Survey Results
 The April ZoomNews survey polled our readers about where to meet other people who are visually impaired online. First off, congratulations to Melissa Burch whose name was chosen in the raffle from all the participants – she won a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!
There were so many great suggestions. Here’s a sampling or you can download a complete list in PDF format:
Thanks to everyone who participated – not only did you have a chance to win a prize, but this information is really valuable. We hope you check some of these sites out and connect with the visually impaired community.
Read on for this month’s contest and another chance to win!
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New Contest
 The next contest is a question that comes to us from Kathy Kalaluhi: “Are there any games that first work with ZoomText and second that are not frustrating to play because you are using magnification. Basically, I’m looking for games that do not require you to be able to view the whole screen in order to play.”
What a great question from Kathy! She was awarded a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate for her suggestion.
Send your answers to Becca at by June 30th to be entered into this month's raffle for a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!
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New Products Reminder
 A few days ago, you received an email alerting you that we are selling three very cool partner products – the Victor Reader Stream, a portable DAISY/MP3 player, and two handheld magnifiers: the Pebble and the SenseView Duo. We hope you’ve had a chance to go to our website and watch the product videos for each and learn more about these life changing products.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, go to www.aisquared.com/spotlight to have a look! If you have any questions, or to place your order you can also give us a call at 800-859-0270, go online, or reply to this email.
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Going for the Gold
 Gavin Kilpatrick just took home a Bronze medal for cycling at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games for South Africa. And what do you know – he’s a ZoomText user!
At the age of five, Gavin was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, which causes loss of central vision. It’s been a part of his life ever since but that hasn’t slowed down his sense of adventure.
Gavin dedicated seven years of his life to preparing for the Beijing Games. The Games arrived and he and his pilot Mike Thomson crashed while competing against the Australians in the Men’s B/VI tandem sprint (track). Despite the injuries sustained in the fall, they picked themselves up and beat the Japanese in the next race to bring home the Bronze medal.
“The magnitude of the event and accomplishment has transformed me into a new person who appreciates what I have achieved and to help others realize their potential,” says Gavin. “All it takes is a little dream, some faith and anything is possible.”
While he’s not giving up sports totally (he is aiming to compete at this year’s Adaptive Rowing World Championship in Germany as well as being a member of the South African Disabled Golf Association), Gavin contacted me with an interest to start a career in the business world. He’s studied a number of courses including sports psychology, therapeutic massage, but has finally decided to follow a career in conference and event management which he studied in 2006 at Damelin College.
“You need to try many different things to figure out what you like and what you are good at,” says Gavin. “From there it depends how badly you want it.”
In comes ZoomText – Gavin wanted to become more involved with such a product that makes the lives of people who are visually impaired a lot easier. He sees the product as helping his own career advance and sees himself as a ZoomText ambassador over in South Africa. So far he’s found ZoomText to be very user friendly and an effective tool to help him read documents and web pages with ease, increasing his productivity.
Gavin is seriously considering competing at the London 2012 games but possibly in rowing this time. He has also recently taken up golf for the disabled and is a huge fan of motocross and bass fishing. We wish him the best of luck at the London Games – go for the gold!
Refer-a-Friend program reminder
 Back in April we sent you an email asking if you wanted to join the Refer-a-Friend program. This is a great program: for every friend you refer who buys a new copy of ZoomText (Magnifier or Magnifier/Reader), you’ll receive a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate and your friend will receive 10% off their entire order!
Thanks to all those who have signed up already. If you would like to join as well, reply to this email () and we’ll send you your personal code and further information.
**This program is for end users only, businesses and agencies are not eligible.**
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Upcoming Training Opportunities
 We are committed to providing our customers the highest quality service and support. We’d love to have you participate in one or more of the training events listed below. Send an email to if you would like to sign up or need more information.
Free ZoomText 9.18 Webinar
Join us for a free webinar titled “What’s New in ZoomText 9.18.” This one-hour webinar will focus on some of the new features introduced in the release of 9.18 such as Smooth Panning and built-in scripting support. This is designed for new and intermediate ZoomText users, as well as ZoomText trainers.
The webinar takes place on June 25th, 2009 from 2pm to 3pm and will be presented by two of Ai Squared’s Product Support Specialists: Tony Jomaa and James Jandzinski. Space is limited to 15 seats, so sign up right away.
Send an email to with “What’s New in 9.18 Webinar” in the subject line to sign up or for more information!
Two Day Course on ZoomText 9.18
Join us at the NEAT Center at Oak Hill in Hartford, CT for a two day workshop on ZoomText 9.18. The first day will cover Magnifier features, and Speech features on the second day. Instead of simply teaching how to set up the ZoomText features (as in the manual), there will be special focus on how to set up features with different eye conditions and situations in mind. There will be real-world examples and lab exercises. PCs are provided so you don’t need to bring your laptop.
This event is catered toward eye care or assistive technology professionals, dealers, rehab technologists, or intermediate ZoomText users who want to learn more.
The course takes place on October 8th – October 9th, 2009 from 9am to 4pm and costs $500. It will be presented by Maurie Hill, one of Ai Squared’s Product Support Specialists and Trainer, and Steven Famiglietti, Blind Services Vocational Manager.
Send an email to with “NEAT Training” in the subject line to sign up or for more information!
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In the News
 Blind Prom photography exhibit - Sarah Wilson’s series follows students at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired as they prepare and go to their high school prom. Click here for more photos.
Visually impaired feel the fun of driving - Driver’s education center lets visually impaired see what it's like behind wheel.
Opera helps kids who are visually impaired find their voice - All participants are students in Atlanta's Center for the Visually Impaired BEGIN program: an acronym for Babies Early Growth Intervention Network.
Fifth-grader designs lighted cane for visually impaired - Kyle Cartier, 12, was one of three winners of the Pinellas Preparatory Academy’s Invention Convention for his “UR Seen” cane.
Woman with macular degeneration falls for skydiving - Laurie Cavage has fearlessly jumped solo and in tandem with her husband Tom, a pilot and sky-diving school instructor.
Free Hadley course for blind travelers - Hadley School for the Blind offered an online seminar about low vision travel planning techniques and tips. Although it’s already gone by, you can check out the past seminars page on the Hadley website to download or stream the audio from any course.
Baseball for the blind - The Affiliated Blind of Louisiana has created their own version of America's National pastime, called Beep Ball. On a related note, the Hadley School has received the first prototype of a “beeping” basketball.
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Tradeshow Schedule
 Summer’s here and you know what that means – more tradeshows than ever! If you're attending any of these shows, be sure you stop by and see what's new with us.
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) National Convention
July 3rd – July 8th
Detroit, MI
American Council of the Blind (ACB) Convention
July 3rd – July 11th
Orlando, FL
Sight Village
July 14th – July 16th
Birmingham, UK
Annual Conference of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Conference
July 21st – July 24th
Louisville, KY
Booth #42
Discovery Low Vision Conference
August 18th – August 22nd
Chicago, IL
US Business Leaders Network (USBLN) Conference
September 15th – September 18th
Washington, DC
New England Library Association (NELA) Annual Conference
October 18th – October 20th
Hartford, CT
Booth #114
Assistive Technology Industry Association Chicago Conference
October 28th - October 31st
Schaumburg, IL
Booth #319
New England Association for Education & Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (NEAER) Conference
November 4th – November 6th
Hartford, CT
National Ergonomics Conference & Exposition (NECE)
November 18th - November 20th
Las Vegas, NV
Booth #240
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