Find Your Way . . . Indoors
Sendero, the developers of the global positioning satellite system for the BrailleNote personal organizer, are hard at work on a version of the device that can be used indoors. Said Sendero founder Mike May in a New York Times interview on the need for indoor GPS technology, "As pumped-up as I am about outdoor navigation, what happens when I get to the mall?" Sendero has been leading a consortium of U.S. researchers as part of a $2.25 million, five-year project funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to test various devices and methods for navigation by people who are blind or visually impaired. Sendero is also working on the finishing touches of an updated outdoor version of BrailleNote GPS, which is expected to include improved points of interest, address searching, and a virtual exploration mode. No dates have been set for the releases of these new products. For more information, contact: Sendero Group, 1118 Maple Lane, Davis, CA 95616; phone: 530-757-6800; e-mail: <GPS@SenderoGroup.com>; web site: <http://www.senderogroup.com>.
Training Guide for BrailleNote GPS
The recently published Teaching and Learning the BrailleNote GPS: A Training Guide is intended to provide help and support to BrailleNote GPS users, orientation and mobility instructors, and rehabilitation teachers. The training guide includes instruction on how to perform the following functions with the device: announce the name of the current street and closest intersection, create and follow vehicle and pedestrian routes, find nearby areas of interest, and explore the neighborhood. Each lesson in the training guide offers objectives; step-by-step lesson plans; lists of vocabulary words and keystrokes; and exercises, quizzes, and report cards to document one's own or a student's progress. Developed by Sendero and De Witt and Associates, the training guide is offered in print, braille, and on cassette at a cost of $99 for individuals. A professional version of the training guide is designed for organizations or trainers and includes master copies of student handouts and tests in audio CD, BRF, and MS Word formats. The professional version costs $299. For more information, contact: De Witt and Associates; phone: 877-447-6500 or 201-447-6500; e-mail: <info@4dewitt.com>; web site: <http://www.4dewitt.com/index.html>.
Apple Unveils Spoken Interface for OS X
Apple recently unveiled a spoken interface for the Mac OS X, its latest operating system. Spoken Interface provides a combination of speech, audible cues, and keyboard navigation. Using the interface, you can manage access to the Dock, menu items, tool bars, palettes, and other on-screen objects; pressing buttons; activating sliders and check boxes; selecting radio buttons; and using all the other interface elements of Mac OS X and its applications. Spoken Interface is currently available a preview version, which features applications that have been enhanced for Spoken Interface accessibility, including Safari, Mail, TextEdit, and system preferences. You can gain access to the preview release by filling out a form on the Spoken Interface web site, <http://www.apple.com/accessibility/spokeninterface>.
Good News for College Students
Marking the largest contribution of academic materials to Bookshare.org--the online community that enables people in the United States with visual or other print disabilities to share scanned books--Indiana University recently agreed to contribute all of the 1,800 titles that have been scanned in its textbook access facility to date. Three examples of Indiana University's donated texts are: A Cinema of Loneliness: Penn, Stone, Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg, Altman (third edition), by Robert Kolker; Knowing People: The Personal Use of Social Psychology, by Michael J. Lovaglia; and Why Nations Go to War, by John G. Stoessinger. For more information, contact: The Benetech Initiative, 480 California Avenue, Suite 201, Palo Alto, CA 94306; web site: <http://www.bookshare.org>.
Call for Papers
In May 2004, the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) issued its call for papers for its technology conference, RNIB Techshare 2004, which will take place November 18–19 in Birmingham, England. The conference will focus on the role technology plays in learning, work, and life for people with visual impairments. The submission deadline is August 2, 2004. For more information, contact: Sally Cain, web technologies officer and project manager, Techshare, Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) Technology in Learning and Employment, 58-72 John Bright Street, Birmingham, B1 1BN, England; phone: +44-121-665-4226; e-mail: <sally.cain@rnib.org.uk>; web site: <http://www.rnib.org.uk/techshare>.
Live Look-Ups with Librarian Service
InfoEyes is a pilot virtual reference and information service that links people who are visually impaired with librarians who will look up absolutely anything for you in a live online chat or offer answers to questions by e-mail. InfoEyes librarians also provide assisted Internet browsing, in which the web pages the librarians visit during your information quest appear on your computer screen. The InfoEyes pilot program runs March to August 2004 and can be accessed at <http://www.infoeyes.org>. Coordinated by the Illinois State Library and the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service, the pilot program is intended to evaluate QuestionPoint, a collaborative virtual reference service developed by the Library of Congress and the Online Computer Library Center, which allows librarians to track and manage questions from patrons through a network shared by reference librarians around the world. The InfoEyes live chat is available during the following days and times (all times are listed in Central time): Monday and Tuesday, 10 am–6 pm; Wednesday, 8 am–8 pm; Thursday and Friday, 8 am–6 pm; and Saturday, 8 am–11 am; other times, by appointment. For more information, e-mail: Sharon Ruda, <sruda@ilsos.net>; Diana Brawley Sussman, <dbrawley@shawls.lib.il.us>; Tom Peters, <tapinformation@yahoo.com>; or Lori Bell, <lbell@alliancelibrarysystem.com>.
One Mail-Order Business Acquires Another
Independent Living Aids, a mail-order business specializing in products for people who are blind or visually impaired for the past 26 years, acquired Ann Morris Enterprises on February 1, 2004. Ann Morris has been in the mail-order business for 18 years and also serves the visually impaired population. To start shopping, contact: Independent Living Aids, 200 Robbins Lane, Jericho, NY 11753; phone: 800-537-2118 or 516-937-1848; e-mail: <can-do@independentliving.com>; web site: <http://www.independentliving.com>.
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