If you’re curious about your options for listening to digital audio books, magazines, and newspapers while on the move, read on.

While anyone can purchase and download audio books and magazines from websites such as audible.com or purchase audio books on CD from Amazon.com and rip these to a portable MP3 player, if you’re blind, visually impaired, or physically challenged, there are additional options. In the past, I’ve received books on cassette from my state’s Department of Libraries. The cassettes, prepared by the National Library Service, or NLS, are mailed and returned free of charge, and the cassette player is also provided on loan. However, in the very near future, this service will be upgraded to 21st century technology, adding much more flexibility. First, NLS will be providing its content digitally over the Internet, as well as on cartridges mailed to you, and will replace the bulky tape players with smaller digital audio players. This will revolutionize the service, and will allow any authorized member to download any of the thousands of digitized talking book recordings that the NLS has in its catalog including magazines, novels, biographies, non-fiction books, and many other talking book content. You’ll need to be an NLS member to access this content. For details on becoming a member, call the Department of Libraries in your state or your state agency for the blind and visually impaired.

Currently, due to budget cuts to NLS, it will still be a while before they are ready to provide digital players to all of their current customers. However, if you already have a HumanWare Victor Reader Stream, you may be in luck. The NLS is offering a pilot program for Stream users which allows you to download Talking book content now. In order to do this, you need to firstly, be a member of the NLS. Next, apply and be accepted as a part of the NLS pilot download program. Finally, activate your Victor Reader Stream for reading NLS content. If you want to know more about this pilot program, go to http://www.nlstalkingbooks.org/dtb.

I can’t say enough good things about the Victor Reader Stream. At $329, it is a real bargain for an AT product. It is masterfully designed for blind and visually impaired users to easily navigate audio recordings in any of the talking book formats, as well as play MP3 files, and even read text documents with a built in speech synthesizer. It is not going to read text files with the same eloquence as a human recording (as in the audio books from NLS and audible.com) or as well as ZoomText’s AppReader, but if your need is great enough to listen to text documents while away from your PC, then you will probably be quite pleased. You can even transfer and play your email messages, podcasts, RSS feeds, and audio-described movies if you subscribe to Serotek’s System Access services. Personally I don’t want my email to follow me, but I am loving the digital flexibility of having all my audio and text content on one portable device which is masterfully designed for blind and low vision users. If it’s quiet, I can dig into a good novel, or if I’m getting Arden interruptions (yes. that 4-year old little lady), I can switch to a lighter, humorous “100 Years, 100 Stories” by George Burns, for example. When feeling curious and scientific, I listen to Discover magazine or for that low point in my life when I might be interested in Brad and Angelina’s ski vacation, I switch to People magazine. I downloaded all of these from the NLS download pilot sight. The Stream can access the files from both an SD card and USB flash drive. The Stream is also getting better every day. Humanware will upgrade the Stream’s features, and it will support Windows Media files, WMAs, by June. In short, I liked the Stream so much that I decided to buy one, and not wait to get a free NLS player, which will not be as small and feature-rich as the Victor Reader Stream. To find out more about the Stream, go to www.humanware.com.

In addition to the NLS talking book content, if you’re lucky enough to live in the following states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware, California, Colorado, Oregon, or Texas then you can also gain access to the “Unabridged Talking Books for the Blind” web site. This web site contains commercially recorded audio books that you can download and play on your PC or on a WMA-enabled portable playback device. The Victor Reader Stream, as previously mentioned, will become WMA compatible this summer via a free downloadable update.

If you live in one of the above 8 states and you are an NLS member, you can call your state’s Department of Libraries to receive a library card and pin number to access the audio downloads. The 8 states pay for this service yearly, so there’s no guarantee that your state will continue this service. To find out more about Unabridged, go to:

www.unabridged.info

In the education realm, Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic has digitally recorded text books, for kindergartners, grad students, and everyone in between. Membership is $100 (your school might already be a member). For information, go to:

http://www.rfbd.org/

For books in text format (no audio), these two websites are available to the general public:

www.gutenberg.org

This web site has books that are in the public domain (published before 1923). For other public domain books, you can also check out
http://onlinebooks.library.upnn.edu/lists.html

Another electronic book source is www.bookshare.org. Membership is free for students and $50 per year for the blind, visually impaired, and otherwise print disabled individuals who are not students. You have the choice of downloading in DAISY BRF or HTML format. ZoomText’s AppReader can read these in either format. Or, you can download these files to the Victor Reader Stream and let it’s built-in text-to-speech synthesizer read it to you.

On a similar note, I recently tried out NFB-Newsline and was quite pleased. With this free service, you can listen to local and national newspapers as well as TV listings over the telephone. And yes, that means cell phones too. It’s quite easy to use and even remembers where you left off the last time you called. To sign up, call your state’s Department of Libraries or go to

http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Newspapers_by_Phone.asp

We have arrived! Reading a novel or newspaper in planes, trains, and automobiles or better yet, on the beach, is no longer a pipe dream.

The November ZoomNews survey polled our readers about portable video magnifiers. If you are interested in the results of this survey, you can view them here in a PDF file. The results are presented in both graphical and text form.

We’d like to congratulate the winners of the November survey drawing, Meyer Burgstein and Nick Truesdell. They each won a $50 VISA check card, just in time for the holidays!

This month poses a different contest - see “Digital Picture Contest”. Send us a picture and a quote and you could be the one to appear in the next ZoomNews. And don’t worry, our ZoomNews survey with prizes will be back!

Studying molecular and cell biology. Investigating the enzyme telomerase and its implications in cancer and aging. Pipetting radioactive materials. Running an undergraduate biochemistry lab. Impressed? It’s all in a day’s work for Tracy Niday, and she says none of it would be possible without the help of ZoomText.

Tracy is currently enrolled in the Biochemistry PhD program at Arizona State University (ASU), but it’s been a long road to get there. Although she was born with the rare disease plars planitis, Tracy’s vision didn’t really begin to deteriorate until junior high school. Plars planitis is an inflammation of the middle layer of the eye which causes floaters. By itself it doesn’t cause tremendous vision loss, but after multiple surgeries and medication attempting to correct it, Tracy developed glaucoma. This led to a sizable decrease in her vision - she lost all her peripheral vision and now can only see out of a small part of her eyes.

Growing up and going to school in a small town in Nebraska led to challenges with finding and using transportation and completing her school work. Always interested in the sciences, Tracy signed up for chemistry as a junior in high school. She was told to just find herself a lab partner who could help her complete the lab work. But when she went to college and majored in chemistry, the labs became much more intensive than they were in high school. She knew that she couldn’t rely on the other students to do the lab work for her anymore - nor did she want them to.

“In my freshman year, I had a professor who told me I had to find a way to do everything myself,” says Tracy. “I pushed myself to measure all the chemicals, and if I couldn’t see things properly, I came up with techniques that worked for me and thus became more independent.”

At first it was very hard for her to measure chemicals accurately with the glassware because the measurement marks on the glass blended in with the glass itself - there was just no contrast. However, she soon came across a company that made glassware with special markings that made things easier to see. Tracy also decided to switch her major to biochemistry. It turned out this improved her measurement skills; you tend to use much smaller quantities of the chemicals and there are automatic pipettes which fill with liquid for you at the turn of a dial! She also found different tips for the pipettes that allowed her to see the liquid rising much more clearly.

For her coursework, Tracy used a large CCTV that came with detachable glasses. They helped in certain arenas, but they were too bulky to use in the lab. Not long after, the Commission of the Blind in Nebraska introduced her to ZoomText, and she has been a user now for over five years.

“Before I got ZoomText, I would get extremely tired after only an hour of looking at the computer screen,” says Tracy. “Using a computer is critical for me - I have to read journals, develop laboratory protocols, and analyze data on a daily basis, and ZoomText makes everything large enough so that I can be effective in my research.”

Tracy then moved on to graduate school at ASU, where she is currently in her third year of a five year PhD program. She has essentially completed all her required coursework so she mainly focuses on her lab research and teaching classes. She runs the undergraduate biochemistry lab at the university, where she spends the first part of the class giving a lecture about the technique that the students will be performing in the second half of the class. After receiving her doctorate, Tracy hopes to go into the biotechnology industry, perhaps focusing on the biomedical applications in research.

“I don’t look at my eyesight as a downfall, I just don’t think of it in those terms,” says Tracy. “I try not to limit myself - if you want something enough in life you can find a way to do it. There might be some obstacles in the way, but there’s always a solution out there. It’s just a matter of finding it.”

As you might imagine, Tracy is quite busy! When she’s not in the lab analyzing data or keeping track of all her undergraduate students’ work, you might find her enjoying her love of the outdoors by running or hiking. All of us at Ai Squared would like to wish Tracy luck as she completes her PhD and are proud that ZoomText has played a part in furthering her scientific career!

Tango lessons for blind teens
Visually impaired kids learn dance,gain social skills and self-confidence at The Shimmy
Club.

Project Insight City program helps visually impaired gardeners develop an eye for vegetables.

Independent Travel for the Visually Impaired - Traveleyes offers the possibility of world travel to the visually impaired.Its founder, Amar Latif, recently won
The Stelios Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Blind bowlers in a league of their own The Lumberton Recreational Department in North Carolina set up a league for visually impaired bowlers.

The Braille Tattoo - Czech art student Klara Jirkova had a vision of a touchable tattoo for the blind.
You can also read heroriginal proposal which contains a digitally created photo of what it could look like.

Australian Electoral Commission trying an e-voting system- New voting machines will provide privacy to low vision and blind voters.

“Curb Cuts” is a TV show about assistive technology (AT) produced by the Central Coast Assistive Technology Center. Episode #5 deals with assistive technology for individuals with low vision. Brianna Barnett, Dorothy Erinakes, and Thomas Athanasian share how they use technology such as CCTVs and ZoomText screen magnification software to function as independently as possible at home, school, and work.

Computers have become increasingly ever-present in our lives, and so has our need to access and use them everywhere we go - at home, school, work, and even in libraries and other public facilities. This need for public computer access is no different for users of ZoomText. To make ZoomText readily available to individuals that need it, Ai Squared is introducing the new “ZoomText USB” - ZoomText delivered on a USB memory drive that users can conveniently carry with them, install, and use at any time.
ZoomText USB provides these important key benefits:

• Access on any computer
  With ZoomText USB you can plug in and run ZoomText on any system without having to purchase additional licensing.

• Portable and always within reach
  The ZoomText USB drive fits in your pocket or around your neck (on the included lanyard), so it’s always with you when you need it.

• Easy to use
  Just plug in the ZoomText USB drive and ZoomText automatically starts up. If ZoomText is not installed, the friendly setup program is launched and you’ll be up and running in minutes.

• Plug-and-Play license management
  Since the serial number is tied to the ZoomText USB drive, there are no serial numbers or license activations to worry about.

• Take your settings with you
  Your personalized ZoomText configuration settings are saved to your USB drive and are automatically loaded each time you plug in and start ZoomText.

ZoomText USB is set to release later this month. Once we are officially set to release, we will be sending out another email which will explain ZoomText USB more in depth and include pricing information. Stay tuned!

Almost 20 years ago, Susan Reed started to notice that her eyesight was deteriorating.  Soon after that, she learned that her failing vision was due to Stargardt’s Disease, a hereditary macular (central retinal) degenerative disorder.  Even though Susan is considered high functioning, she had to leave her job as a nurse because she couldn’t see well enough to perform her job properly.  In the early 90s, she went back to college and pursued a degree in business.

Susan was left disheartened when she had to give up driving shortly after leaving her nursing job.  She began seeing a low vision specialist in Baltimore who informed her that there was a law in the works which would permit certain low vision people to drive with the help of bioptic telescopic lenses. 

With a renewed sense of hope, Susan applied to the program, earned a learner’s permit, was tested and passed the daytime driving test.  In doing so, she became the first person in Maryland to get a license under this law!  As long as she stayed violation free for a year, she could then take the nighttime driving test.  This more intense test involved driving for 45 minutes on the Baltimore Beltway with 3 examiners in her car – to think I was nervous during my driver’s test!  Susan passed with flying colors, but doesn’t like to drive at night and feels much more comfortable during the daytime.  The law requires that she be retested every year and thus far, her eyesight has remained at a level that permits her to keep driving.

“I tend to view my eye condition as more of an inconvenience than an impairment,” says Susan.  “It’s a stumbling block to work around, but I don’t let it stand in my way.”

She truly hasn’t let her condition get in her way – Susan worked for 7 years as an office manager for the fundraising company Joe Corbi’s Pizza Kits.  In fact, this is where she was introduced to ZoomText and has been a user ever since.  She motivated herself to relearn the computer skills that are vital in the business world, now that she could see the screen again.

“I choose to focus on things that I have control over,” states Susan.  “Since vision loss is not something that you have power over, it’s important to take things in your own hands and turn your life around.  ZoomText has let me do just that.”

While she was working as an office manager for Joe Corbi’s, Susan and her husband Steve set up their own construction business run out of their home.  Her husband and son Greg did the construction work while Susan managed the office. 

About three years ago, Susan changed jobs and started work at Lily Pons Water Garden in Adamstown, MD.  Susan had always enjoyed water gardening as a hobby, so this job was perfect for her.  She has 2 water gardens at her own home – a small 600 gallon pond and a much larger 1600 gallon pond – both with waterfalls. 

She still kept up with all the bookkeeping at their construction company until last year when her duties as Sales Manager and Events Coordinator at Lily Pons began to take up most of her time.  Lily Pons is an aquatic plant farm with a showroom stocked with everything you would need to put in a backyard water garden.  Susan is in charge of a sales staff of 5 and is the go to person for technical questions about the mechanics involved in water gardening.  She definitely keeps busy – what with planning weddings on the grounds and coordinating the annual British car show, among many other activities.

Currently, she is working on the new Lily Pons website which is set to go live very soon.  Susan credits ZoomText and says that there is no way that she could do her job without it.  While Susan uses ZoomText at 5x magnification every day at work, her normally sighted coworkers love to use it at 2x power.  It relaxes their tired eyes, a result of working at the computer all day long.  “At Lily Pons, I’m really in the public eye,” says Susan.  “It’s a great opportunity for me to be an advocate for the visually impaired.”

Water gardening is a seasonal business and Lily Pons closes for the winter and reopens again in March.  During the off time, Susan switches gears to basket weaving.  In fact, after our phone interview, she was headed to her mom’s house in Pennsylvania where they both teach basket weaving classes together.  Their work is often displayed at craft fairs as well.  “I’ve always been an ‘artsy’ person,” says Susan.  “When my vision went, basket weaving was perfect for me because it’s big enough for me to see.”

In her spare time, Susan enjoys four wheeling and loves riding around on ATVs.  In addition to their son, Greg, Susan and Steve also have 2 daughters, Jennifer and Meredith and two grandchildren, Ethan, 5, and Lexi, 2.  Pictured above with Susan is Garnet, their Doberman that they recently rescued and they also have 3 cats!  Life is certainly busy at the Reed household, and we are glad ZoomText has allowed Susan to work at a job that she enjoys so much.  If you are interested in learning more about Lily Pons, please visit their website at www.lilypons.com.

Have you been to the Ai Squared forum lately?  It’s been around for a while – of course, not quite as long as the Roman Forum pictured over there – it’s been up on our website since 2004.  Maybe you visit it often or perhaps you have no idea what I’m talking about. 

The forum is an online meeting place for ZoomText (and BigShot) users.  It allows you to interact with Ai Squared employees and your peers in order to share knowledge and news about Ai Squared products.  When you post questions or comments about our products, you’ll receive feedback directly from us.  Additionally, you can contact your fellow users through instant messaging and email.
You can read all the topics posted without registering, but as soon as you’re registered, you can post new topics and join in the many ongoing discussions.  There are a variety of different topics of conversation including Technical Issues, ZoomText with Other Programs, ZoomText and Vista, Legacy Products, and the Large Print Keyboard, among others.  The forum is a great place to talk about ZoomText issues and features, and a place to get help. 

You can explore the forum at www.aisquared.com/forums.  Registering only takes a few minutes and it will give you access to the additional features not available to guest users such as private messaging, emailing to fellow users, Usergroup subscription, and more.  If you’re already a registered user and haven’t visited the forum in a while, take a look at all the ongoing discussions and join right in. 

Whether you’re the one with the questions or the answers, check out the Ai Squared forum today!