AssistiveWare - Assistive Technology Software Press Releases

Assistive Technology Software Press Releases

Infovox iVox 1.2 adds new voices and a pronunciation editor

Amsterdam - 29 April 2008 - Acapela Group and AssistiveWare today announced the release of Infovox iVox 1.2 with new voices and a pronunciation editor. Infovox iVox provides natural-sounding voices for multiple languages that work with virtually any Speech Manager compliant Mac OS X application. As of today there are also a number of new educational licenses available: The Infovox iVox - GhostReader Teacher Kit and an Educational Audio Use and Publishing License.

Infovox iVox 1.2 is a free upgrade for existing users that adds a pronunciation editor that allows users to add abbreviations or change the pronunciation of words. It also introduces a number of new voices and languages: Eliska and Sabrine for Czech, Ania for Polish, Snorri for Icelandic, Sanna for Finnish, Elin for Swedish, and Baris and Ceren for Turkish. The Czech, Polish, Icelandic and Turkish voices require Mac OS X 10.5. The other voices require 10.3.9 or later.

Infovox iVox can be used with Apple's VoiceOver screen reader as well as many Mac OS X applications, including Preview, TextEdit, AssistiveWare's VisioVoice and Proloquo, ConvenienceWare GhostReader, and Adobe Acrobat. The voices also work great with the leading educational software, such as Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh version 3.0.4 and 4.0 and TextHelp's Read and Write Gold for Mac version 2.1.0 and later. This means that teachers can now use this best-of-breed software with the industry leading Infovox iVox voices to enhance the learning experience of their students.

Infovox iVox voices are sold per language with each language consisting of one or more male and/or female voices. All languages contain the American English Heather voice as a bonus. All languages, except the Scandinavian ones, are available for a suggested retail price of US$ 99 in North America and 99 Euro excluding VAT everywhere else. This is for the first language. Additional language packs are available for a suggested retail price of US$ 49.50 in North America and 49.50 Euro excluding VAT everywhere else. Scandinavian languages are available for a suggested retail price of 219 euro excluding VAT and as an additional language for 109.50 euro excluding VAT. Bundles of Infovox iVox with GhostReader are also available starting at US$ / Euro 109 for a single user.

In addition to the existing multi-user and educational classroom and school licenses there are now two new educational licenses:

1) An Educational Audio Use and Publishing License for US$ / Euro 199 excluding VAT, which permits use of generated audio files on up to 50 iPods as well as the publication of educational material on the internet (with some restrictions).

2) An Infovox iVox - GhostReader Teacher Kit for US$ / euro 299 excluding VAT, which includes licenses for Infovox iVox and GhostReader for a language of choice as well as an Educational Audio Use and Publishing License.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

For more information contact AssistiveWare directly or one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or ordiTICE for France.

AssistiveWare is the worldwide leader in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X that gives people back their lives. This includes award-winning KeyStrokes^® and TouchStrokes^® virtual keyboards, SwitchXS^® scanning on-screen keyboard, LayoutKitchen^® panel editor, Proloquo^® multi-purpose speech solution, and VisioVoice^®, the award-winning solution for vision impaired Mac users. The ConvenienceWare product line makes the advanced technologies developed by AssistiveWare available in cool and convenient applications that can make the life of Mac users easier.

Entirely dedicated to developing and deploying natural language interfaces, Acapela Group is the European leader in speech solutions. Acapela Group speech solutions have already been deployed in many services and applications: voice portals, unified messaging services, CRM and contact centers, talking web, interactive games, edutainment software, e-learning tools, public address, assistive tools for the disabled, navigation aid, embedded systems, and much more.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. AssistiveGaming, GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

New web site about gaming for Mac users with disabilities

Amsterdam / Orlando - 31 January 2008 - AssistiveWare® today, at the ATIA tradeshow in Orlando, announced a new web site about gaming on Mac OS X: AssistiveGaming.com. This new site is created by and for Mac users with disabilities and provides information on how people with physical disabilities can enjoy the latest and greatest games on Mac OS X.

The site has three main sections: (1) Feature articles about general gaming topics; (2) Reviews discussing individual games; (3) Short descriptions of games with a special focus on their accessibility.

"I have been designing universal access solutions for Mac OS X since 2002 and one of the most frequently asked question by users is not whether they can do their home work or write the next great novel, but about what games can be played," said David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare's CTO. "With AssistiveGaming.com we have created a platform where users can exchange their gaming experiences and can share tips and tricks."

"I have been gaming with a switch on the Mac since 1995, long before Mac OS X, long before sites like this even existed. I had no guidance, no advice," said Michael Phillips, AssistiveGaming editor and long-time Inside Mac Games contributor. "Part of me totally understands why this site is important, but another part finds it kind of sad. I notice that both assistive technology users and specialists are afraid to try new things, think outside the box, or worse, people never even consider the fact that gaming is possible at all."

The Assistive Gaming team welcomes additional contributors, irrespective of what special access hardware and/or software they use or what games they like to play.

AssistiveWare releases major new versions of flagship products

Amsterdam - 18 January 2008 - AssistiveWare® today announced the release of new versions of its flagship products: KeyStrokes® 4, SwitchXS® 2.5 and LayoutKitchen® 2.

KeyStrokes 4, the latest version of AssistiveWare's award-winning on-screen keyboard with multilingual word prediction, adds LayoutKitchen, which allows users to design their own virtual keyboards. Such virtual keyboards can be used not only for typing, but also to launch applications, speak, run AppleScripts and much more. This makes KeyStrokes more than ever the hub that gives users who cannot use a physical keyboard or who prefer a graphic tablet or touch screen full access to their computer. KeyStrokes 4 also adds Spanish and Russian word prediction dictionaries. KeyStrokes 4.0 runs on Mac OS X 10.3 and later (including Leopard). The suggested retail price for KeyStrokes is 249 Euro excluding VAT (299 USD in North America). Registered KeyStrokes 3 users can use the new version, but to use LayoutKitchen and design their own keyboards an upgrade to a KeyStrokes 4 activation code is required. An upgrade from KeyStrokes 3 to KeyStrokes 4 (including LayoutKitchen) costs 99 euro excluding VAT (129 USD in North America). This upgrade is free for anyone who purchased KeyStrokes 3 in 2007 or 2008. For more info they should contact support@assistiveware.com.

SwitchXS 2.5, which provides universal access to Mac OS X for users who cannot use a physical keyboard and mouse is now Universal Binary, ads full Leopard support, as well as many internal enhancements, and also includes the new LayoutKitchen 2. With SwitchXS 2.5, a user who cannot use a physical keyboard or mouse has full access to Mac OS X with just a single switch. SwitchXS 2.5 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later and is a free update for all registered SwitchXS users. The suggested retail price for SwitchXS is 249 Euro excluding VAT (299 USD in North America).

LayoutKitchen 2 makes designing on-screen keyboards for KeyStrokes and scan panels for SwitchXS much easier and faster with a new drag and drop button browser, SmartSnap and many other productivity enhancing features. The image browser is now searchable and includes over 600 images. LayoutKitchen 2.0 runs on Mac OS X 10.3 and later (including Leopard) and is a free update for all registered SwitchXS and LayoutKitchen users.

KeyStrokes 4.0 and LayoutKitchen 2.0 are the last versions supporting Mac OS X 10.3. Universal binary versions requiring at least Mac OS X 10.4 are currently in beta and will be released as free updates shortly.

For more information and fully-functional downloadable demos consult the product pages for KeyStrokes, SwitchXS and LayoutKitchen

For more information contact AssistiveWare directly or one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or ordiTICE for France.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

AssistiveWare previews new versions at BETT in London

Amsterdam - 7 January 2008 - AssistiveWare® today announced today announced it will preview new versions of its flagship products in London this week in the special needs section of BETT on stand SN47. BETT is the world's largest educational technology event.

Previewed at BETT are final candidates of KeyStrokes 4, on-screen keyboard, SwitchXS 2.5 switch access solution and LayoutKitchen 2, keyboard and scan panel editor. These packages provide complete universal access to Mac OS X for users with physical impairments, allowing users who cannot use a keyboard and/or mouse full access to virtually all Mac OS X applications.

Also previewed at BETT is version 1.2 of the Infovox iVox voices. These provide natural-sounding voices in a language of choice that can be used as the system voice for Mac OS X, used with the Mac OS X accessibility features, as well as with many educational and consumer software packages.

AssistiveWare will further be demoing GhostReader, the easy to use and affordable document and selection reader with high quality voices and iPod export functionality. Together with our partner Kallysta we will show how GhostReader can be used for language learning with a mobile teaching laboratory consisting of a MacBook and 15 iPods.

For more information consult our events page and product pages.

GhostReader special Christmas offer: Free extra voices

Amsterdam - 4 December 2007 - ConvenienceWare™ / AssistiveWare® today announced a special Christmas offer for GhostReader. GhostReader is a multilingual document and selection reader with naturally sounding voices. GhostReader allows users to listen to Word documents, PDFs and web pages on your Mac and convert these to iPod and iPhone-ready audiobooks. Anyone who purchases the monolingual boxed edition (sold in Europe only) or a trilingual license (sold worldwide) between 4 and 26 December 2007 is entitled to voices for one extra language of choice (a 24,95 euro/US$ value). To get an activation code for the free extra language it suffices to register the product activation code online before 1 January 2008 and indicate in the comments field of the online registration form what extra language you want.

GhostReader trilingual license (74.95 Euro/US$ excluding VAT) is available at:

Worldwide: ConvenienceWare
Europe: Application Systems Heidelberg, Application Systems Paris

GhostReader boxed edition (54.95 Euro including VAT) is available at:

Retail Stores: UK Apple Stores, Wyvern Business Systems

Germany, Austria and German speaking Switzerland

Retail Stores Germany: Compustore PC GmbH, M&M Trading, Mac House GmbH, Macconnect, MacFoyer, MACSYSTEMS GmbH, M-Shop Göttingen and many other Apple Resellers

Retail stores Austria: McShark Multimedia AG, Mac office, m-store Grafoprint GmbH and many other Apple Resellers

Online: Arktis, Amazon.de, Application Systems Heidelberg.

France and French-speaking Switzerland

Retail Stores: FNAC, iConcept, BeMac, ordiTICE and other Apple Resellers

Online: FNAC online, Amazon.fr, Application Systems Paris.

Belgium

Retail Stores: Mac Line

GhostReader is a Universal Binary, multilingual speech solution for Mac OS X that allows users to listen to their Word, PDF, RTF and text documents with naturally sounding voices in a language of choice. It also allows users to create their own personal podcasts or audiobooks by exporting to iPhone and iPod-ready iTunes tracks. Or, users can just use GhostReader to speak selected text in a handy reader window with play, fast forward, rewind, skip sentence/paragraph and re-listen to sentence/paragraph functionality. In some applications, such as Safari, GhostReader enables users to listen to text by just pointing the cursor at the text. Sit back and relax while GhostReader reads for you!

Voices are currently available for the following languages: US English, UK English, Czech, Finnish, French, Canadian French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Turkish and Swedish. GhostReader itself is localized in English, French and German. These voices only work with GhostReader. For system-wide voices a bundle is available with Infovox iVox.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

British voices for Mac OS X improve pronunciation

Amsterdam - 30 October 2007 - AssistiveWare and Acapela Group today announced an update to the British Infovox iVox voices for Mac OS X. This update improves the pronunciation of a number of Mac related terms as well as several other words. The voices work great with Leopard.

The Infovox iVox voices, once installed on the computer, appear in the Speech panel of the System Preferences and can be used by any application that has speech functionality, including Preview, TextEdit, Mail, VoiceOver, Microsoft Word (through its Speech toolbar), VisioVoice, Proloquo, GhostReader, Acrobat, AppleScript, Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh (version 3.0.4. and higher), TextHelp Read and Write Gold for Mac (version 2.1 and higher) and many others.

Our UK reseller Microlink PC now offers the British voices at a discount when sold with a new Mac and TextHelp Read and Write Gold for Mac.

Voices are currently available for the following languages: American English, British English, Finnish, French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian and Swedish. All of these voices are Universal Binary and compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher, including Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Infovox iVox voices are sold per language with each language consisting of one or more male and/or female voices. All languages contain the American English Heather voice as a bonus. All languages, except the Scandinavian ones, are available for a suggested retail price of US$ 99 in North America and 99 Euro excluding VAT everywhere else. This is for the first language. Additional language packs are available for a suggested retail price of US$ 49.50 in North America and 49.50 Euro excluding VAT everywhere else. Scandinavian languages are available for a suggested retail price of 219 euro excluding VAT and as an additional language for 109.50 euro excluding VAT. Multi-user and educational classroom and school licenses are also available for Infovox iVox.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

Infovox iVox is distributed worldwide by AssistiveWare. For more information contact AssistiveWare directly or one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or ordiTICE for France.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, VisioVoice and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Mac users with disabilities speak out

Amsterdam - 24 October 2007 - AssistiveWare today announced "Users in Control: A Fresh Perspective on Accessibility". This new audio and PDF podcast series offers an insightful look at how people with disabilities are empowered through Mac OS X, while shattering preconceptions on disability and assistive technology (AT). Here the users of AT are in the driver's seat! Created by Mac users with physical, speech, or vision impairments, it seeks to inform, inspire, and provide a platform for new ideas.

More information on this podcast can be found at: http://atpodcasts.com.

You can listen to the podcast in iTunes.

The audio version of the podcast was created using GhostReader with the Infovox iVox voices.

This new audio and PDF podcast compliments the "Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology" video podcast found at http://www.frontiersofassistivetechnology.com.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, VisioVoice and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Infovox iVox new pricing speaks to more Mac users

Amsterdam - 15 October 2007 - Acapela Group and AssistiveWare today announced that based on the overwhelming response on the Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion, Acapela Group has decided to permanently lower the price of the Infovox iVox voices, which can be used with virtually any speech using application on Mac OS X. Originally introduced as a solution for the low volume accessibility market, it was found that also many educators and consumers wanted to use these naturally sounding voices to listen to documents, create personal podcasts and to help struggling readers. With the new prices the best voices ever on the Mac are now within reach of educators, students, people with disabilities as well as any other Mac user who likes to hear his Macintosh speak.

With the imminent introduction of Mac OS X Leopard, with its enhanced support for third-party add-on speech synthesizers, more people then ever will be able to enjoy the benefits of the natural-sounding Infovox iVox voices as Acapela Group will be able to introduce voices for even more languages. Voices are already available for the following languages: American English, British English, Finnish, French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian and Swedish. All of these voices are Universal Binary and compatible with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher (including Mac OS X 10.5 aka Leopard).

Infovox iVox voices are sold per language with each language consisting of one or more male and/or female voices. All languages contain the American English Heather voice as a bonus. Starting today, all languages except the Scandinavian ones are available for a suggested retail price of US$ 99 in North America and 99 Euro excluding VAT everywhere else. This is for the first language. Additional language packs are available for a suggested retail price of US$ 49.50 in North America and 49.50 Euro excluding VAT everywhere else. Scandinavian languages are available for a suggested retail price of 219 euro excluding VAT and as an additional language for 109.50 euro excluding VAT. Multi-user and educational classroom and school licenses are also available for Infovox iVox.

Infovox iVox is also available bundled with AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare products. For educators, students and anyone else who wants to get the most out of the excellent voices, Infovox iVox is available as a bundle with GhostReader, the selection and document reader with iPod export, for 109 Euro/US$. For Mac users with vision impairments, Infovox iVox is included with VisioVoice for 249 Euro/US$ excluding VAT. For people who cannot speak, Infovox iVox is now included with Proloquo for 249 Euro / 299 US$.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, VisioVoice and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

VisioVoice 1.1 boosts access to Mac OS X for vision impaired Mac users

Amsterdam - 10 October 2007 - AssistiveWare® today announced the release of VisioVoice® 1.1. VisioVoice enhances access to Mac OS X for people with vision impairments through a system-wide talking interface and typing echo, text and image zoom windows, large cursors as well as a document and selection reader. VisioVoice provides naturally sounding voices through the included license of Infovox iVox for one language of choice. VisioVoice can also convert text, Word, PDF, HTML and RTF documents to audio files and iPod and iPhone-ready audiobooks. The new version of VisioVoice will be demoed at the Closing The Gap conference next week.

VisioVoice 1.1 new and improved features:

Now provides a typing echo as the user types into any application.

The text zoom window now updates as the user types.

Talking interface enhanced to work not only with the mouse but also with full keyboard access.

Talking interface and typing echo support was added for Pages and Keynote (iWork '08 and later).

Improved support for reading text in Safari with VisioVoice's talking interface.

Improved PDF import with smart-stripping of end-of-line hyphens.

Japanese localization was added as well as a Japanese translation for the Mac OS X 10.4 version of Apple's VoiceOver screen reader for blind users. Use with DTalker 3.0 Japanese voices.

Enhanced compatibility with VoiceOver: if the included Infovox iVox voices are used with VisioVoice, VoiceOver will no longer cut-off speech generation.

Now Leopard-ready.

Many other improvements and fixes.

While VisioVoice provides as much support as is technically possible for applications that do not support Apple's accessibility API, best results can be expected when using VisioVoice with accessible applications such as TextEdit, Safari, iChat and others.

VisioVoice is a Universal Binary and can be used on PowerPC and Intel Macs running Mac OS X 10.4 or later. VisioVoice is localized in English, French, Dutch and Japanese. VisioVoice includes a license for Infovox iVox for naturally sounding voices in one language of choice. Voices are currently available for the following languages: American English, British English, Finnish, French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian and Swedish.

Pricing for VisioVoice is 249 Euro/USD excluding VAT for non-Scandinavian languages. With Scandinavian voices the price is 389 Euro/USD excluding VAT. Version 1.1 is a free and recommended upgrade for existing users.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

To see how VisioVoice is used in practice by a blind translator watch the short video.

VisioVoice is also used by the writer of ATMac, the most active blog on Assistive Technology for the Mac.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, VisioVoice and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Events at Apple Expo for Mac users with disabilities

24 September 2007 - AssistiveWare, ordiTICE and ceRHTic have partnered with the organization of the Apple Expo to give special attention to Mac users with disabilities during the Apple Expo this week (25 - 29 September, 2007, Paris, France).

On Wednesday, a 3 hours special session on Assistive Technologies for Mac OS X is scheduled in Apple Expo's main conference room from 14:00 to 17:00. For details see: http://www.assistiveware.com/events.php

During the other days, daily presentations on solutions for people with disabilities will take place in the School Performance Area of the Education Solutions Center. For a schedule and to sign up see the ordiTICE site.

Finally, AssistiveWare will demo its assistive technology products for people with disabilities in the ordiTICE booth ED007-008 of the Education Solutions Centre. New versions of its flagship products, VisioVoice, KeyStrokes, SwitchXS, and LayoutKitchen will be shown in advance of their public release later this year.

For further information see: http://www.assistiveware.com/events.php

GhostReader 1.1.1 offers Leopard-ready text-to-speech for Mac OS X with iPhone and iPod export

Amsterdam - 18 September 2007 - ConvenienceWare™ / AssistiveWare® today announced the release of GhostReader™ 1.1.1 text-to-speech software for Mac OS X. GhostReader 1.1.1 is Leopard-ready, now creates true bookmarkable audiobook files from text, offers better PDF import and enhanced performance on large documents. Through a partnership with Application Systems Heidelberg a boxed version of GhostReader will be introduced next week at the Apple Expo in Paris and will be available shortly throughout Europe in Apple Stores and other retail channels.

GhostReader 1.1.1 new and improved features:

Now creates a true, bookmarkable audiobook file when exporting to iTunes 7 AAC format, ready to load onto an iPhone or iPod

Now Leopard-ready

Improved PDF import with smart-stripping of end-of-line hyphens

Improved performance when speaking long texts

Various other improvements and fixes

Pricing for GhostReader starts at 39.95 Euro/US$ excluding VAT for a single-user monolingual version (includes all voices for a language of choice). Multilingual licenses, household licenses, classroom licenses and school licenses are also available. GhostReader is also available as a bundle with Infovox iVox for system-wide high quality voices that can be used with practically all Speech Manager compatible Mac OS X applications. Pricing for this bundle starts at 109 Euro/US$ excluding VAT for a single user license.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

Acapela Group and AssistiveWare introduce new French voice for Mac OS X

Amsterdam - 11 September 2007 - Acapela Group and AssistiveWare today announced the excellent new Alice text-to-speech voice that will be available as part of Infovox iVox's French voice pack. With the new Alice and existing Bruno, Julie and Claire voices the Mac has never sounded so great and so French! Until the end of October the updated French voice pack is available at a 55% introductory discount. Infovox iVox as well as the full range of AssistiveWare products will be demonstrated at the Apple Expo in Paris in the ordiTICE booth at the Apple Education Solutions Center and during a number of presentations. See http://www.assistiveware.com/events.php

The new Alice voice is also used by graphic designer Leigh-Anne Tompkins in the just released amazing new video "We can because we think we can" (the French edition uses Alice, the English edition uses Heather). The new video is available as episode 6 of the "Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology" video podcast series, which can be found in the iTunes store's podcasts section and at http://www.frontiersofassistivetechnology.com

Infovox iVox provides naturally sounding voices that work with virtually any Speech Manager compliant Mac OS X application, including Preview, TextEdit, AssistiveWare VisioVoice, ConvenienceWare GhostReader, and Adobe Acrobat. The voices also work great with the leading educational software, such as Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3.0.4 and 4.0 and TextHelp's Read and Write Gold for Mac version 2.1.0 and later. This means that teachers can now use this best-of-breed software with the industry leading Infovox iVox voices to enhance the learning experience of their students.

Until the end of October, Infovox iVox with the French voices is available for 99 euro/USD excluding tax and includes the high quality French voices Alice, Claire, Julie and Bruno as well as the high quality Heather US English voice as a bonus (this constitutes a 55% discount on the regular price and a 34% discount on the "Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion" prices). The French Infovox iVox is also available as a discounted bundle with GhostReader for 109 euro/USD. The recently updated British English voices are also still available for these prices. For prices for other languages as well as for school and classroom licenses, see the AssistiveWare web site. The updated French voice pack is a free update for existing users.

Infovox iVox is Universal Binary and can be used on PowerPC and Intel Macs and requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher. The product include all voices available for a language of choice. Available languages include: American English, British English, French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page of Infovox iVox

For more information contact AssistiveWare directly or one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or ordiTICE for France.

Acapela Group and AssistiveWare introduce new British voice for Mac OS X

Amsterdam - 23 August 2007 - Acapela Group and AssistiveWare today announced the brilliant new Peter text-to-speech voice that will be available as part of Infovox iVox's British voice pack. The already available naturally sounding Graham and Lucy voices have been significantly improved as well. With these voices the Mac has never sounded so great and so British! Until the end of October the updated British voice pack is available at a 55% introductory discount.

Until the end of October, Infovox iVox with British voices is available for 99 euro/USD excluding tax and includes the high quality British voices Peter, Lucy and Graham as well as the high quality Heather US English voice as a bonus (this constitutes a 55% discount on the regular price and a 34% discount on the "Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion" prices). The British Infovox iVox is also available as a discounted bundle with GhostReader for 109 euro/USD. For prices for other languages as well as for school and classroom licenses, see the AssistiveWare web site. The updated British voice pack is a free update for existing users.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page of Infovox iVox

For more information contact AssistiveWare directly or one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or ordiTICE for France.

Introducing GhostReader™ Text-to-Speech for Mac OS X

Amsterdam - 5 July 2007 - AssistiveWare^® and ConvenienceWare™ today announced the release of GhostReader™ text-to-speech software for Mac OS X. GhostReader 1.1 replaces TextParrot 1.0 and introduces a number of new features with an enhanced user interface. Just as ghostwriters write for other people, GhostReader can read for you!

GhostReader is a Universal Binary, multilingual speech solution for Mac OS X that allows users to listen to their documents with naturally sounding voices in a language of choice. It also allows users to create their own personal podcasts or audio books by exporting to iPod-ready iTunes tracks. Or, users can just use it to speak selected text in a handy reader window with play, fast forward and rewind functionality. In some applications, such as Safari, GhostReader enables users to listen to text by just pointing the cursor at the text. Now users can sit back and relax while GhostReader reads the text under the cursor.

Version 1.1 offers the following new features:

New languages with high quality female voices: American Spanish (Rosa) and Canadian French (Louise)

New languages with medium quality voices: Turkish, Icelandic and Czech

New high quality voices for Dutch (Max) and British English (Peter)

Adds a German localization (English and French were already available)

Enhanced listening experience with buttons to re-listen the current paragraph or sentence or to skip to the next one

For school use preferences can now be locked and the content of the reader window can be exported to an RTF document

Many other interface and usability enhancements

Expanded Help facility

GhostReader is a free and recommended update for registered TextParrot users (users can simply enter their TextParrot activation codes).

Suggested retail pricing for GhostReader, available for download and excluding VAT , is as follows:

Monolingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 39.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 79.90

Bilingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 59.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 119.90

Trilingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 74.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 149.90

GhostReader educational licenses start at US$/euro 599 for a classroom (up to 50 computers) and US$/euro 999 for a school (up to 150 computers).

GhostReader is also available as a bundle with Infvox iVox. Infovox iVox provides naturally sounding voices in multiple languages for use with almost any Mac OS X application that uses speech. The GhostReader and Infovox iVox bundle pricing starts at US$/euro 109.

GhostReader can be purchased online.

A packaged, CD version of GhostReader will be available later this summer in European Apple Stores and at other European Mac stores at a slightly higher price.

GhostReader requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page

She is 10 years old and her computer means life to her: a short video.

Amsterdam - 29 May 2007 - AssistiveWare^® today announced the release of "Me and My Computer", a new HD video and video podcast, featuring Elina, who was born with athetoid cerebral palsy. About a year ago, when Elina was 9 years old, she got a computer and in this 4 minute video she demonstrates how it has revolutionized her life. The computer has given her independence as she can now draw and write by herself. She accesses her Apple iBook with an adapted joystick and uses AssistiveWare's KeyStrokes^® on-screen keyboard with word prediction for writing. She is also experimenting with Proloquo^® and the Infovox iVox voices for speech feedback while she types. At home and at school her computer means life to her! Elina lives in California, United States of America.

This new video is available as episode 5 of the "Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology" podcast series, which can be found in the iTunes store's podcasts section and at http://www.frontiersofassistivetechnology.com

The direct link to the new video is: http://www.frontiersofassistivetechnology.com/?video=Elina

Origin Instruments is the North American distributor of AssistiveWare's assistive technology products and maker of the well-known HeadMouse^® and Swifty™ computer access equipment.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. TextParrot, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Extreme gaming on the Mac: new short video shows the impossible

Amsterdam - 22 May 2007 - AssistiveWare^® today announced the release of "One Thumb to Rule Them All", a new HD video and video podcast, featuring Michael Phillips, gamer and freelance technology writer. Mike was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and can only move his thumb. That has not stopped him from playing World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament 2004, from becoming one of the key writers for Inside Mac Games, from contributing chapters to books such as Peachpit's Macintosh Bible and from being a presenter at major conferences. All of this would not have been possible if it was not for his Mac, a proximity switch, Origin Instrument's Swifty™ switch interface and AssistiveWare's SwitchXS^® software.

In the 3.5 minute video, Michael Phillips shows computer access and gaming at the extreme. With one thumb he rules them all! Mike Phillips lives in Tampa, Florida, United States of America.

This new video is available as episode 4 of the "Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology" podcast series, which can be found in the iTunes store's podcasts section and at http://www.assistiveware.com/podcasts.php

Origin Instruments is the North American distributor of AssistiveWare's assistive technology products and maker of the well-known HeadMouse^® and Swifty™ computer access equipment.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. TextParrot, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

AssistiveWare and Acapela Group introduce new educational offers for Mac OS X speech software

Amsterdam - 8 May 2007 - AssistiveWare^® and Acapela Group today announced a number of new educational offers for their Mac OS X speech solutions.

Infovox iVox, the naturally sounding voices that work with any Speech Manager compliant Mac OS X application, and TextParrot the powerful and affordable document and selection reader have made a profound impact in the classroom since their release last year. To give even more teachers and students at all levels of education access to the software attractively priced classroom, lab and school licenses are available starting today.

Additionally, AssistiveWare and Acapela Group have worked closely with the leaders in educational software, Kurzweil Educational Systems in the US and TextHelp Systems in the UK to ensure that their upcoming versions are fully compatible with Infovox iVox. Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3.0.4 and 4.0 are fully Infovox iVox compatible and TextHelp's Read and Write Gold for Mac version 2.1.0, due for release in late June, is also fully compatible with Infovox iVox. This means that teachers can now use this best-of-breed software with the industry leading Infovox iVox voices to enhance the learning experience of their students.

Suggested retail pricing for classroom and school licenses (in US$/Euro excluding VAT):

	monolingual	bilingual	trilingual
TextParrot Classroom/lab license (max 50 seats)	599	899	1125
TextParrot School license (max 150 seats)	999	1499	1875

	First language	Additional language
Infovox iVox Classroom/lab license (max 50 seats)	1649	824.50
Infovox iVox School license (max 150 seats)	2199	1099.50

Educational licenses for TextParrot and Infovox iVox are for internal educational use. For school licenses they permit use by all students and teachers in the school with installation on up to 150 computers. For classroom licenses they permit use in one specific classroom or computer lab with installation on up to 50 computers. Educational licenses do not allow publication of audio files outside the classroom or school (not even for free or for online courses). Schools interested in producing audio files for publishing should contact Acapela Group directly to purchase appropriate licenses. For installation on more than the maximum number of allowed computers, multiple classroom or school licenses need to be purchased. In the case of colleges or universities a department, chair, or building is considered equivalent to a school.

Both products are Universal Binary and can be used on PowerPC and Intel Macs. The products include all voices available for a language of choice. Available languages include: US English, UK English, French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish.

Individual teachers and students can make use of our "Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion", with discounts of 25 to 34% on individual Infovox iVox licenses and bundles with TextParrot until 31 October 2007. Suggested retail pricing for individual licenses during the "Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion" period excluding VAT:

Product/Languages	US English	Non-Scandinavian	Scandinavian
Infovox iVox	99 US$/Euro (-34%)	149 US$/Euro (-32%)	269 US$/Euro (-25%)
Infovox iVox + TextParrot	109 US$/Euro (-31%)	159 US$/Euro (-31%)	279 US$/Euro (-25%)

Additional languages are half the price of Infovox iVox for that language.

For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product pages of Infvox iVox and TextParrot.

For more information contact AssistiveWare directly or one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or ordiTICE for France.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. TextParrot, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion: Up to 34% off Infovox iVox

Amsterdam - 2 May 2007 - AssistiveWare^® today announced that together with the Acapela Group it introduces the "Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion" that will run until 31 October 2007 and will involve special pricing with discounts of 25 to 34%.

With the "Give Your Mac a Voice Promotion" AssistiveWare and Acapela Group would like to give more people a chance to enjoy the naturally sounding Infovox iVox voices on their Mac in their language(s) of choice.

Infovox iVox, a product from Acapela Group created in collaboration with AssistiveWare allows the naturally sounding, high quality voices of the Acapela Group to be used by any Speech Manager compliant application on Mac OS X, including applications such as TextEdit, Preview, Acrobat Reader, Proloquo, TextParrot and AppleWorks, as well as many educational titles. Infovox iVox, which is distributed worldwide by AssistiveWare, can also be used with Tiger's built-in VoiceOver screen reader, and Dutch and French users now have the possibility to hear all the VoiceOver menus and messages in their own language by using Infovox iVox together with AssistiveWare's VisioVoice.

Infovox iVox is a Universal Binary and can be used on PowerPC and Intel Macs. The products include all voices available for a language of choice. Available languages include: US English, UK English, French, Canadian French, German, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, American Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish. All non-American English languages include one American English female voice as a bonus.

Suggested retail pricing during the promotion period excluding VAT:

Product/Languages	US English	Non-Scandinavian	Scandinavian
Infovox iVox	99 US$/Euro (-34%)	149 US$/Euro (-32%)	269 US$/Euro (-25%)
Infovox iVox + TextParrot	109 US$/Euro (-31%)	159 US$/Euro (-31%)	279 US$/Euro (-25%)

TextParrot is a document and selection reader and audio file generator.

Additional languages are half the price of Infovox iVox for that language. Volume licenses are also available.

Infovox iVox requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

AssistiveWare previews new software at CSUN

Amsterdam - 12 March 2007 - AssistiveWare^® today announced that new versions of KeyStrokes^®, SwitchXS^®, LayoutKitchen^® and VisioVoice^® will be previewed at the CSUN International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, March 19-24 in Los Angeles, USA.

The California State University Northridge (CSUN) International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference is the largest conference on assistive technology in North America with visitors from all over the world. AssistiveWare and it's North American distributor, Origin Instruments Corporation, will use this occasion to preview major new versions of AssistiveWare's software for Mac OS X:

A new version of KeyStrokes on-screen keyboard, now with fully editable keyboards.

A new version of SwitchXS switch access solution, now Universal Binary.

A new version of LayoutKitchen panel editor, now with many new effort-saving features and a full set of colorful symbols to design communication panels, keyboards and scan panels.

A new version of VisioVoice for blind and vision impaired users, now with enhanced VoiceOver compatibility and speech feedback while typing in any application.

The software will be previewed at CSUN in the Origin Instruments booth. Additionally, David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare's CTO will, together with well-known Assistive Technology trainer Scott Marfilius, hold a full day pre-conference session on creating multimedia on the Mac without mouse and keyboard. For more info on this and other sessions see http://www.assistiveware.com/events.php

At CSUN, a new issue of the AssistiveWare Newsletter, a newsletter written by Mac users who cannot use a mouse and/or keyboard and that explores the frontiers of assistive technology, will be available at the Origin Instruments booth in the Hilton. Starting today, the new issue is available online.

Infovox iVox 1.1 improves speech and adds new languages

Amsterdam - 21 February 2007 - Acapela Group and AssistiveWare today announced the release of Infovox iVox 1.1.

Infovox iVox is a Universal Binary and can be used on PowerPC and Intel Macs. The products include all voices available for a language of choice. Version 1.1 adds American Spanish and Canadian French. The following languages were already available: US English, UK English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, and Swedish. All non-American English languages include one American English female voice as a bonus.

Version 1.1 contains the following enhancements:

New languages: American Spanish and Canadian French

New high quality Dutch male voice: Max

Added support for less commonly used Speech Manager functions

Improved handling of complex sentences for French

Improved handling of compound words for Swedish

A number of other fixes and enhancements

Infovox iVox is also available as part of three value bundles with AssistiveWare software:

Bundled with TextParrot, a document and selection reader and audio file generator
Bundled with VisioVoice, a solution providing people with vision impairments enhanced access
Bundled with Proloquo, a speech feedback and communication solution

Suggested retail pricing excluding VAT:

Product/Languages	US English	Non-Scandinavian	Scandinavian
Infovox iVox	149 US$/Euro	219 US$/Euro	359 US$/Euro
Infovox iVox + TextParrot	159 US$/Euro	229 US$/Euro	369 US$/Euro
Infovox iVox + VisioVoice	249 US$/Euro	249 US$/Euro	389 US$/Euro
Infovox iVox + Proloquo	299 US$/Euro	299 US$/Euro	399 US$/Euro

Additional languages are half the price of Infovox iVox for that language. Volume licenses are also available.

Infovox iVox, VisioVoice, and Proloquo will be demonstrated at the CSUN conference in Los Angeles (19 - 24 March) in the Origin Instruments Booth (Hilton, booths 122/125) and during a number of sessions. For more information see http://www.assistiveware.com/events.php.

Infovox iVox requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

New Mac technologies make a difference for blind translator (video)

Amsterdam - 12 February 2007 - AssistiveWare today announced the release of "It has made the world of difference", a new video and video podcast, featuring Anne Robertson, a blind translator.

Anne Robertson became blind as a small child. She is now a professional French to English translator. In this short video, she shows how she uses VoiceOver, the latest Mac OS X screen reader from Apple, in combination with naturally sounding French and British English text-to-speech voices of Acapela Group's Infovox iVox to do her work. She explains how, thanks to AssistiveWare's VisioVoice, which includes a French translation of VoiceOver, she has been able to speed up her translation work as she can now listen to text in one language while she is typing in another language. Anne Robertson lives in Orry la Ville, France.

This new video is part of the "Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology" podcast series, which can be found in the iTunes store's podcasts section and at http://www.assistiveware.com/podcasts.php

New version of TextParrot, new value bundles and educational licenses

Amsterdam - 30 January 2007 - AssistiveWare/ConvenienceWare today announced the release of TextParrot^® 1.0.1 for Mac OS X as well as a number of new value bundles and new educational licenses.

TextParrot is a Universal Binary, multilingual speech solution for Mac OS X that allows users to listen to their documents with naturally sounding voices in a language of choice. It also allows users to create their own personal podcasts or audio books by exporting to iPod-ready iTunes tracks. Or, users can just use it to speak selected text in a handy reader window with play, fast forward and rewind functionality. It even allows users to listen to text by just pointing the cursor at the text and sit back and relax while TextParrot reads the text under the cursor.

Starting today, TextParrot is now available with naturally sounding voices of up to three different languages. Voices are currently available for the following languages: US English, UK English, French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, and Swedish. TextParrot itself is localized in English and French, other localizations are in preparation.

Version 1.0.1 contains the following enhancements:

Now also available in a trilingual version

Now also available as a bundle with Infovox iVox for even better voices (less compression) that can be used in any application. The standard TextParrot voices can only be used with TextParrot.

Now also available with special educational licenses

Some fixes in the voices that affected a small number of users

Removed an annoying trial reminder

Suggested retail pricing excluding VAT (for download only):

Monolingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 39.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 79.90

Bilingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 59.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 119.90

Trilingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 74.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 149.90

A CD version is expected later at a slightly higher price.

Suggested retail pricing for classroom and school licenses (in US$/Euro excluding VAT):

	monolingual	bilingual	trilingual
Classroom license for primary and secondary schools	599	899	1125

* The School and Classroom licenses permit educational use in the school (all children and teachers in the school) or classroom (use in one specific classroom or computer lab), but do not allow publication of audio files outside the classroom or school (not even for free).

Suggested retail pricing for the Infovox iVox and TextParrot bundle excluding VAT:

US English	Scandinavian	Other European
159 US$/Euro	369 US$/Euro	229 US$/Euro

Infovox iVox requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, TextParrot requires 10.4 or later. For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product pages: TextParrot and Infovox iVox.

AssistiveWare introduces new product family for Mac OS X

Amsterdam - 12 December 2006 - AssistiveWare, the world leader in accessibility solutions for Mac OS X, today announced "ConvenienceWare", a new family of innovative and affordable products. The new product family makes the advanced technologies developed by AssistiveWare available in cool and convenient applications that can make the life of Mac users easier.

The first product, released today, is TextParrot^® 1.0. TextParrot is a Universal Binary, multilingual speech solution for Mac OS X that allows users to listen to their documents with naturally sounding voices in a language of choice. It also allows users to create their own personal podcasts or audio books by exporting to iPod-ready iTunes tracks. Or, users can just use it to speak selected text in a handy reader window with play, fast forward and rewind functionality. It even allows users to listen to text by just pointing the cursor at the text and sit back and relax while TextParrot reads the text under the cursor.

TextParrot was developed in collaboration with the Acapela Group and includes their naturally sounding, high quality voices in one or two languages of choice. Voices are currently available for the following languages: US English, UK English, French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, and Swedish. Other languages will be made available in the coming months. Note that these special ConvenienceWare voices will not work in other applications.

Suggested retail pricing excluding VAT (for download only):

Monolingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 39.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 79.90

Bilingual licenses:

Single User	US$/Euro 59.95
Household (up to 3 Macs)	US$/Euro 119.90

Initially the software will be available for download only. A CD version is expected later at a slightly higher price.

TextParrot is a universal binary and requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. TextParrot is localized in English and French and other localizations are expected in January. For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page.

Teachers visiting the AssistiveWare booth (SN17) at BETT 2007 in January can get a 10% discount.

AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. TextParrot, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Mac users with disabilities share experiences through podcasts, videos, and articles

Amsterdam - 28 November 2006 - AssistiveWare^® today announced the release of a new video podcast series, new videos, and a new edition of the AssistiveWare Newsletter. In these podcasts, videos and articles, Mac users with disabilities share their experiences on the Mac and explain how the Mac makes a real difference for them.

New video podcast series (also available in the iTunes Store):
Title: Exploring the Frontiers of Assistive Technology

Description: A video podcast series showing how people use assistive technology to communicate, express their creativity, play games and make so much more out of life. These podcasts show that there is no reason why people with physical, vision, speech or language impairments cannot use the same creative and educational software as every other Mac OS X user.

The first two episodes are now online: "A pivotal role in the household" and "Everything I can't do in the real world I can do with my Mac".

New videos show:

How Joe Barnick is able to do everything with his Mac that he cannot do in the real world

How Ian Wolstenholme uses a MacBook Pro, Parallels Desktop, and SwitchXS to access Windows XP, while using nothing more than a sip and puff switch to access his computer.

How Mike Phillips with just a single switch and SwitchXS plays Age Of Empires 3 to review it for Inside Mac Games.

A new issue of the AssistiveWare Newsletter, which is written, edited and designed by Mac OS X users who cannot use a keyboard and/or mouse:

In this issue, Graphic designer Leigh-Anne Tompkins discusses her fascinating work and extraordinary way of accessing her Mac. Dutch photographer and graphic designer, Giesbert Nijhuis, ponders technical and philosophical questions. Awesome Aussie Ricky Buchanan delivers an inspiring message that people of all abilities can learn from. The man with the golden thumb, Mike Phillips, serves up a switch user's guide to the Mac's #1 online role playing game: World of Warcraft. David Reuss reflects on his son's progress and shows that parents of disabled children are often their greatest advocates. Finally, Walter Pfrommer offers invaluable information on using a head tracking device outdoors.

AssistiveWare is a trade name and registered trademark of Niemeijer Consult. VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Niemeijer Consult. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

AssistiveWare to introduce Mac OS X accessibility solutions to the UK

Amsterdam - 15 November 2006 - AssistiveWare^® today announced that it will for the first time participate in the special needs section of the BETT educational technology show in the UK (10-13 January 2007, London). AssistiveWare is the world leader in access software for Mac OS X and will now introduce its innovative solutions to the educational market in the United Kingdom.

AssistiveWare specializes in software that provides full access to Mac OS X for students with physical, speech, languages and vision impairments. With the AssistiveWare software a student with a disability can fully participate in school activities, whether it involves creating a video in iMovie or using the standard educational software all the other kids use. Everything is possible.

The AssistiveWare products include the award-winning KeyStrokes^® virtual keyboard with word prediction and dwelling, SwitchXS^® scanning on-screen keyboard for switch users, LayoutKitchen^® communication and keyboard panel editor, Proloquo^® multi-purpose communication and speech solution, and VisioVoice^®, the award-winning solution for vision impaired Mac users. AssistiveWare is also the worldwide distributor of Infovox iVox, which it co-developed with Acapela Group. Infovox iVox provides naturally sounding voices in many different languages that can be used by any educational program that uses speech output.

Students in all age groups benefit from the AssistiveWare software. Unlike more traditional educational assistive technology software, which offers students a closed environment to carry out a specific tasks (such as reading, writing, communication, etc.) the AssistiveWare software opens up the whole computer. This allows students with disabilities not only to use exactly the same educational software other students use, but also allows them to expand their horizon by using the creative iLife suite included with every Mac. This enhances motivation and has been shown to lead to more productive and inspired students.

BETT will be a unique opportunity for British educators to meet David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare's lead developer and discuss their needs. Visitors of the joint AssistiveWare and Acapela Group booth (SN17) can also get a special 10% promotional discount coupon for some of the AssistiveWare products. Our products will also be shown in booth K5 of our UK reseller Microlink PC (UK), where the same discounts will apply.

VisioVoice 1.0.1 improves access to Mac OS X for vision impaired users

Amsterdam - 3 October 2006 - AssistiveWare today announced the release of VisioVoice^® 1.0.1. VisioVoice is an award-winning product for blind and vision impaired Mac users providing a number of speech and vision related features to enhance access to Mac OS X. These include: (1) the conversion of Text, Word, HTML, PDF and RTF files to audio files or iPod-ready iTunes tracks; (2) a document and selection reader with fast forward and rewind functions; (3) Large cross-hair and target cursors; (4) Text and Image zoom windows; (5) Spoken interface elements as the user navigates across the screen; (6) Multilingual support to Apple's excellent VoiceOver technology (initially French and Dutch).

Version 1.0.1 contains the following enhancements:

The Document Reader now also works with encrypted PDFs

The Text Zoom and Talking Interface are now more responsive and more accurate

The Selection Reader now works more reliably with text selected in Safari

Voice volume and speech rate settings now work correctly [fix]

Highlighting of spoken words now also works correctly for accented characters [fix]

Several other fixes and improvements

VisioVoice is bundled with Infovox iVox, which allows the naturally sounding, high quality voices of the Acapela Group to be used by any Speech Manager compliant application on Mac OS X, including Tiger's built-in VoiceOver screen reader. Infovox iVox includes all voices available for a language of choice. The following languages are available: US English, UK English, French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, and Swedish.

Introductory suggested retail pricing (25% discount) until 31 December 2006 excluding VAT:

Languages	Bundle of VisioVoice + Infovox iVox
All languages (except Scandinavian)	185 US$/Euro
Scandinavian languages	289 US$/Euro

Additional languages are half the price of Infovox iVox for that language. Volume licenses are also available.

VisioVoice is a universal binary and requires 10.4 or later. For more information, a fully-functional downloadable demo and to listen to samples of the voices please consult the product page for VisioVoice.

VisioVoice gives Mac OS X new voices and low vision support

Amsterdam - 6 September 2006 - AssistiveWare today announced that together with Acapela Group it introduced two new products for Mac OS X: VisioVoice and Infovox iVox. There are also some very attractive introductory offers.

VisioVoice^® is a product for blind and vision impaired Mac users providing a number of speech and vision related features to enhance access to Mac OS X. These include: (1) the conversion of Text, Word, HTML, PDF and RTF files to audio files or iPod-ready iTunes tracks; (2) a document and selection reader with fast forward and rewind functions; (3) Large cross-hair and target cursors; (4) Text and Image zoom windows; (5) Spoken interface elements as the user navigates across the screen; (6) Multilingual support to Apple's excellent VoiceOver technology (initially French and Dutch).

VisioVoice is bundled with Infovox iVox, a new product from Acapela Group created in collaboration with AssistiveWare. InfoVox iVox allows the naturally sounding, high quality voices of the Acapela Group to be used by any Speech Manager compliant application on Mac OS X, including applications such as TextEdit, Preview, Acrobat Reader, Proloquo and AppleWorks, as well as many educational titles. Infovox iVox, which is distributed worldwide by AssistiveWare, can also be used with Tiger's built-in VoiceOver screen reader, and Dutch and French users now have the possibility to hear all the VoiceOver menus and messages in their own language by using Infovox iVox together with VisioVoice.

"We are extremely pleased with these new products," said David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare's CTO. "Thanks to our collaboration with the Acapela Group, Mac OS X users around the world get access to the best voices ever on the Mac."

Both products are Universal Binaries and can be used on PowerPC and Intel Macs. The products include all voices available for a language of choice. Initially, the following languages will be available: US English, UK English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. For most languages male and female voices are available (certain languages include multiple male and/or female voices). US English even includes two child voices. All non-American English languages include one American English female voice as a bonus.

"Acapela Group is very proud to be the partner of an innovative and renown player such as AssistiveWare. Both companies have teamed up on projects for several years and the ensuing solutions - such as Proloquo - have been successfully validated by the market." said Antoine Kauffeisen, VP Marketing Director of Acapela.

Introductory suggested retail pricing (25% discount) excluding VAT:

Languages	Infovox iVox	Bundle of Infovox iVox + VisioVoice
US English	149 US$/Euro	185 US$/Euro
Scandinavian languages	269 US$/Euro	289 US$/Euro
Other European languages	165 US$/Euro	185 US$/Euro

After 31 December 2006:

Languages	Infovox iVox	Bundle of Infovox iVox + VisioVoice
US English	199 US$/Euro	249 US$/Euro
Scandinavian languages	359 US$/Euro	389 US$/Euro
Other European languages	219 US$/Euro	249 US$/Euro

Additional languages are half the price of Infovox iVox for that language. Volume licenses are also available.

Additional introductory offer: