NEW ZOOMTEXT RELEASED Ai Squared recently released ZoomText USB, a portable program on a USB memory drive that fits in your pocket or around your neck on the included lanyard. The drive enables users to install and run ZoomText wherever and whenever needed without having to purchase additional licensing or worry about activating each installation. Just plug in the USB drive and, if ZoomText has already been installed on the system, immediately use the software. If ZoomText hasn't been installed, a low-vision--friendly setup program launches for a quick installation. The user settings are saved back to the USB drive and load automatically each time the drive is used. For more information, visit www.aisquared.com or call 1-800-859-0270.
NEWS FROM MICROSOFT Microsoft and the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium recently announced a joint development project that will make it possible for computer users who are blind or print-disabled to gain access to more written content by using assistive technology. This project will be a reference model for other Open XML solution models. It will be available on SourceForge.net, and will yield a free, downloadable plug-in for Microsoft Word that will enable users to translate Open XML-based documents into DAISY XML, the standard for reading and publishing navigable multimedia content. When it becomes available in early 2008, the "Save as DAISY" feature will mean that people with print disabilities will have better access to the information in billions of documents. AOL BECOMES ACCESSIBLE AOL has recently launched a new web interface, Websuite Lite, which makes the dynamic Web 2.0 interface accessible for users who are blind. The team that designed the interface was led by Tom Wlodkowski, a blind man who experienced the challenges Web 2.0 applications presented firsthand. To further enhance web accessibility, AOL also released a new Javascript library that makes it easier for web developers to implement accessible features with modern Web 2.0 sites. VICTOR NOW PLAYS AUDIBLE Victor Reader Stream, the pocket-sized portable MP3 player designed for blind and low-vision people, now has the capability to play the popular Audible.com books. The Audible format provides a huge additional choice of content to users as Audible is the leading provider of spoken audio on the Internet, providing over 140,000 hours of digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines. For Audible books, the user will be able to navigate from one Audible heading to the next, move by increments of one-, five-, or ten-minute time jumps, and move with an accelerated fast-forward feature that announces the amount of time lapsed. Current Victor Reader Stream users will need to upgrade their player to software version 1.1 in order to play Audible books. For more information, visit www.humanware.com. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
