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ZoomText 10 survey results

Thanks to everyone who filled out our short ZoomText 10 survey.  First off, congratulations to E.J. Monaghan whose name was chosen in the raffle - E.J. won a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Here are a few tidbits that came out of the survey:

• The majority of participants had already upgraded to ZoomText 10


• The feature that you’re most familiar with is AppReader “Read from Pointer” - coincidentally this is the feature that you think is the easiest to understand


• 65% of responders had watched our new ZoomText 10 videos

Read on!

Spotlight:  Grant Lock

Grant Lock is a published author who also happens to be a ZoomText user.  In fact, he credits ZoomText for much of his success!  But enough out of me, take it away Grant:

How ZoomText Helped Shoot Me First

“You can’t go back to Afghanistan, Grant. Stargardt’s has finally caught up with you.”

The ophthalmologist peered into the machine, and into my eyes. If it had peered into my heart, it would have seen tears.  It didn’t matter that I had been Project Support Director for a huge eye-care program with its headquarters in Kabul. But hey, I was 64, and typical Stargardt’s would have taken out my central vision before I was 20.  I packed a lot into those four bonus decades.

Read on!

Hotkeys Galore!

Support technician Lloyd was on the phone with one of our customers a while back and he learned about a cool website that lists “hotkeys” (keystroke combinations that provide quick access to various functions on the computer) for a variety of programs.  You can find shortcuts for using Windows, to your internet browswer, to games, and even Skype!  Knowing these shortcut keys will really enhance your productivity at the computer.  Check out this handy website today!

Support learns all kinds of things from you - it’s not just a one-way street of learning over here : )

Cool Websites #10

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 !

Check out all the sites she recommends!

ZoomNews April Hits Inboxes!

The latest newsletter has a contest to win an Amazon gift card, info about upcoming training, results from the ZoomText 10 survey, a highlight on ZoomText user - and author! - Grant Lock, and more!

Read the newsletter.

Ai Squared Donates ZoomText to Kenyan Schools for the Blind

We here at Ai Squared continue to invest in the assistive technology community by donating ZoomText Magnifier/Reader to the inABLE organization’s Mwangaza Project, which will put this software into the hands of students who are blind and visually impaired in Kenya. The Mwangaza Project is an international consortium of technology and service organizations, anchored by inABLE and the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Sonification Lab, to provide computer labs, training, and accessible education to students with visual impairment in developing nations.

“With the help of ZoomText, these students will enhance their computer literacy and education, which not only allows them to bridge the academic gap with their sighted peers, but arms them with valuable skills they’ll take as they enter the job marketplace,” states Ai Squared CEO David Wu.  “These students’ lives are being transformed and we are so proud to be a part of this effort.”

You can read more about inABLE or read the press release we sent out for even more information.

ZoomText 10.0.2 is released!

We’re excited to announce that the next free update in the ZoomText 10 cycle is here!  ZoomText 10 is now available electronically in the following languages:  Chinese, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic and Turkish; these are in addition to the 13 languages that were already supported in version 10.

We also optimized the ZoomText Camera feature to provide faster video performance when the camera image is rotated to 90, 180 or 270 degree orientations.

Read more about 10, read the release notes, or download a free 60-day trial to give it a try yourself.

Coolest Feature in ZoomText 10:  Poll Results

Thanks to everyone who sent in their answer last issue to the question:  “What’s the coolest thing you’ve been able to do with the new features in ZoomText 10? In other words, what have you been able to do with ZoomText 10 that you were never able to do previously?”.  First off, congratulations to Paul Mogan whose name was chosen in the raffle - he won a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Here are the top three coolest things you said you can now do with ZoomText 10:

• Multitask using Background Reader (take notes, do other work, etc)
• Use a camera as a CCTV alternative
• Turn documents into audio files to listen to on the go

Read on for the complete results!

‘Glamour Gals’ Help Elderly Women Feel Beautiful

Check out this heartwarming story of the Glamour Gals, a group that Rachel Doyle founded while she was still in high school but has now grown to 1,200 volunteers with 60 chapters across the country.  Volunteers in this group travel to nearby retirement homes and senior center to paint nails, apply make-up and most importantly connecting with the women that they meet.

In this particular story, the “gals” visited a senior center for the visually impaired.  Head on over to the article and watch the video. 

Special thanks to Kathy Kalaluhi for sharing this story!

Spotlight:  Cameroon School for the Blind

As tough as times can be for us in the United States, we live in luxury compared to much of the world.  There are corners of the world, such as Cameroon, that couldn’t even dream of affording expensive assistive technology equipment.

Ai Squared recently donated ZoomText to the Cameroon Health and Education Fund (CHEF) - they sent the copies along to the students attending the Cameroon School for the Blind.  The mission of CHEF is to assist deserving projects, programs, communities and individuals primarily in Cameroon through the donation of financial assistance, expertise and other forms of support that will improve health and education.  You too can donate money or old computer/assistive technology devices.  In fact, the Banso School for the Blind is one such program that currently is in need of funding.

Read on!