[techdivision] Fw: New ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard - Now Shipping!
- From: "Katey Glass" <kateyglass@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "tre" <jupiter338@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "kaye Zimpher" <kayezimpher@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "mary anne parks" <mysthang@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Karen Samuelsen" <karenjsamuelsen@xxxxxxxxx>, "lee edwards" <lege222@xxxxxxxxx>, "Tech" <techdivision@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2006 01:11:31 -0400
ZoomNews, September 2006
----- Original Message -----
From: Sales Support
To: kateyglass@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 5:22 PM
Subject: New ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard - Now Shipping!
New ZoomNews Audio!
Each ZoomNews article is now available in MP3 audio format
for your listening pleasure. To hear the audio version of any article, simply
click the speaker symbol next to the article's title. Enjoy!
New ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard - Now Shipping!
Ai Squared is pleased to announce that the new ZoomText Large-Print
Keyboard is now shipping and available for purchase.
Designed for the ZoomText user, the new ZoomText Keyboard makes
typing and using ZoomText faster and easier than ever before. Each key and
button label is easy to see, even in low light, thanks to its 36 point keycaps
and high-contrast black on yellow color scheme.
The ZoomText keyboard also provides quick access to ZoomText 9.0
features. Sixteen dedicated buttons allow you to instantly start ZoomText,
change magnification levels, toggle screen enhancements, launch AppReader and
DocReader, and more, all without having to memorize hotkeys. You can even
reassign each feature key to your choice of ZoomText commands, Internet and
multimedia commands, or to open an application, document or web page.
Watch the video to learn more about the exciting new ZoomText
Keyboard!
Priced at just $99, the ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard is the
perfect companion to ZoomText 9.0. When purchased with a new copy of ZoomText
Magnifier or ZoomText Magnifier/Reader, the ZoomText Keyboard is yours for just
$79 - a $20 savings!
"The volume of orders for the ZoomText Keyboard has exceeded our
wildest expectations" says Doug Hacker, Director of Sales and Marketing. "We
now expect to sell out our first production run in less than a month. If you
are interested in purchasing a ZoomText Keyboard you should place your order
now."
Customers who have pre-ordered a ZoomText Keyboard can expect
delivery within the next two weeks. To order your ZoomText keyboard, call us
toll-free at (800) 859-0270, or place your order in Ai Squared's online store.
For more information on the new ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard, go
to http://www.aisquared.com/Products/Keyboard.cfm.
ZoomText Helps Retiree Living With Macular
Degeneration
In 1995, Aaron Beckwith was a retired businessman with a great
life. Aaron and his wife Jane had moved from New Jersey to Boynton Beach,
Florida where they could enjoy tennis and golf year round. Aaron also enjoyed
marble sculpting and working with computers.
One day while taking a golf lesson, Aaron noticed that the ball
looked pebble-sized when viewed through one eye. He called his brother, an
optometrist, who advised Aaron to see an eye specialist right away. After a
fifteen minute examination, he was told he had Macular Degeneration. Both Aaron
and Jane were distraught by the diagnosis, as neither of them were familiar
with this disease and how it would affect his life.
As a former business entrepreneur, Aaron chose to be solution
oriented and turned to the Internet to learn more about Macular Degeneration.
One day Aaron stumbled across an article in an AARP newsletter that mentioned a
screen magnification product from Ai Squared called BigShot Magnifier.
Immediately recognizing the benefits of screen magnification and the impact it
could have on his ability to use a computer, Aaron came straight to Ai Squared
and purchased BigShot. He could now use the computer without leaving nose
prints on the screen.
Aaron realized that there must be others like himself who needed to
know all the things he had learned about living with Macular Degeneration. That
thought led Aaron and a friend, Jerry Rosenberg, to form the Macular Diseases
Support Group which has grown to over 400 members. Now years later, Aaron and
Jerry are still very active in the group.
Over the years, Aaron's vision began to deteriorate, forcing him to
migrate from BigShot, which has a maximum magnification of 2x, to the more
powerful ZoomText. ZoomText provided the higher levels of magnification that
Aaron needed along with a host of additional enhancements and features to
support and satisfy his computer addiction.
As Aaron's vision continued to decline, he was encouraged by his
vision counselors to abandon ZoomText and begin using a full-blown screen
reader. Aaron was reluctant to do so because he absolutely loved seeing digital
pictures of his grandchildren and photos on his favorite news websites. With
just a screen reader, he would lose the ability to view all pictures and
graphics. At this point, Aaron was running ZoomText version 8 at 10x
magnification.
The release of ZoomText 9.0 was a timely solution. With the new
xFont text magnification Aaron found that he could now see characters clearly
at only 6x. Full of enthusiasm, Aaron explains, "When I started using 9.0, I
couldn't believe it. The text characters are so clear and legible, much easier
for me to read."
Aaron has found that his vision counselors were partially correct;
he could read email and web pages much faster with a screen reader. However, he
also found that ZoomText Magnifier/Reader provides all the screen and document
reading tools that he needs. With ZoomText he could see and hear everything on
his computer screen. Aaron says he's now hooked on ZoomText's AppReader and new
human-sounding NeoSpeech voices.
The onset of Macular Degeneration changed Aaron's life and led him
on a journey of discovery. These days, rather than worry about what he cannot
do, Aaron thinks about "What can I do and how can I do it more easily."
Thankfully, he is willing to share his knowledge of Macular Degeneration,
computers and assistive technology with others, who are all better off for
their contact with Aaron Beckwith.
Llanes Family Home Makeover to Air in September
In our May issue of ZoomNews we covered a story on the Llanes
family of Bergenfield, New Jersey, who became beneficiaries of ABC's "Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition". The Llanes family includes a blind father, a mother
with cancer, a blind grandmother, two daughters who are going blind, and a deaf
son.
Recognizing that building a home where the Llanes family could be
both independent and comfortable, the Extreme Makeover team solicited expert
advice and product donations from the world's leading assistive technology
manufactures. With Ai Squared's donation of ZoomText 9.0, the Llanes family is
able to access and enjoy the new computers installed in their home.
The Llanes family episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was
originally scheduled as a special edition that would broadcast over the summer.
However, after great anticipation, the producers have announced that the Llanes
family episode has been selected to kick off the fall 2006 season. Tune in on
Sunday, September 17th, at 7:00pm and watch this heart warming and educational
story about a much deserving family.
Google Accessible Search a Step in the Right
Direction
Launched July 20th, the new Google Accessible Search from Google
Labs is an exciting and long overdue step toward making the world's most
popular Internet search engine more accessible to the blind and visually
impaired. Using a new set of algorithms, Accessible Search, currently in beta,
presents results that are prioritized according to each web site's degree of
accessibility for people that use screen readers.
In the past, screen reader users had to wade through a lot of
inaccessible web sites and pages to find information they were interested in.
Google's goal is to provide these individuals a useful and accessible web
search experience that's fast and friendly. In addition to prioritizing search
results according to accessibility, Google Accessible Search also displays
results in a streamlined layout that screen readers can navigate with greater
speed and accuracy. Extraneous components and information that clutter the
standard Google search pages, such as sponsored links, are stripped away to
optimize usability.
The new Google Accessible Search website can be found online at
http://labs.google.com/accessible/.
For more information and commentary on the new Google Accessible
Search, check out the following articles online:
a.. Google Accessible Search FAQ
Published on Google Labs
b.. Blind charities praise Google for finding accessible sites
Published on The Register
c.. Google Accessible Search rewards accessibility
Published on 456 Berea Street
d.. Google Accessible Search brings better results to the
visually impaired
Published on ars technical
e.. Google Accessible Search
Published on e-Bility
Wrap Up of Ai Squared Summer Tradeshows
Ai Squared would like to thank all of you who took time out of your
schedules to visit us at our Summer 2006 tradeshow stops: NFB (Dallas), ACB
(Jacksonville), AER (Snowbird, Utah) and AHEAD (San Diego). We appreciate all
of the feedback on our products and your excellent suggestions for new features
and functionality that you would like to see in future versions.
While at the show, we hope that you were able to get a look at the
new ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard and ZoomText 9.0. Those who did unanimously
agreed that the ZoomText Keyboard will make typing and learning ZoomText 9.0
much easier. We also hope that those of you running ZoomText 8 or earlier were
able to see a demonstration of ZoomText 9.0. If you did, we're certain that the
benefits of upgrading to 9.0 are now perfectly clear. If not, give us a call
and we'll send you a free 30-day trial pack that you can try out on your own
system.
If you would like to place an order or have any outstanding
questions about our company and products, please feel free to contact us at the
following phone number and email addresses.
Ai Squared Sales (and general product inquiries)
(800) 859-0270 / sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ai Squared Product Support
(802) 362-3612 option 3 / support@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
This fall, Ai Squared will be back on the road again exhibiting and
presenting at the major assistive technology trade shows. Our current schedule
includes the following shows with more to be added in the near future:
Closing The Gap 24th Annual Conference
October 19th through 21st
Minneapolis, MN
Northeast AER 2006 Conference
November 14th through 16th
Montreal, Quebec
For the latest schedule of upcoming Ai Squared tradeshows, visit
the Events page on the Ai Squared website -
http://www.aisquared.com/AboutUs/Events. If you plan to attend any of these
shows, we hope you will stop by our booth for the latest news and developments
from Ai Squared.
Quick Tips: Using ZoomText's Pointer and Cursor Enhancements
For many of us, locating and following the mouse pointer and text
cursor is challenging, as they often become obscured among the text and
graphics on our busy computer screens. This problem is easily solved using the
pointer and cursor enhancement features included in ZoomText 9.0, which make
the pointer and cursor much easier to see.
Pointer Enhancements Cursor Enhancements
Using pointer and cursor enhancements is easy. ZoomText provides a
variety of preset enhancement schemes that can be selected right off the main
ZoomText user interface, or if you prefer, you can create your own custom
enhancements to better suit your needs.
To choose a preset pointer scheme
1.. On ZoomText's Magnifier toolbar, select Pointer > Scheme, and
then choose the desired scheme from the list of preset choices.
Note: You can turn pointer enhancements on and off using the
Pointer Enhancements On/Off hotkey: Control + Shift + P.
To configure a custom pointer scheme
1.. On the Magnifier menu, choose Pointer Enhancements.
The Enhancements dialog appears with the Pointer tab displayed.
2.. Select Custom.
3.. Adjust the custom settings as desired.
4.. Click the OK button.
To choose a preset cursor scheme
1.. On ZoomText's Magnifier toolbar, select Cursor > Scheme, and
then choose the desired cursor scheme from the list of preset choices.
Note: You can turn cursor enhancements on and off using the
Cursor Enhancements On/Off hotkey: Control + Shift + R.
To configure a custom cursor scheme
1.. On the Magnifier menu, choose Cursor Enhancements.
The Enhancements dialog appears with the Cursor tab displayed.
2.. Select Custom.
3.. Adjust the custom settings as desired.
4.. Click the OK button.
Stop struggling to find your mouse pointer and text cursor. Try out
ZoomText's Pointer Enhancements and Cursor Enhancements today.
Ai Squared
P.O. Box 669
Manchester Center, VT 05255
Tel: (802) 362-3612
Fax: (802) 362-1670
http://www.aisquared.com
© Copyright 2006, Ai Squared, All Rights Reserved.
Ai Squared and ZoomText are registered trademarks or trademarks of
Algorithmic Implementations, Inc.
Click Here To Unsubscribe.
Other related posts:
