Winter Promotion!

This winter has really been hitting us hard here in the Northeast. I, for one, am ready for spring even though we have many more wintery days ahead.

To put some fun into this snowy/icy mess, we're running a contest! (end users only, dealers are not eligible) If you place an order in the next 30 days, you can win your entire purchase price back (up to $1,000). All you have to do is guess the amount of snow that we'll get here in Manchester Center, VT in the next 30 days (so that means from today (February 8th) until March 9th).

The person who is the closest will win! As a tie breaker, you'll need to put in the lowest temperature that we'll hit here during those days. You have until the end of February to get your entry in so don't delay!

Just fill out our easy online form - all you need is your order number and your guesses. And of course your name and contact info so we can let you know if you win.

Here's hoping the snow total is low!!!

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Survey Results

In the December issue of ZoomNews, we asked you to tell us about your computer use and the different ways you access the Internet. First off, congratulations to Denis Roy whose name was chosen in the raffle from all the participants - he won a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!

There was a lot of interesting information that came out of the survey:

• The most popular email client is Outlook.


• There was a tie between the iPhone and Internet connected TV for the most common other device you own that can access the internet.


• The majority of you said you spend between 51 and 90% of your time on the internet when you're at the computer.


• Most of you use your computer to consume information and for entertainment.

If you want to take a peek at all the results, here's a summary in a PDF document.

Read on for this month's contest and another chance to win!

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New Contest

This time around, our contest question comes to us from Jim Hendrickson. It's a two part question: "What was the best development for visually impaired in the last 20 years? What would you most ideally like to see developed in the next 10 years?"

If you'd like to enter the contest, just email Becca (rproskin@aisquared.com) your answer by March 1st and you'll be entered in the drawing to win a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Jim received a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate for his suggestion. Thanks to Jim for a great topic!

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ZoomReader App for the iPhone and iPod Touch!

You may have heard the chirps of some little birdies on the internet, but just in case you haven't, Ai Squared is Going Mobile. Now, try not to throw your computer out the window just yet - we are not taking ZoomText itself onto the mobile platform; there are just too many great features in ZoomText for mobile devices to handle them all!

ZoomReader will be a combination video magnifier and OCR app. It uses the built-in camera on an iPhone or iPod Touch to zoom in on printed materials, apply color filters, and to take a picture of something and have the text in that image read out loud! One woman at ATIA even cried when she saw what ZoomReader could do; one of her family members has Down's Syndrome and ZoomReader will open up a brand new world for him - one where he will be able to read street signs, restaurant menus, and any printed material that he would otherwise need help reading.

At $19.99, it's a very competitive and affordable price point for a mobile application that does real time screen magnification, OCR reading of images, plus voice recognition. The reaction all of you gave us at ATIA was exactly what we hoped ZoomReader would accomplish in the mobile market.

We look forward to providing more information once the product is officially ready for sale in the App Store, which will be very soon. For now, you can watch the video that explains the functionality of ZoomReader. You can also go online to mobile.aisquared.com for more information and screen shots of the app itself!

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Upcoming Training Opportunities

As always, we are still running new user online training sessions every Monday (from 3-4 PM EST) and Wednesday (from 12-1 PM EST). These are free, but you do have to register for the session you'd like to attend. Head on over to our training page to sign up today!

In addition, we have two other free webinars coming up - these are more in depth than the new user trainings. The first one will be on February 22nd from 11 AM to 12 PM EST and is called "General ZoomText Troubleshooting Steps". This is meant for beginning ZoomText trainers and users and will cover some basic ZoomText troubleshooting steps. Support Specialist Tony and Manager Gary will go over some of the common ZoomText issues and steps on how to resolve them. Sign up today!

The next one will be on March 29th from 11 AM to 12 PM EST and is called "Setting up Windows 7 Color Schemes with ZoomText". This is perfect for beginning ZoomText and new Windows 7 users. It will focus on leveraging ZoomText's color and contrast features based on an individual's particular needs. Support Specialists Tony and James will also explore the color options in Windows and in common Windows applications. Go online to sign up!

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ZoomText Enterprise License

The new ZoomText Enterprise License is an opportunity for corporations to deploy ZoomText across every desktop PC at a very low cost per copy.

After much external research and internal discussion, we are ready to hit the street with the ZoomText Enterprise License. In a corporation where the CIO (Chief Information Officer) is responsible for thousands of computers, what is the best way to accommodate low vision users? Up until now, the common practice has been to buy ZoomText for each individual who raises their hand to ask for assistance. However, through the years, we've discovered that ZoomText is not just for those among us who are diagnosed with vision impairments. For any employee who spends countless hours in front of a high-resolution computer screen, staring at small text and row upon row of tiny numbers, the gentle boost in magnification that ZoomText provides can make a huge difference in productivity. This is especially true for our aging workforce. So put away those reading glasses and use ZoomText at 1.5x magnification.

The ZoomText Enterprise License allows ZoomText to be delivered to everyone in an organization at a fraction of the per-person cost of other ZoomText licensing options. And by deploying ZoomText across an organization, it's always available wherever and for whoever needs it.

If you'd like more information, please go to our Enterprise Licensing webpage and read more about the benefits of an Enterprise License. ZoomText on every computer...let's make it a reality!

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Focus Group Invitation

Paula Tucker recently emailed me about a focus group series that is starting up and I wanted to share the information with you:

"As part of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Telecommunications Access/ Technology Access Program's research, we will be conducting a series of 2-hour focus groups with people who have experience participating in conference calls and webinars. The focus group discussions will be carried out via conference call, and participants will be paid $30. The purpose of the focus groups is to obtain current information from consumers about access barriers and solutions. This input will be used to guide our center's development work and to educate companies that provide tools for telecollaboration. We will be conducting a focus group for people who access their computer via screen magnification on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, from 7-9 pm Eastern Time.

We only need 6 to 9 people - but they need to have some experience with participating in conference calls that include online visuals, like LiveMeeting, Webex, etc. and/or webinars. We want people who have participated in a teleconference at least 2 times in the past year, so it is fresh in their minds. The discussion will be about accessibility issues in this way of working."

If you are interested in participating, please contact Paula at paula.tucker@gallaudet.edu as soon as possible. Also, please feel free to pass this along to friends or colleagues who you think might have the type of experience they're looking for.

Thanks again to Paula for the great information!

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Cool Websites

ZoomText user Kathy Kalaluhi sent in a bunch of websites that she thought other ZoomText users would find interesting and helpful. We liked the idea so much that it's become a regular "column" in ZoomNews! Below were her suggestions and if you'd like to submit any websites for the next issue, please email them to Becca at rproskin@aisquared.com!

• Happy News - When you get fed up with all the bad news on CNN, FOX, or just the daily news shows, here is a link to a site with warm, fuzzy happy news.


• MedHelp - A reputable site for getting answers to your medical/health questions.


• Answers.com - Provides answers to millions of questions.


• Memorista - This is a tool for memorizing vocabulary or phrases in a foreign language. It provides about six foreign languages to choose from.


• Play with your mind - This site has hundreds of word, card, memory, typing and logic games to play on the web.


• Groupon - This site lets you buy discounted coupons with a group. They change what is available every day according to your location. You do not know until they are all sold whether you get the coupon or not. (Note from Becca - they certainly advertised enough during the SuperBowl so maybe you have a sense of how it works if you watched the commercials...er, the game.)


• Plastic Jungle - This is a site to sell, trade, or buy gift cards.


• Blind Mice Movie Vault - This is a link for free audio description movies in mp3 format.


• Book of Odds - This site provides odds for things to occur.

Thanks to Kathy for all these great suggestions!

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In the News

Tokyo dessert chef offers sweet classes to visually impaired - One Tokyo confectionery teacher is now offering classes suggesting a variety of easy-to-cook original recipes, but to very particular students: the visually-impaired.

Blind navigators to show the way - A car rally was held in Ahmedabad where participants who were visually impaired gave directions to the drivers.

Blind, visually impaired learn self-defense techniques - Citizens who are visually impaired were taught by instructors from the American Martial Arts Institute how to defend themselves through a program called Secure Living Online.

Dart board for visually impaired - Sam Jasmine, board designer, created a new up-to-date dart board for the visually impaired.

Quake a 'wake-up call' for blind - The hidden impact of the Canterbury earthquake prompted a new resource that will make it easier for people who are visually impaired to access civil defense information.

Blind Faith: A Day With Visually Impaired Soccer Fans - Read the account of how fans who are visually impaired can still enjoy the game of soccer and why there's so much more to a soccer match than merely what our eyes pick up.

Show featuring visually impaired artists opening at Clovernook - Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in North College Hill will host a gallery opening its Willoughby Art Gallery with the work of artists who are blind or visually impaired. The Lighthouse of Houston held a similar event earlier this month.

Proving his point - Mike Hanson, a hiker who is blind, demonstrated grit and independence on the Appalachian Trail - and earned a CEO position as a result.

The NFB Blind Driver Challenge (TM): A Success! - The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) announced that for the first time a blind individual has driven a street vehicle in public without the assistance of a sighted person.

Special art competition for people with low vision - Children and adults who are legally blind are invited to enter the InSights 2011 art competition, sponsored by the American Printing House for the Blind.

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Tradeshow Schedule

The winter is in full effect so we're happy to report that we get to escape Vermont for a little while to attend these conferences! If you're planning on attending any of these shows, be sure to stop by and see what's new with us.

California State University at Northridge (CSUN) International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference
March 14th - March 19th, 2011
San Diego, CA
Booth #719/818

Baruch College Conference on Employment and Visual Impairment
April 15th, 2011
New York, NY

NYC 5 Boro Employers Forum and Technology Fair
May 18, 2011
Bronx, NY

The Texas Assistive Technology Regional Conference
June 14th - June 16th, 2011
Houston, TX

VISIONS Conference
June 23rd - June 26th, 2011
Baltimore, MD

National Federation of the Blind (NFB) National Convention
July 3rd - July 8th, 2011
Orlando, FL

American Council of the Blind (ACB) Conference
July 8th - July 16th, 2011
Reno, NV

Envision Conference
September 21st - September 24th, 2011
St. Louis, MO

New England Library Association (NELA) Conference
October 2nd - October 4th, 2011
Burlington, VT
Booth #309

Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) Chicago Conference
November 3rd - November 5th, 2011
Schaumburg, IL
Booth #418

National Ergonomics Conference & Exposition (NECE)
November 15th - November 18th, 2011
Las Vegas, NV

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