or music from any PC or PDA. You can adjust the playback speed of both text and
audio
files on the fly with the Stream and can adjust the volume and pitch. The
Stream's
Go To features allow you to jump to a specific page, heading, book, or bookmark.
Unlimited bookmarking is available, and the Stream has a unique audio bookmark
feature
that allows you to insert a voice memo to highlight a point in the text. This
feature
is valuable for a student, who could, for example, mark a passage by adding the
memo,
"The professor says this page will be covered on the test."
Those audio bookmarks take advantage of the Stream's built-in one-touch voice
recorder,
which allows you to record a voice memo or lecture quickly. The Stream records
in
AMR-WB+ format, which cannot be played on a PC, but the Stream Companion
software
can convert it to WAV format if you want to access your recordings on a PC or
e-mail
them to friends. The software can also help you organize books and music and
transfer
them to the Stream.
With the version 2.0 upgrade of the Stream, you can now organize your music into
playlists in addition to playing your songs straight through or shuffling them
randomly.
I have owned the Stream for about 10 months and have already had three upgrades
to
enhance features and functionality. The original speaker power was quite low,
but
an early fix increased its power enough to play loud enough to read books in a
quiet
environment. They have also added additional format compatibility and improved
its
ease of use, so we expect this to be a continually evolving product. One
improvement
that we at AFB TECH would like to see in later hardware updates is a more
substantial
nib on the 5 key.
One useful feature of the Stream is that it is compatible with the media content
that is available with Serotek's System Access services.
The Stream's documentation is fully accessible, with DOC and HTML versions of
the
manual available at the
humanware.com
web site, and it is saved on the Stream itself, where you can access it at any
time
by pressing and holding the 1 key. The Stream also has a key describer mode,
which
you can access by removing the SD memory card.
Overall, the Stream is a solid product, and it is rarely too far from my side.
It
does not require you to remember a lot of key commands. It has a built-in
speaker.
It is a fast process to transfer files to the Stream, and for those of us who
are
avid readers, the Stream's ability to play NLS books is a big advantage.
The Milestone 311 and 312
Manufactured by Bones, the Milestone 311 costs $369 and is available from
Independent
Living Aids. Deborah Kendrick's review of the Milestone in the September 2006
issue
of
AccessWorld had this to say:
The Milestone 311 says it measures 2 inches wide by 3 inches tall (the size of a
credit card, but a bit narrower at the bottom than at the top) and is about a
half-inch
thick. On the top edge is one tiny button (the Selector button), a USB port, and
a connection for an AC power adapter. On the bottom edge is a headphone jack
that
doubles as an external microphone jack. The remaining five buttons on the face
of
the unit are distinctly shaped and textured, so that even those with limited
finger
sensitivity can readily identify them. These buttons are arranged after the
fashion
of a cursor cross around a center circle. There is a tiny round button with a
raised
rim for Record, a large concave circle for Play, prominently defined left and
right
arrow shapes for Rewind and Fast Forward, and a large button with a distinctly
raised
X at the bottom, called the Mode button. The front of the unit also sports a
tiny
built-in microphone and built-in speaker. On the right-hand edge is a slot for a
secure digital (SD) card. All these elements are readily discernible by touch.
The
audible prompts and feedback messages are all spoken in a clear female voice.
The Milestone 311 is a fully accessible device with a well-designed tactilely
identifiable
interface, and the voice is easy enough to understand. We found it a bit
difficult
to learn and use all its keystrokes and keystroke combinations. However, the
real
drawback of this device is that you are paying a lot of money for not a great
deal
of functionality. The Milestone 311 is a fine MP3 player and voice recorder, but
the price is higher than that of the Victor Reader Stream, without nearly the
level
of features and functions.
Although the new Milestone 312 was not yet available at the time this article
was
written, a posting at
www.magnifiers.org
claims that the new model will have the following enhancements:
Universal audio playback and recording: no hassle with file formats anymore.
Milestone
312 plays back DAISY 2.02, DAISY 3.0, MP3, AAC, WAV, OGG, WMA and
Audible.com
. Recording is possible in MP3 or WAV, either to an SD memory card or to the
internal
Flash memory. Playback in variable speed is possible in any of the mentioned
formats.
Universal text playback: Milestone 312 reads TXT, DOC and HTML files, in 19
available
languages. Five of them can be stored simultaneously inside the internal memory.
The TTS engine is from Acapela.
Integrated FM tuner.
Integrated RFID Speakout functionality to identify tags and associate messages
with
them. Milestone 312 works with technology from Texas Instruments, a global
leader
for RFID solutions.
The integrated clock allows the time stamping of messages as well as alarm
functions.
For instance, time-controlled recording from the FM tuner is possible.
As of autumn 2008, hardware options, so-called Add-Ons, will be available. The
first
two Add-Ons will be a Color Detector and a High-End Stereo Microphone.
With these enhancements, the Milestone 312 promises to be a competitor to the
Victor
Reader Stream, especially with its smaller size, as long as there is not a
significant
price increase.
The Players from Plextor
Many AccessWorld
readers are familiar with Plextor's Plextalk products, which are CD-based
players
and recorders. These devices do not really fit into the category of handheld
players.
However, as we were conducting this project, Plextor announced a new handheld
player,
the Plextalk Pocket, that will fit well into this category. Unfortunately, the
product
has not yet been launched, and we have not been able to test one in our lab.
However,
Plextor did send us one of the PTR2 devices, and we did get a chance to examine
it.
Priced at $895, the PTR2 is much more expensive than the other players reviewed
in
this article. Also, its 8.1 by 6.6 by 2-inch size is more than double the
others'
sizes. Then again, this is a different animal. If you are really into recording
or
editing music and creating DAISY books, this player may be perfect. The player
has
two modes--one for normal use and another for more advanced creating and editing
of DAISY books and music. It can also act as an external CD burner. The PTR2 is
mainly
a powerful recording tool for creating audio CDs and DAISY books, but it also
can
play files in MP3, WAV, and DAISY formats. The buttons are tactile, and the user
guide is well written, giving references to the size and shape of these buttons
in
its text and providing fully accessible instructions in its use.
For your basic needs of listening to music and DAISY books, you can get a
smaller,
less expensive unit that will fill your needs just as well as the PTR2. That
leads
me to the new Plextalk Pocket. In examining the PTR2, we discovered that it is
certainly
a solid, accessible, well-built product, and we hope that the Pocket is of the
same
quality. I had a demonstration of the Pocket at this summer's American Council
of
the Blind convention and found that it is a bit smaller than the Victor Reader
Stream.
I also noticed that it has tactilely identifiable buttons and a text-to-speech
synthesizer
that reads menus, and I used it to play an MP3 song and a DAISY book. It also
has
a built-in microphone and recorder, so it may have many of the same recording
features
as the PTR2. The Pocket will be launched later this year, and AccessWorld will
bring
you details when they are finalized. As we completed this article, it was not
clear
which file types the Pocket would play upon its release, so we did not included
it
in the Product Features chart at the end of this article.
Media Players Built into Assistive Technology PDAs/Notetakers
All of today's popular notetakers/PDAs can play electronic text and audio files.
Here, I briefly discuss the media players that are built into HumanWare's
BrailleNote/VoiceNote
line of PDA/notetakers, Freedom Scientific's PAC Mate line, GW Micro's Braille
Sense/Voice
Sense, and the Icon and Braille+ products from LevelStar and APH, respectively.
I
will not go into all the details of all the features of these powerful devices
because
that is an article or two in itself. Instead, I just briefly discuss their
abilities
concerning playing books and music.
Icon and Braille+
These small devices could have been in the handheld category, but because of
their
much more diverse feature set, they fit better in the PDA/notetaker category.
They
are nearly identical devices, except that the Braille+ has a braille keyboard
for
input. They play WMA, MP3, BRF, TXT, HTML, and WAV file formats, and they are
compatible
with the new downloadable books from NLS, as well as books from RFB&D and
Bookshare.
They do not yet work with Net Library or Overdrive books. You can also download
books
and music wirelessly if you have a wireless Internet connection. These devices
also
have built-in recorders and speakers. You can play your music in file order,
shuffle
it randomly, or organize it in playlists.
The PAC Mate
Freedom Scientific's PAC Mate has the mobile version of the Windows Media Player
and can play audio files in many formats, including WMA, MP3, and WAV. It can
also
access electronic files in many formats, including DOC, RTF, TXT, and HTML. It
has
the ability to play protected books, so it is compatible with books from
Audible.com
, RFB&D, Net Library, and Overdrive, but not from NLS. It also works with
Bookshare
books and has a free Bookshare unpack utility. Freedom Scientific sells a DAISY
player
for the PAC Mate for $80, and it will synchronize the audio and text of a DAISY
book
that has both.
The PAC Mate can play your music files in file order or shuffle them and has the
ability to organize music by genre, artist, and album, just like the iPod and
other
mainstream portable media players can. It also has a built-in voice recorder.
The Braille Sense and Voice Sense
Available from GW Micro, these devices can play many audio formats, including
WAV,
MP3 and WMA. They are also compatible with electronic text files in several
formats,
including TXT, RTF, DOC, and HTML. They are not compatible with books from
Audible.com
, RFB&D, Net Library, or Overdrive, but I have been told that access to NLS
books
will be available in future updates. They support Bookshare books and have a
built-in
tool for unpacking them. They also have a built-in DAISY player.
These devices have external buttons for accessing their media players, so you
can
listen to music while you use them for other tasks, such as writing a letter. We
worked with the Voice Sense in our lab, and its small size is unique in the
notetaker/PDA
market. It fits in a large pocket fairly easily.
The BrailleNote and VoiceNote
These devices from HumanWare have a built-in media player that plays several
types
of audio files, such as MP3, WMA, and WAV formats. They are also compatible with
electronic text in several formats, including TXT, DOC, RTF, BRF, and their own
KeyNote
file format. They do not play books from
Audible.com
, NLS, Net Library, or Overdrive, but they do play books from RFB&D and
Bookshare.
These devices have built-in support for downloading and unpacking Bookshare
books.
They have a built-in DAISY book player and support audio and text-only DAISY
files,
synchronizing the two file types when both are included in a DAISY book. In
addition,
they can play music organized in playlists and have a built-in voice recorder.
Their
FM radio player does not get good reception.
Cell Phone Media Players
Again, I will not go into a lengthy discussion of all the cell phones that can
play
books and music. Instead, I briefly discuss how some cell phones, along with
third-party
screen-reading and screen-magnifying software, can access various types of
electronic
text files and audio media. You can read my many articles on cell phones in
AccessWorld to learn more about cell phones and screen readers.
Basically, there are three types of cell phones that have media players and are
compatible
with third-party screen readers and magnifiers. Cell phones with the Symbian
operating
system are compatible with the TALKS screen reader and ZOOMS magnifier from
Nuance,
as well as the Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier products from Code Factory.
Those
with the Windows Mobile Smartphone or Windows Mobile Pocket PC operating system
are
compatible with the Code Factory products, as well as with the Smart Hal and
Pocket
Hal screen readers. You can learn more, including which cell phones are
compatible
with which products, at the products' web sites:
www.nuance.com/talks
,
www.codefactory.es
, and
www.yourdolphin.com
.
The Symbian cell phones play WMA and MP3 music and books from
Audible.com
and
Bookshare.org
. However, you have to unpack your Bookshare books on a PC first and then
transfer
the HTML version to your phone. These cell phones have limited options for
navigating
books, but they do have the ability to organize music by genre, artist, and
album,
as well as by playlists. The Windows cell phones, along with Dolphin's Hal
screen
reader and the Mobile Speak products, perform similarly to the Symbian cell
phones.
However, there is an advantage in using Mobile Speak with Bookshare books
because
Code Factory has an optional DAISY player and Bookshare unpack utility. So, you
can
download a Bookshare book with the Web browser, unpack the book, and read it
from
anywhere that you can pick up a cell signal. None of the cell phones can yet
play
books from NLS or RFB&D.
User Study
AFB TECH gathered eight people with various degrees of visual impairment to
conduct
an informal user study to get their opinions on the various assistive players
that
are reviewed in this article, as well as the mainstream players that were
reviewed
in the July 2008 issue of
AccessWorld.
The participants had different levels of technological savviness and ranged in
age
from 27 to 65. Each user spent an entire afternoon learning to use the various
players
and performing some basic tasks, such as transferring files and listening to
books
and music files.
On the mainstream side of things, seven participants preferred the Creative Zen
Stone
and Apple's iPod shuffle, citing the ease of use and the nearly complete
accessibility
of these products. However, one tester, the youngest of the group, preferred the
iPod Classic because of the wider range of features and functions that are
available.
He said that he did not mind memorizing all the processes using the "count and
press"
method to listen to books, music, and movies. All the participants agreed that
the
iPod Touch and Microsoft Zune player are virtually unusable.
On the assistive side of things, seven participants preferred the Victor Reader
Stream,
citing the overall ease of use and the ease and speed of transferring files.
They
also valued the Stream's ability to play the new downloadable books from NLS,
but
several said that they wished the NLS books had more markup for more navigation
options.
However, we again had one dissenter, who preferred the now-discontinued Book
Port.
She agreed that it takes longer to transfer
audible.com
books to the Book Port, but that the Book Port more than made up for this
failing
with its ability to mark up
audible.com
books and its braille-input functions for searching for text in a text file and
for using it as a braille notetaker.
Additional Players
One of the promising things that we noticed while working on this project is all
the new players and updates that became available. At the time that I submitted
this
article, Dean Martineau's Top Tech Tidbits announced yet another player:
Mobil-Eyes,
a device that is a reading machine, audio player, and PDA all in one, and is
sold
by ATC. You can download a video demonstration of Mobil-Eyes at (
www.atechcenter.net/downloads/MobilEyes.mpg
); just know that it is a large file.
We also heard of a device called the VIPlayer, but it was not available in the
United
States when we did this study. The VIPlayer is produced by Saks Electronics, and
you can learn more about it at
www.viplayer.co.uk
.
The Bottom Line
After working on this project for several months, we concluded that the
assistive
technology industry is paying serious attention to accessing books and music. In
the category of handheld players, the Victor Reader Stream is now the leading
product.
AFB TECH testers generally preferred the Stream because of its
slightly-easier-to-use
interface and because it plays NLS books. We continue to hear about new players
entering
this market, and current players are being updated. We hope that this industry
continues
to pay close attention to accessing books and music and that more players
continue
to come on the market.
One final cautionary note: With all these devices, you have to invest the
necessary
time to learn how to use them. They are much more powerful than cassette
players,
but are more difficult to use. That being said, it is by no means an exercise in
rocket science to use these players. Some due diligence and reading the manual,
along
with a little basic computer expertise, is all that is necessary to enjoy the
numerous
benefits of these players.
Additional Resources
In A Pocketful of Sound
, an excellent book from National Braille Press, Anna Dresner provides many more
details on the operation of many of the devices that are covered in this
article.
Brian Hartgen's web site, found at
www.hartgen.org
, provides lots of information about players.
www.Blindcooltech.com
often has informative podcasts regarding portable media players.
Dean Martineau's weekly e-mail message of Top Tech Tidbits often has useful
information
about media players and sources of books and music at
www.topdotenterprises.com/tidbits.htm
.
There is a tutorial for JAWS users of Windows Media Player at
http://vip.chowo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/jaws/Windows-Media-Player-11-Guide.html
.
Dolphin, Freedom Scientific and HumanWare all have PC-based Daisy players that
you
can purchase at their web sites,
www.yourdolphin.com
,
freedomscientific.com
, and
www.humanware.com
.
Sources of Books and Music
Now that you know about the players, what about the music and books you will
want
to play on them? There are a myriad of online sources for books and music, but
here
are just a few that we found useful.
Bookshare:
www.bookshare.org
This is just a fantastic resource for books, magazines, and newspapers in
electronic
text formats.
The NLS's downloadable books program:
https://www.nlstalkingbooks.org/dtb/DownloadPilot.html
This is an excellent source for books in recorded audio format.
www.audible.com
is another great source for recorded audio books, but it requires a $14.95
monthly
subscription.
www.cdbaby.com
is an accessible source for purchasing music from independent musicians.
www.amazon.com
is an accessible site for purchasing unprotected commercial music in MP3 format.
www.emusic.com
is another site for purchasing unprotected music, but the site has some quirks
that
take some getting used to.
www.rfbd.org
is the site to order books from Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, a leading
source for accessible text and reference books for students.
Product Information
Product: BookCourier.
Manufacturer:
Springer Design, 375 Diablo Road, Suite 105, Danville, CA 94526; phone:
925-838-1885;
e-mail:
sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.bookcourier.com
.
Price: $379 (discounts are available for
Bookshare.org
subscribers and users of Kurzweil 1000).
Product: Victor Reader Stream.
Manufacturer: HumanWare, 175 Mason Circle, Concord, CA 94520; phone:
800-722-3393;
e-mail:
us.info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.humanware.com
.
Price: $329.
Product: Milestone 311/312.
Manufacturer: Bones, Böhnirainstrasse 14, CH-8800 Thalwil, Switzerland; phone:
+41-41-726
42 70; e-mail:
info@xxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.bones.ch
.
U.S. Distributor:
Independent Living Aids, P.O. Box 9022, Hicksville, NY 11802-9022; phone:
800-537-2118;
e-mail:
can-do@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.independentliving.com
.
Price: Milestone 311: $369; Milestone 312: not yet available.
Products: Icon and Braille+.
Manufacturer: LevelStar, 1500 Cherry Street, Suite D, Louisville, CO 80027;
phone:
800-315-2305; e-mail:
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.levelstar.com
.
Icon distributor: LevelStar.
Braille+ Distributor:
American Printing House for the Blind, P.O. Box 6085, Louisville, KY 40206-0085;
phone: 800-223-1839 (toll free) or 502-895-2405; web site:
www.aph.org
.
Price: both Icon and Braille+: $1,395.
Product: MobilEyes.
Manufacturer:
Guerilla Technologies, 5029 SE Horseshoe Point Road, Stuart, FL 34997; phone:
772-283-0500;
e-mail:
Sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.GuerillaTechnologies.com
.
U.S. Distributor:
Assistive Technology Center, 5330 Power Inn Road, Suite F, Sacramento, CA 95820;
phone: 916-381-5011; e-mail:
sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.atechcenter.net/zencart
.
Price: MobilEyes Basic: $3,500; MobilEyes Professional: $5,000.
Products: Braille Sense Plus and Voice Sense.
Manufacturer:
Human Information Management Services, 139-9, Gajung-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon,
Korea,
305-350; phone: +82-42-864-4460 (ext. 200); e-mail:
hims@xxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.braillesense.com
.
U.S. Distributor:
GW Micro, 725 Airport North Office Park, Fort Wayne, IN 46825; phone:
260-489-3671;
e-mail:
sales@xxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.gwmicro.com
.
Price: Braille Sense Plus: $5,995; Voice Sense: $2,395.
Products: BrailleNote line of products.
Manufacturer: HumanWare, 175 Mason Circle, Concord, CA 94520; phone:
800-722-3393;
e-mail:
us.info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.humanware.com
.
Price: Various prices.
Products: PAC Mate line of products.
Manufacturer:
Freedom Scientific, 11800 31st Court North, St. Petersburg, FL 33716-1805;
phone:
800-444-4443 or 727-803-8000; e-mail:
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.freedomscientific.com
.
Price: Various prices.
Products: PTR2 and Plextalk Pocket.
Manufacturer: Plextor, Chuo, Ueda-shi Nagano-ken, 386-0012 Japan; phone:
81-268-28-8282;
e-mail:
sales@xxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.plextalk.com
.
U.S. Distributor:
Innovative Rehabilitation Technology, 13453 Colfax Highway, Grass Valley, CA
95945;
phone: 530-274-2090; e-mail:
info@xxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.irti.net
.
Price: PTR2: $895; Plextalk Pocket: $359.
Products: TALKS and ZOOMS.
Manufacturer:
Nuance Communications, 1 Wayside Road, Burlington, MA 01803; phone:
781-565-5000;
web site:
www.nuance.com/zooms
. (The web site includes free downloads of demonstration versions and a list of
vendors).
U.S. Distributors:
Beyond Sight, 5650 South Windermere Street, Littleton, CO 80120; phone:
303-795-6455;
e-mail:
jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.beyondsight.com
.
Sendero Group: 1118 Maple Lane, Davis, CA 95616; phone: 530-757-6800; e-mail:
Talks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.senderogroup.com
.
VisionCue:
4858-A S.W. Scholls Ferry Road, Portland, OR 97225; phone: 888-318-2582 or
503-297-1510;
e-mail:
at.info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.visioncue.com
.
Price: $295.
Products: Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier.
Manufacturer:
Code Factory, S.L., Rambla Egara, 148, 2-2 08221, Terrassa (Barcelona) Spain;
phone:
34-93-733-7066; e-mail:
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.codefactory.es
.
Price: $295.
Also available from AT&T for $89 on selected phones. For more information, call
AT&T's
National Center for Customers with Disabilities at 866-241-6568.
Products: Smart Hal and Pocket Hal.
Manufacturer:
Dolphin Computer Access, Technology House, Blackpole Estate West Worcester UK,
WR3
8TJ; phone: 650-348-7401; e-mail:
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
; web site:
www.yourdolphin.com
.
Price: Smart Hal: $295; Pocket Hal: $495.
We at AFB TECH would like to thank the Reader's Digest Partners for Sight and
the
Huntington Foundation for the funding provided to conduct our project on
portable
media players and to write this series of articles.
If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail us at
accessworld@xxxxxxx
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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