[Promotion-technology] HumanWare and Partners Demonstrate Assistive Technologies that Change Lives at CSUN Conference

[David Andrews]

>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>HumanWare and Partners Demonstrate Assistive Technologies that Change Lives
>at CSUN Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference
>Los Angeles, California, March 21 2007 - HumanWare and partners will today
>showcase assistive technologies for the blind and visually impaired that
>can fundamentally improve lives and eliminate barriers to success.
>HumanWare will demonstrate its breakthrough products such as myReader, the
>reading support product for people with low vision. Trekker, HumanWare's
>handheld GPS product, will be used for "virtual booth tours" and to conduct
>GPS-guided tours outside the conference venue. The world-renowned
>BrailleNote line running Sendero GPS will also be featured.
>"CSUN is the longest-running and largest university-sponsored conference on
>technology for persons with disabilities. So, it's the ideal place to
>showcase our world-leading and life-changing technologies," said Dr Richard
>Mander, HumanWare CEO. "We always have one of the largest booths at the
>event, and this year, rather than taking center stage ourselves, we're
>showcasing the two groups that mean the most to us: Our customers and our
>partners."
>Showcasing Partners
>On the first day of the CSUN Conference Exhibition, Wednesday, 21 March,
>HumanWare will be showcasing six key partners:
>.     Baum Retec AG. Germany's Baum makes the BrailleConnect and Brailliant
>Braille displays, resold by HumanWare, and the hardware for HumanWare's
>BrailleNote PK device. Baum is also an authorized distributor for HumanWare
>products in Germany and Austria.
>.     Code Factory. Code Factory of Barcelona, Spain makes Mobile Speak
>Pocket, software which "speaks" the screen contents of a PDA. HumanWare is
>the sole authorized distributor for Mobile Speak Pocket in English.
>.     Eschenbach. Eschenbach Optik of Germany is the leading distributor
>worldwide of eyecare products, such as glasses, to eyecare professionals,
>and the largest authorized distributor worldwide of HumanWare low vision
>products.
>.     Quantum Technology. Quantum Technology of Australia is the developer
>of the MountBatten Brailler and Jot a Dot Braille learning products, for
>which HumanWare is the sole authorized distributor in the US.
>.     Sendero Group. US-based Sendero Group makes the GPS product for the
>BrailleNote family and sells a variety of products, including GPS-equipped
>BrailleNotes.
>.     ViewPlus Technologies. ViewPlus, another American company, makes a
>breakthrough line of Braille embossers with their patented TigerR
>technology. Tiger allows flexible printing of Braille text, embossed
>graphics and even mixed Braille and plain text printing.
>Support Braille Literacy
>Also on the first day of the CSUN Conference, HumanWare will launch a new
>resource in its Support Braille Literacy effort.
>HumanWare is continuing its Support Braille Literacy effort, launched in
>January, with a campaign called "We're Listening". In meetings, at
>conferences and online, HumanWare will be soliciting ideas from customers,
>partners and others. A new Web page, www.humanware.com/braille, will be
>launched to solicit ideas.
>According to JoAnn Becker, HumanWare's International Education Product
>Manager, who will be presenting on HumanWare products on the day: "I was
>lucky to learn Braille as a child, and Braille has made a huge difference
>in my life. Most blind children today are not so lucky."
>According to National Braille Press, the number of school-aged children in
>the US who use Braille as their primary reading medium has dropped from 50
>percent in the 1960's to 12 percent today. Other countries have a similar
>story.
>Many of HumanWare's partner relationships support Braille literacy.
>HumanWare bundles Baum's BrailleConnect and Code Factory's Mobile Speak
>Pocket into a complete Braille-based PDA solution. Code Factory is also
>demonstrating a new Games Pack of Braille learning games for Mobile Speak
>Pocket with HumanWare at CSUN.
>Users can grow from Quantum's Jot a Dot and Mountbatten Brailler, sold by
>HumanWare in the US, to HumanWare's BrailleNote family. And with ViewPlus
>printers, HumanWare customers can create a complete Braille learning or
>productivity environment.
>myReader, GPS and more
>Thursday, March 22nd, is HumanWare's Update Day for myReader, the reading
>support product for people with low vision. Trekker, HumanWare's handheld
>GPS will feature on Friday March 23rd, which is GPS Day, and HumanWare will
>hold GPS seminars in the morning and demonstrate Trekker and Sendero GPS.
>The final day of the Exhibition, Saturday, March 24th, is open to the
>public until the show closes at 1pm.
>For further information please contact:
>Floyd Smith
>VP, Marketing and Customer Experience
>HumanWare
>Ph: +44 7949 818966
>floyd.smith at humanware.com
>
>About HumanWare
>HumanWare is the global leader in assistive technologies for vision,
>including products for the blind and visually impaired. HumanWare's
>products include BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for blind
>people in education, in business and in their personal lives; the Victor
>Reader product line, the world's leading digital talking book players; and
>myReader, a unique "auto-reader" for people with low vision.
>
>Web links
>HumanWare: www.humanware.com
>HumanWare Support Braille Literacy ideas page: www.humanware.com/Braille
>CSUN Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference:
>www.csun.edu/cod/conf/
>National Braille Press, The Case for Braille:
>http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/braille/case_for_braille.html
>Baum Retec AG (in English): www.baum.de/index-e.php
>Code Factory: www.codefactory.es
>Eschenbach Optik of Aemerica: www.eschenbach.com
>Sendero Group: www.sendero.com
>Quantum Technology Mountbatten Brailler Web site:
>www.mountbattenbrailler.com
>ViewPlus Technologies: www.viewplus.com
>Note: All trademarks used are property of their respective owners.
>
>
>Matthew Janusauskas
>Technical Support and Training Manager
>HumanWare USA Inc.
>656 N Kennedy Drive
>Kankakee IL 60901
>Phone:  800-722-3393 Ext. 204
>Fax:    815-939-3194
>E-mail:  matthew.janusauskas at humanware.com
>Internet:  http://www.humanware.com
>
>
>
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