Computer Training & Sales/Disability Consulting 464 Sylvania Avenue phone (215) 572-5882 Glenside, PA 19038-3629 fax (215) 572-6045 September 20, 1997 OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS Once again it is time for that informal document I call a newsletter. It is fall, a time when adaptive technology fans anticipate the Closing the Gap conference with its unveiling of the latest company offerings. We will do our best to bring you previews of what you might see if you attended that august (I did say it is fall) gathering. We will also endeavor to bring you various tidbits that you may find interesting. There is much to cover so let's get started with those updates. AI SQUARED You will recall that the February issue of this technological melange carried an in depth report on the forthcoming upgrades to ZoomText. ZoomText Extra was released and started shipping on the 8th of September. Level 1, which is magnification only, sells for $398. Level 2, which includes a screen reader, sells for $595.00. If you see the word "Plus" after the Level number it means that the DOS version is included. Level 1 plus sells for $595, and Level 2 Plus sells for $795. The company is working on a version for Windows NT which will be the next release, after which level 3 including scanning options will be released. Ben Weiss, company president, advises that the company has just released a newsletter to all of its registered users. In addition, it has printed a catalog which pulls all of the product information together. ARKENSTONE Arkenstone advises that it will soon be coming out with an upgrade to OpenBook 3.0 which will include faster scanning and incorporate a find feature. That upgrade will continue to support Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. The company is also coming out with a simplified version of the OpenBook program--not named as of the time of this writing--that will utilize a modified keyboard with fewer and larger keys with an improved layout for persons with motor difficulties. The first significant upgrade to Atlas since the product has been released can be expected in October. It will include automatic route finding and a number of other things that users have requested. Upgrade cost is likely to be around $40.00. The Arkenclone computers, discussed in depth in my last newsletter, now use a 16x CDrom drive. The price remains at $1595.00 for this 166mhz pentium computer. . The price of scanners has come down. There are now three options available: 1. While supplies last, a refurbished HP 3p with optional automatic document feeder (ADF)-lowest cost at $150 for the scanner, $150 for the ADF ($99 if purchased with Open Book software). 2. HP 4p with optional ADF - $399 when purchased with Open Book, $465 if purchased without Open Book, and $849 if bundled with the automatic document feeder. The 4p has a larger scanning surface which scans legal size documents, larger books and has the document feeder option. 3. HP 5p - available for $365, has a smaller footprint than the 4p and is less expensive. In my last newsletter, that last repository of technological information, you will remember reading about the Arkenstone financing program. It has been such a success that the funds have been depleted. Therefore, the program is on hold until further notice. ARTIC TECHNOLOGIES Although it did not begin shipping when projected, the new Advest for the Artic 210 and 215 synthesizers has been shipping for over a month. Advest for the P27 should be available by the Closing the Gap conference. Artic has been shipping WinVision 97 and is scheduled to shortly release an upgrade which, among other improvements, will include support for software speech synthesizers. It also includes new, powerful internet features including the ability to search for text strings. The upgrade will be free. The softkey version of copy protection referred to in my last newsletter is still under development. The company has a new web site which you can reach at www.artictech.com. There you can get information about products, product demos, and shortly a wave file which you can download from the site and play on your computer. GW MICRO The cost of Window-eyes has gone up by $100 to $595.00, as of August first. If you own Vocal-Eyes and want Window-Eyes, or Window-Eyes and want Vocal-Eyes you will receive $100.00 of the cost of the purchase. The upgrade to Window-Eyes 2.0, which is Window-Eyes 3.1, will be coming out at the end of September or early October. It will be free to users of 2.0 or cost $75 for those who have not upgraded from Window-Eyes 1.0. Among its features is support for active accessibility which means that it will support MS Office 97. Tests indicate that it will work well with Windows 98. It will let you use the system tray, it has improved tool tip support, and the ability to switch synthesizers on the fly. There is work being done on software synthesizers but they will probably not be done for version 2.1. The company believes that it will work with pulse data's software synthesizer since it looks like the Pulse Data voice card. HENTER-JOYCE It is really shipping. That's right, your humble author has just received his copy of Jaws for Windows 3.0. A list of features listed on the JFW 3.0 Features Presentation Tape include: it is now a true 32 bit application which assures faster response and support for software speech synthesizers; support for active accessibility is included; one can now run the DOS window without the need to buy a separate DOS screen reader; there is a keyboard manager which will show all the relevant keys in an application with a description of those keys; there is a keyboard help mode in which when you press a key it tells you about the key instead of implementing that key stroke; a dictionary manager that enables one to quickly and easily change the way words are spoken; a frame manager which enables you to set speaking or silent areas on the screen; and a script manager which is a replacement for the macro language; the ability to switch speech synthesizers "on the fly"; and support for many of the popular Braille displays. As mentioned above, the new JFW 3.0 supports software synthesizers. The first synthesizer that will be shipped by Henter Joyce is the DECtalk Access 32 Software. The current plan is to sell it with the purchase of JFW upgrades and new copies of JFW for $150 plus shipping and handling. It will cost $200 if you order it later as a separate item for use with a specific JFW serial number. This low price is made possible through and OEM licensing agreement with Digital Equipment Corporation. All currently registered JFW users who want it will have some time to purchase it at the $150 price. The company hopes to have support for other software synthesizers available by mid October. A loud hurray from us Braille users! The company will now ship a Braille JFW 3.0 quick reference guide, at no extra cost, with each order. Finally, Jaws for Windows NT will begin shipping in early October. It will, of course, support the DECTalk software synthesizer. Look for more news about it in my next issue. MAGNISIGHT Magnisight has totally redesigned its mini system with first shipments expected by the end of October. The system is so new that it has not officially been named. New features include the focus control being on top of the camera where it is easier to adjust, an infinity focus of one inch to infinity so that one can look across the room for materials; on a 20 inch monitor it has one to fifty times magnification with less on smaller screens. The brightness and contrast controls and an RF adapter are on the control box which makes it easier for persons to plug it into the TV set. Complete with carrying case, battery pack and 7 inch monitor, the cost is $995.00, down from $1200.00. Under development are table stands for persons to mount the camera if they wish to do so. MICROTALK Microtalk has just released version 1.33 of ASAW that supports software speech synthesizers, and a version of ASAP that lets you use them from DOS. Larry advises that he expects a version of ASAW to support active Accessibility within the next several months. The company is working on Windows 98 and Windows NT versions. Upgrades are free to any user and can be obtained from the Wed Site at http://www.screenaccess.com. RAISED DOT COMPUTING Within a week or so the company will be releasing its Nemmeth Translator program as an add on to megadots. This program makes it easy for someone who doesn't know much about Nemmeth code to produce mathematics in Braille. There are a lot of short cuts for data entry. To use it you will need to have the add on installed and to be in the Nemmeth style sheet. Also, to be upgraded soon is the Beginner Braille which is a tool for helping a student who is in the process of learning Braille. You can use a menu to select which contractions to use. New in the update is a Braille teaching program called Braille 2, which is a teaching tool for middle and upper school students. The course was developed by two itinerant teachers at the Grantwood Education Agency in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This upgrade also fixes some previous bugs. Megadots 2.0 will probably be released within the next quarter. It will most likely incorporate a demo of the Nemmeth Translator. In addition it will let one use a new add on called the Braille Interliner which lets you run a sheet of paper through an ink jet printer then through a Braille printer in order to make Braille and print evenly lined up on the same page. Also, TinyTalk will be available as an add on for version 2.0 since the company is getting calls from people who have windows screen readers but no screen readers for DOS. Finally, the icon installer has been improved. No, the company is not ignoring a Windows version, it is in their long range plans. SIGHTED ELECTRONICS The Index Basic S and Basic D has a new upgrade which makes them run quieter. The acoustic cabinet has also been improved to allow for more noise reduction. Also, new from Index is the 4x4 Braille printer that produces interpoint Braille on 11x17 inch paper, collates, and creases the pages. If you, loyal reader, are too embarrassed to ask why one would want to print on paper that size, fear not. Your previously uninformed but assertive correspondent asked the question for you. I can now tell you that it is for magazines, and small books. When the paper is folded it produces two 8-1/2 by 11 pages. It is reported to produce 300 pages per hour. A price decrease will be in effect for all Papenmeier products as of October 15, 1997. In fact it will apply to orders placed after October 1st, since they won't be filled before the 15th. The discount is expected to be between 10 and 15 percent. So Ted, queried an eager reader, what is the Impacto. Well, ok, no one really asked, but they would have had they known that there was such a thing as the Impacto. Fear not, diligent pursuer of knowledge, the time for enlightenment has arrived. The Impacto is a Braille printer capable of producing 600 pages of Braille an hour. This heavy industrial type Braille printer sells for $37,000 which includes, delivery, installation and on site service for one year. Although you might not want one in your bedroom, if you want to see one I understand that the National Braille and Technology Center just had one installed. DUXBURY SYSTEMS For this version of the newsletter I spoke with Neal Kuniansky, from the company who provided a great deal of information in such a well delivered manner that I have decided to run the interview in its entirety. Here it is: Neal, "This is perfect timing because we are getting ready to come out with some very exciting things. Your humble correspondent, "Good tell me about them and let me write about them. Neal, "The next version of Duxbury will be DBT Version 10.2, should be shipping at the end of the month. It has three huge major new things. "The first, and probably the most exciting is that it has built-in Nemmith translation facilities. Also, it will have a Braille graphic Importer, and direct importation of Microsoft Word files." Correspondent, "Ok, let's talk about the braille graphic importer. Tell me a little bit about how I can describe that to people." Neal, "Ok the Braille graphic importer is for bringing a Braille graphic into your Duxbury document. For example, if you were talking about a cathedral, and you had done a Braille graphic of the cathedral, you can bring it right into your document and Duxbury imports it and saves it right in the Duxbury file. So when you Braille it and you're talking about the cathedral, there is the cathedral Braille graphic. If you electronically mail that document to someone else, and they go to emboss it they will get the same thing." Correspondent, "Now, where does one get the Braille graphic?" Neal, "Well, there are a number of programs for creating Braille graphics. Basically, we import the images from them. Everything from VP Graphics from Telesensory, ET Graphics from Enabling, the tag programs from Reprotronics, etc. There are a number of Braille graphic programs." Correspondent, "Now what about the Microsoft Word Importer?" Neal, "The translation is just direct importation. Even now you can cut and paste from the MS Word document: Ctrl-A to highlight the whole document in Word, Ctrl-C to copy it, Alt-Tab to the Duxbury document, Ctrl-V to paste it, Ctrl-T to translate it and Ctrl-E to emboss it. Under the new system you will simply open your file, choose a word document and it will bring it in and translate it." Correspondent, "Ok, do you have anything else to tell me?" Neal, "Yes, the Nemith translation which is built into it. So it has full Nemmith context, so that the newest rules that change some of your literary formatting are taken into consideration. It will do anything from arithmetic to the most complex scientific technological Braille you want to produce. All of this is included for free, no extra cost for it." Correspondent, "When is this scheduled for release? What version will it be, and what will be the pricing on it?" Neal, "It should be released at the end of the month or very early October. It will be DBT Version 10.2. There will be a DOS version, a Windows version, and the MAC version. The cost for an upgrade if your DBT is less than a year old will be $0.00, if its older than a year and you are staying on the same platform it will vary from $175.00 to $195.00, and the cost for a new version is; DOS $550.00, Windows $595.00, and the MacIntosh $645.00. We also have the dual package which is the complete windows and complete DOS package for $850.00." "Now, we also have another big announcement which is that we are going to begin shipping the Nemmith Production package, which is a separate piece of software. It is a compilation of many different things. It includes DBT for Windows. It is just for Windows 95 and Windows NT. The cost of that is $900.00, and it includes all the facilities as developed at Perdu University in their visions lab, and evolved with us, an equation editor, etc. The big advantage of this system is that it will let you see your math on screen as math. In other words a sighted person can see the equation on the screen, look at it in the book, and say that equation is the same as this equation and know it's good. It makes it very easy and has been extremely popular at universities as it allows you to utilize students to do the input. It includes a guide book and work book on Nemmith production that is almost worth the whole cost just for that book." Correspondent, "Now that book would be for sighted persons who are translating?" Neal, "Yes, in using the translation package. It has a lot on introducing the concepts of Nemmith itself, and pointing out variations between Nemmith and literary. It also includes exercises. This workbook evolved out of the last two years at Perdu with all the lessons learned from training staff to work on the system. This was really born out of use. It has been done in a way that is user friendly, just really well done." "DBT always includes the complete user guide in Braille and electronic format. The Windows products support Windows 3.1, 95 and NT. It also includes Grade II English, French and Spanish Braille translation, Grade I translation in numerous other languages, and computer Braille." MY ONLY COMMERCIAL DON'T FORGET! Young Opportunities carries all of the above products at below market prices and provides excellent technical support. Visa, Master Card and American Express orders are accepted. SOME THOUGHTS ON EUDORA AND E-MAIL I can remember when I started exploring bulletin boards, joining conferences or message areas and reading from message to message. It was all on line, my phone was tied up, the household was unhappy. Then came the QWK packets which you could down load, put into a mail reader and read and respond to off-line. Things were looking up. When I first got my shell account on the internet I found that I could read my messages in a mail reader called Pine, but I was back to that on line stuff, and, yes, once again the household became unhappy. Searching for a way around this problem I discovered UQWK which worked like the old QWK packages, and peace returned to the household until my provider didn't carry UQWK any more. Back to Pine, back to on-line. Back to unhappy campers in the household. Moving to Windows solved the problem since the mail readers I use and/or used were capable of down loading the messages and letting me respond to them off-line. I have worked with two such mail readers, Internet mail, and Eudora. Internet Mail by microsoft is more speech friendly when reading messages, and in the menu areas, although I have had difficulty getting screen readers to work well when replying. By "friendly" in the menu section I mean that the headings are clear and they are easy to navigate. I now use Eudora although I do not believe that it is as speech friendly in many ways, it is much more powerful. It does read messages well, and it does make responding to messages easy, but the menus are not clear and easy to interpret. The address book is very unfriendly if you want to enter an e- mail address from scratch, although you can lift an e-mail address off the message you are reading and put it into the address book with one keystroke. You can also lift an address from the address book and put it into the "TO:" field of the message you are writing with a key stroke to get to the address book, cursoring down to the name you want and pressing enter. You will, however, need guidance in putting the first few addresses into the book until you get used to it. Other features that Eudora has that makes it my e-mail program of preference are: It is relatively easy to e-mail a group of persons; you can spell check your messages; you can have the program sort messages from various sources and put them into separate mail boxes that you can read in the order you prefer. You can also have Eudora sort messages assigning priority to the sorting; you can set up a signature that is put on each out going message; and many other features. Knowing that some of my readers are not yet on the internet, let me tell you about list serves. These are topic areas that receive e-mail from persons with questions, answers or comments on the topic and send those e- mail messages out to any one who wants to subscribe to the list. There are listserves on a huge number of topics and the volume of e-mail can be intense. There are also moderated and unmoderated listserves. In the moderated listserve the person running the list decides what will be permitted to become part of the e-mail you get. In the unmoderated list serve the mail just comes into the site and is sent out to the subscribers. Either way, if you get on an active list you can get scads of e-mail, in which case you will be glad for the sorting or filtering functions of Eudora. CLOSING TIME Time, cost and postage tell me that it is time to end this newsletter. Address any comments to me at the address on the front page or contact me by e-mail at Youngopp@voicenet.com. Also, visit my home page at: http://www.voicenet.com/~youngopp. .