news
Mind’s Eye Travel
The other day, our support technician Lloyd spoke with someone who works for Mind’s Eye Travel, an organization that creates tours for people who are blind or visually impaired. We thought it was the perfect thing to share with you!
Travel planning can be a stressful and time consuming process - even more so when you’re visually impaired. Luckily there are organizations like Mind’s Eye Travel to help you with the details to just relax and enjoy your vacation.
Staci Mannella Update
Earlier this year, we wrote about our sponsorship of Staci Mannella, a 14-year-old skier who is visually impaired. Staci’s goal is to represent the United States in 2014 as an adaptive alpine skier in the Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Her guide, Kim Seevers, sent us an update on how the 2011 ski season has been going. Great news - Staci has earned a position on the US Adaptive Alpine Team! It’s the first step on her way to the 2014 Paralympic Games in Russia. Join us in congratulating her and wishing her well on her Paralympic journey.
Check out our blog post for all the details!
Cool Websites #5
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 !
February Survey Results
In the February issue of ZoomNews, we asked you the following questions: “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?” First off, congratulations to Steven Kessler whose name was chosen in the raffle from all the participants - he won a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate!
So many great ideas were presented! Here’s a list of the top 5 best developments in the last 20 years:
- ZoomText - cheers! Thanks for making us #1 on your list!
- CCTV magnifiers
- Screen readers
- Computer accessibility
- iPhone
Tech Support Profile: Lloyd Georgeson
I’d like to introduce you to our newest hire in technical support: Lloyd Georgeson. He’s been with us since December and has 20 years of tech support experience under his belt, which means he’s ready for all of your ZoomText questions!
Lloyd has been working with computers since “the dark days of DOS 3.3” back when he received his degree at the Computer Processing Institute of Hartford, CT. More recently, he worked for CompuWorks, Southwestern VT Medical Center’s helpdesk and Orvis - three other companies located in Vermont. He’s thrilled to be working for a small company again.
100th Blog Post
Our Zoomed In blog just hit a milestone recently with it’s 100th post! If you haven’t had a chance to check out the blog, it’s full of really great and interesting information.
Whether you are interested in watching ZoomText tips and tricks on video, learning about blind yoga, maybe you want to know what brand of wine comes complete with Braille labels, or you just are learning how to parent with low vision, we have something on there for you. You can even apply to be in a BBC documentary!
If you’d like to subscribe to the blog and receive an email every time we put up a new post, just send Becca an email and tell her you’d like to be added to the blog list.
Happy reading!
Boston Science Museum Looking for Accessibility Feedback
Ever go to a museum and leave dissatisfied with the level of accessibility they offer in not only the building itself, but in its exhibits? Perhaps you’ve always wanted to share your perspective as a person with low vision and have your voice be heard. Well, now’s your chance.
Cool Websites #4
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 !
ZoomReader is Here!
Just what you have all been waiting to hear: ZoomReader is available for purchase in the iTunes App Store right now for $19.99!
We have been giving you little glimpses of our new app along the way, but for those of you who haven’t had the chance to check it out, here is a quick overview of what ZoomReader does:
In combination with your iPhone’s built-in camera, ZoomReader lets you magnify and read printed text by first taking a picture of an object like a book or menu, then converts the image into text using state-of-the-art Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. ZoomReader will then read the text back to you using a natural-sounding voice.
ZoomReader isn’t just for books – it can be used to read small print on a receipt, box, menu or pill bottle – wherever there’s small text you can’t read yourself. Use it anywhere – on the go or in the comfort of your home – this quick and powerful program does everything a dedicated video magnifier can do – from the convenience of your iPhone and at a much lower price.
We have put together some videos to give you a first-hand tour of ZoomReader in action, and we hope that it gets you all as excited as we are. To get started, watch the overview video right here:
9.19.1 is released!
We are proud to announce the newest and most comprehensive release of ZoomText – version 9.19.1.
In addition to the already versatile capabilities of ZoomText 9.1 like Windows 7 support, Windows Vista 64-bit support, smooth panning, and built-in scripting support, 9.19.1 includes support for SAP business management software, a few fixes for Microsoft Office 2010, a fix for corrupted activation process in Japanese ZoomText and more!
Read more about 9.19.1, read the release notes, or download a free 60-day trial to give it a try yourself.
