tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11437233800590900272024-02-08T05:55:02.241-08:00Serotek BlogOur mission is to develop innovative, affordable and easy to use products that best meet the needs of individuals while using Universal Design principles. Stay tuned to this blog to stay up to date with everything that is happening at Serotek.Serotek Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14408069483106950726noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-47364359430283105972012-02-16T10:51:00.002-08:002012-02-16T10:54:49.555-08:00Egypt RevisitedAs a lot of you know, last night I had a strong reaction to Apple and its decision to reject Serotek's <a href="http://www.accessibleevent.com/">Accessible Event</a> app. The exact number of apps that do not make it to Apple's App Store is not documented but is estimated to range in the thousands. When our app fell into that category for a third consecutive time, I admit my reaction was a little hasty.<br /><br />I understand Apple only wants the best apps to maintain a superior user experience. I applaud Apple for allowing that user experience to be so inclusive of the world's blind population. To that end, I submit my sincere apologies to Apple and to the blind and visually impaired community for having taken my frustrations as a developer to Twitter. If I may, I would like to provide an explanation for my reaction.<br /><br />My sentiments are not unique among Apple's developer community. Hundreds of blog posts and Twitter feeds point to Apple's obscure approval system. There is no appeal process for rejected apps that meet the company's hardware and software specifications. Though sideloading has provided alternative access to OSX, Apple's sandboxing policy set to start on March 1 raises speculation about whether the company will simply eliminate what it deems inappropriate. Even apps that make the cut face an impending reality of not being able to interact with other apps. Some believe this is necessary to uphold a secure environment. Many others wonder if security is being used to minimize productivity.<br /><br />Speaking from the position of a developer, I am worried about the direction Apple is taking. I am not alone in my feeling that what we are facing is really Apple's sandbox, and developers just happened to be allowed to play in it with an eye to the big bully who might one day decide he no longer wants some of the kids there. Yes, there are rotten apples that try to take advantage of the system and make things bad for everyone, but we should not dilute the very freedom that made Apple products cool to start.<br /><br />On a more personal level, I have had time to reflect on the situation since my public blitz. There is no justification for my reaction, and yet I've been wondering about the origins of my feelings. Could it be that I am lashing out against the same oppressive environment imposed by the adaptive technology industry I have been opposing for the past ten years? The traditional players in the industry, after all, have grown comfortable telling blind people what they can or cannot access, and Apple has taken steps that open those old scars, not because they rejected a single app but because their system is being restructured in a way that is more limiting than it is liberating. But now it’s not just the blind community it’s the World. I have worked hard to encourage people to be more than just a company's list of features. I do not want us to wander down a path that excites us about everything that we might be able to do, only to hit a brick wall and discover that freedom is what a company decides it should be.<br /><br />As you know, Serotek is no stranger to the Apple App Store. In January iBlink Radio was inducted into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame. The app provides access to radio stations, podcasts, and reading services and has gained distinguished prominence among a global audience.<br /><br />On behalf of Serotek, I apologize for the delay of another in a series of apps that will help blind people be productive in school and in the workplace. It is our desire to continue working in an open environment that empowers people to pursue personal and professional ambitions. We will be publishing instructions on how to sideload the Accessible Event app to work on your Mac.<br /><br />Until then, stay vigilant. Innovation is about moving out of what previously restrained us.Mike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-22542255128576764542012-02-16T08:23:00.001-08:002012-02-16T08:26:58.160-08:00Our Story at TenBy the Serotek Team<br /><br />The vision was born out of a desire to make blind people<br />more than just an afterthought. The heart that gave birth to the passion was<br />one never known to cringe from an impending challenge, and the voices that have<br />rallied around the call to action are united in their commitment to see this<br />dream continue to become reality. It is Serotek. We are its team, and at ten<br />years old, this is our story.<br /><br />Ringing Liberty<br />If Serotek's history were synonymous to the American Revolution,<br />the company's first shot heard 'round the world would be the release of the<br />Radio Webcaster in 1998. It was a tool that allowed people to control their<br />computers using radio frequencies to tap into this thing called the Internet<br />and hear responses through an FM radio. The product was introduced during an<br />age when America Online was leading the stampede to the new virtual frontiers<br />of the Internet, but as usual, it became someone else's job to try to pave a<br />ramp onto the information super highway for the world's blind population.<br /><br />At the time there was no Serotek. However, the person who<br />would go on to become the company's president and CEO, Mike Calvo, had some<br />ideas and stepped up to the challenge. In retrospect, it was the first of many<br />moves to redefine the adaptive technology industry.<br /><br />Working first with a team of Russian developers, Calvo used<br />his knowledge of technology to guide his original concept into what would<br />become FreedomBox. At its simplest, FreedomBox was an Internet appliance that<br />facilitated communication between a blind consumer and the World Wide Web. A<br />person could speak to the preprogrammed device using natural language to listen<br />to music in various genres and eventually make purchases from Amazon.com.<br />Perhaps no one, not even Calvo himself, could have anticipated the trajectory<br />FreedomBox would set for his then fledgling operation.<br /><br />A large part of the product's successful evolution is owed<br />to Matt Campbell, who took over the FreedomBox project after Calvo decided to<br />move the system to the United<br /> States. "Matt is my development<br />partner," Calvo says. "I've worked with a lot of developers in my life;<br />I always keep coming back to Matt... We're like an old married couple where we<br />finish each other's sentences and thoughts." The results spoke for<br />themselves.<br /><br />"At least based on progress to date," said<br />Jonathan Mosen for <a href="http://www.acbradio.org/">ACB Radio</a> in early 2002,<br />"I think this product has a very promising future."<br /><br />But gaining traction would not be easy. In Serotek's early<br />years it was common for the competition to turn its nose up at the struggling<br />new company that initially ran more off of inspiration than finances. The<br />original FreedomBox was almost the size of a microwave oven, but through<br />careful research and development the FreedomBox software was reduced to a thumb<br />drive, giving voice to a new motto of Accessibility Anywhere. When Serotek<br />released System Access in 2004 the chuckling gave way to cautious attention.<br />The establishment began recognizing that the new kid on the block was not just<br />touting Internet access but offering a complete accessibility experience<br />through a new screen reader. The stage was set for the tide to begin turning.<br /><br />Breaking From the Pack<br />"The reason that more blind people don't have technology<br />is because of the cost and the cost of training," says Calvo, who has<br />always strived to make affordability a centerpiece of his business model.<br /><br />Future generations will not understand how at one point in<br />history there were no mainstream alternatives. People were relegated to what<br />Serotek dubs "blind ghetto products," and in addition to astronomical<br />price points, the products were very large and cumbersome to carry. Even by<br />today's standards Serotek is appalled at the cost/benefit analysis of products<br />priced well into the thousands with feature sets so minimal as to be offensive,<br />but by the time Serotek entered the picture the adaptive technology industry<br />had grown comfortable with using a few well-chosen marketing strategies to<br />excite their government base. Companies like Serotek were small fish in a pond<br />of larger sharks.<br /><br />When screen readers were introduced<br />in the early 80’s they were essential tools to make an electronic environment accessible.<br />Screen readers were, and still are, a necessary evil. Unfortunately, most<br />companies did not adopt to rapid developments. While mainstream applications<br />evolved, screen readers lagged behind. Rather than leveling the playing field,<br />they tended to add extra cost and training while restricting access to the most<br />advanced mainstream software features used in schools and in the workplace. The<br />difference between Serotek and the other companies is that Serotek has kept<br />pace with popular applications that blind people find themselves using on a<br />daily basis.<br /><br />The establishment continues following traditional practices to<br />maximize its bottom line. By contrast, from its early days it has been Serotek's<br />mission to explore new ways to make their products attainable. Other companies have<br />insisted on charging for licenses per computer. Serotek told customers to store<br />the application to a credit card size CD and plug it in where ever they needed,<br />and the company received confirmation that its strategy was working when people<br />began reporting examples of how they were using the product everywhere from<br />public libraries to cruise ships without cumbersome authorization licenses.<br />Later the product evolved into software that can conveniently be launched on a<br />U3-enabled flash drive.<br /><br />For people who have closely watched Serotek's development,<br />none of the above came as a surprise. After all, Serotek broke from the<br />traditional pack by setting new benchmarks as opposed to living up to old ones.<br /><br />• Serotek was the first to offer screen reading and Braille<br />reading technology without need for Administrator Rights.<br />• When other companies felt that blind people would never<br />have need to use 64-bit Windows, <a href="http://www.serotek.com/blog/97-serotek-first-to-offer-64-bit-support">Serotek<br />disagreed</a> and was the first to provide this functionality. Serotek was also<br />the <a href="http://www.serotek.com/blog/112-serotek-teams-with-microsoft-">first<br />to offer a fully functional screen reader when Windows Vista was released.</a><br />• Serotek was also <a href="http://www.serotek.com/blog/139-serotek-releases-new-system-access-features">the<br />first to introduce support for Braille displays that complied with the Human<br />Interface Device standard.</a><br />• Today, Serotek continues to be the only vendor that offers<br />a fully functional web-based screen and Braille reading alternative via <a href="http://www.satogo.com/">SAToGo.</a><br />• Serotek was <a href="http://blog.serotek.com/2010/12/croudsourcing-as-software-development.html">the<br />first to adopt a community approach to product development.</a> <a href="http://samobile.net/help/samn/C-SAW">Community Supported Accessible Web</a><br />allowed customers to share web information to make hyperlink navigation<br />smoother. Serotek has been the only known company in the adaptive technology<br />industry to offer to share the protocol with its competitors for the benefit of<br />all blind consumers.<br />• Other companies spoke of how they prepared blind<br />professionals for the job market. Serotek suited action to words by being the<br />first to offer <a href="http://www.serotek.com/ram-whitepaper.html">Remote<br />Access Manager</a> and <a href="http://www.serotek.com/rim-whitepaper.html">Remote<br />Incident Manager</a> to open new career opportunities in network administration<br />and help desk support, two key positions in the IT world.<br />• While other companies still charge for software<br />maintenance agreements, <a href="http://blog.serotek.com/2009/01/rest-in-peace-sma.html">Serotek put that<br />practice to rest in 2009</a> and has never looked back. To date, it is the only<br />company that has done so.<br /><br />The Business of People<br />Serotek began with the intent to serve older computer users and<br />computer novices. Its products were built to help people who did not want to<br />learn complicated systems to achieve simple tasks. As the company evolved,<br />Serotek discovered its easy-to-use interface had an appeal for an even larger<br />audience. The problem was that novice users and experts alike had fallen into<br />the mindset that their future productivity was contingent on the next screen<br />reader or Braille notetaker upgrade, and even these costly options did not place<br />them on completely equal footing with sighted peers.<br /><br />Lynda Canaday of Kansas<br />is a stark example of the kind of tangible difference Serotek has made in<br />people's lives. "In 2004 I was very depressed," says Canaday. "I<br />was ready to check out of life altogether... A friend who is a psychologist<br />wanted me to have a FreedomBox. I was able to get back into doing some things I<br />enjoyed doing... I guess that's what I'm really trying to say is that Serotek<br />opened up a doorway to a support system using their equipment and<br />devices." Ms. Canaday has since gone on to college and is still using<br />Serotek products and services.<br /><br />Calvo understood that to succeed, Serotek would have to<br />treat its customers as people and not just as byproducts of government<br />contracts. He took time to understand what people expected out of adaptive<br />products, and while some might credit this to good entrepreneurship; it is more<br />accurate to attribute it to a sincere interest in what blind users seek.<br /><br />"I’ll never forget the joy of a newly blind lady in her<br />sixties who had never in her life used a computer when, with just her voice,<br />she got on line using our product and made a purchase," recounts Calvo,<br />looking back at the early years of the company. "She was so excited. Our<br />little product had opened a door she never thought she would go through."<br /><br />Jonathan Mosen says, "I did discover one or two small<br />problems with the screen reader. I immediately reported those to Serotek, and I<br />would say overnight those issues were fixed. When I woke up in the morning<br />there was an update available for me to download."<br /><br />Placing such a high priority on customer care did not go<br />unnoticed. In 2007 Serotek came under legal attack from a competitor over<br />intellectual property. The community rose in defense of the smaller company.<br />For years Calvo had spoken of the importance of using the community's<br />collective voice to make differences. The community heard and acted and took to<br />blogs, petitions and other public online forums to voice their disapproval of<br />the lawsuit.<br /><br />"To see the community rise up on our behalf as they did<br />during that very tumultuous time," says Calvo, "for me emotionally,<br />for us financially, for the company in general is something for which I will<br />forever be thankful."<br /><br />The experience laid the groundwork for a strengthening bond<br />between Serotek and its customer base. In the past several years Serotek has<br />evolved into more than just another technology vendor. In an effort to really<br />get to know the people it serves, Serotek has designed a <a href="http://www.serotalk.com/">multimedia arm</a> that allows Serotek to<br />render content to its customer base while simultaneously allowing customers to<br />communicate with it and each other. iBlink Radio, for example, is a free <a href="http://bit.ly/162XRa">iOS</a> and <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.serotek.iblink">Android</a> app<br />that offers radio stations, podcasts and reading services of special interest,<br />and as comprehensive as that may sound, it does not begin to scratch the<br />surface of the more elaborate <a href="http://www.samobile.net/">System Access<br />Mobile Network.</a><br /><br />"We place great emphasis on the accessible digital<br />lifestyle," remarks Matt Campbell after Serotek helped customers transfer<br />the multimedia content to their portable devices. "Bear in mind," he<br />adds, "this was even some months before the release of iTunes 8."<br />Indeed, Serotek had gone out of its way to help its customers embrace and<br />integrate with mobile technology even before the mainstream made it a priority.<br /><br />Evidence of the appreciation of the company's innovative<br />strategies is best exhibited in its customer testimonials. "Serotek is an involved<br />company," says J. Schmidt, a recent adopter of Serotek products and<br />services. "I've never known any company, adaptive technology or otherwise,<br />where customers frequently hear from the chief executive officer himself. I'd<br />be surprised if anyone could even tell you who the executive officers are at<br />the other adaptive technology companies. The idea that Serotek actually holds<br />town halls to address pressing current events makes me feel valued as a<br />customer and, more importantly, as a person."<br /><br />Yet serving customers is only half the equation. Calvo<br />understood that to stay on the cutting edge of innovation, he would need to<br />attract and retain solid talent. To do so, he needed to provide a working<br />environment that allowed people to feed their natural passion for technology. Serotek<br />started as a virtual employer in an age where telecommuting has only recently<br />begun gaining popularity. The forward thinking approach has led to the<br />introduction of many beloved voices now very familiar to Serotek's customer<br />base.<br /><br />Ricky Enger, known best for her roles in the <a href="http://www.serotalk.com/">SeroTalk Podcast</a> and <a href="http://eolshow.com/">End of Line,</a> started at Serotek in the late<br />summer of 2007. She now recalls it was over Labor Day weekend that she had the<br />opportunity to speak with Calvo via telephone. "I just picked up the<br />phone," recalls Enger, "and from the moment Mike and I began to talk,<br />I was so impressed by the company's mission and his vision and his enthusiasm<br />was just infectious. I remember thinking I really wanted to be a part of what<br />this company was doing."<br /><br />Serotek is a dynamic working environment. The fact that the<br />team is scattered around the globe does nothing to detract from the company's<br />strong sense of camaraderie or its collective desire to disrupt the adaptive<br />technology market with products that redefine how customers lead their digital<br />lives.<br /><br />"As much as I loved helping Blind folks find the right<br />product to fit their needs for their job," said Joe Steinkamp when he came<br />aboard in July 2010, "I longed for the ability to delve into specific<br />technologies and subjects outside my four walls... I was offered the<br />opportunity to participate in the company's vision and I readily jumped at the<br />chance to share in that grand adventure."<br /><br />The Ultimatum<br />No move in the adaptive technology market has ever caused<br />such a stir as Serotek's now famous call to arms. On March 1, 2010 <a href="http://blog.serotek.com/2010/03/serotek-ultimatum.html">Serotek declared<br />war on the traditional adaptive technology industry.</a> If the introduction of<br />FreedomBox was the first shot fired, Serotek's public ultimatum was a trumpet<br />blast to rally the blindness community around a campaign to throw off the constraints<br />of tyranny.<br /><br />"For the past two decades the technologies originally<br />conceived to give us freedom have been our shackles," wrote Calvo in an adamant<br />post. "They have kept us tied down to underperforming, obscenely expensive<br />approaches that only a small percentage of blind people can afford or<br />master."<br /><br />News of the post was blasted across many public forums. The<br />call was heard, and while some reactions were cautious in their optimism, the<br />vast majority of blind computer users were swept up in the battle cry for<br />something more than the usual attempt to mimic innovation.<br /><br />"Even we who have done it right are on a path to<br />obsolescence," went on Calvo. "The universal accessibility principles<br />we see <a href="http://www.apple.com/">Apple</a>, <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/">Microsoft,</a> <a href="http://www.olympus.com/">Olympus,</a> and others putting in place are<br />going to eliminate the need for these specialty products in a matter of just a<br />very few years."<br /><br />And it is perhaps this sentiment that truly defines the<br />worth of Serotek. No other company has ever sought its own demise. There is<br />absolutely no one else in the adaptive technology industry who has ever<br />advocated for a world that would mean the end of its services. Such an<br />idealistic position is typically reserved for the nonprofit sector, and even in<br />that arena one would be pressed to find an organization that would not cringe<br />at speaking of its own closing. For companies that seek to compete against the<br />trend that is Serotek, therein lies the true ultimatum.<br /><br />The Road Ahead<br />There are far more achievements, large and small, that<br />pepper the life of Serotek at ten years old that could not be covered with<br />adequate justice. What this proves to the team working hard day in and day out<br />is that the future is full of enormous possibilities. Regardless of the form<br />Serotek will take in the next decade, there is a special kind of fuel among the<br />company's representatives. It's the kind of energy that compels people to think<br />outside the box and consistently deliver products that help the blind compete<br />on equal footing.<br /><br />The team at Serotek understands that in general, the<br />mainstream marketplace does not consider blind customers as viable consumers. The<br />millions of dollars spent on learning about customer habits from year to year generally<br />do not encompass blind people, because even at the outset of the 21st<br />century blind people are seen as a special class of consumers who cannot<br />possibly want access to mainstream products or know what to do with the<br />products even if they had the access. While Calvo has relished the ability to<br />give blind people a means to tap into popular commercial services through innovations<br />like <a href="http://www.satogo.com/">System Access,</a> <a href="http://www.accessibleevent.com/">Accessible Event,</a> and <a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">DocuScan Plus,</a> the vision that has<br />propelled Serotek from its infancy is one of universal access without class<br />systems. Until such a reality becomes more of the norm than the exception,<br />Serotek remains committed to providing equal access in a way that is attainable<br />for all.<br /><br />That, in a nut shell, is our story so far. We are proud of<br />what we have been able to do for you over the first ten years of our life, and<br />we are even more excited about our relationship with you in the next decade. We<br />are more than just a vendor. As we teeter on the edge of a new chapter in<br />technological developments, we are turning to you to help us write a narrative<br />of huge achievements in universal access that make blind people just another<br />segment of the population. Together, we are a catalyst for change. By uniting<br />our strengths we can inspire change on the critical issues that matter to us<br />all as consumers. We at Serotek will continue doing our part to see those<br />needed changes come about. The evolution of technology is such that there is no<br />telling what next week, next month or next year will hold, but of this we are<br />certain: The best is yet to come...Serotek Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14408069483106950726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-42579151767475431692012-02-02T11:21:00.000-08:002012-02-02T11:23:53.175-08:00The Disney StandardThis past Sunday my family and I accompanied some friends to <a href="http://www.disneyworld.com/">Disney World.</a> Living in Orlando, I guess it's not as big of a deal as it would be for the common tourist. I myself have always found it more or less enjoyable, something to do with the kids anyway. Last weekend I decided to satisfy my curiosity about a new <a href="http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guests-with-disabilities/visual/">audio description device</a> that I had heard about somewhere, and while looking over the Disney website I was reminded of its existence once again. WOW! At the risk of sounding totally cliché, it's like I stepped into a whole new realm.<br />I have always known Disney to take a special approach to all its guests. I mean, they're in the business of making dreams come true, right? I have never encountered issues with accessing any of the attractions. My guide dog has always been welcomed. In fact, Hurley was riding around with my Son and me in one of their go karts on this trip, with no one batting an eye, but I have to confess this past weekend totally rocked my view of Disney's effort to make their park a universal experience.<br /><br />The device with no real name is offered free for the duration of your visit with a refundable $25 deposit. It is a 7.2-ounce handheld computer with over the ear headphones. It provides an interactive audio and visual menu that allows you to choose the type of information you would like to receive about outdoor areas – from a description of your surroundings to information about nearby attractions, restaurants, and entertainment. It gives audio descriptions for key visual elements like action and scenery. I've never experienced the Carousel of Progress in quite that level of vivid detail before. The device features assistive listening for persons with mild to moderate hearing loss. The unit even features captions for various audio and dialog. While we were only able to visit the Magic Kingdom this time, the system is available for all four Disney parks in Orlando. One of the things I'm looking forward to in a future visit is going to the Animal Kingdom and using the handheld captioning feature to learn more about the animals my family and I are visiting. I think it will be great to offer my children information about the animals with the same ease as any tour guide. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of joy I experienced being able to talk to my children about the amazing workmanship and attention to detail on attractions like “It’s A Small World” and others, and how I was able to connect with them and share my own experiences as a child at Disney. I can’t express how great it was to be able to use this technology to “see” the park like they did.<br /><br />The technology is so sophisticated that at any point it would have been possible for me to venture out on my own and never feel at a loss as to where I was headed. Now, before you ask, no, the user does not get directions as to whether the facility is to your left, right, ahead or behind, but I attribute this to the early stages of any product development and the lack of pinpoint GPS accuracy that is absent in all mainstream orientation tools. Perhaps Google’s local map technology may help with this in the future?<br /><br />As you may know, Disney does not believe in wasted real estate. Their idea of roller coasters consists of packed adventures that are just as capable of being heart-pounding as they are visually enthralling. Before, it was enough for me to bask in the delighted screams of my children and feel good that they were having fun. With my handheld device, however, I was plugged into an instant feed of information that allowed me to perceive the rides from a more highly involved angle. We're not just talking front row seat here. We're talking front and center detailed audio descriptions of costumes, props, settings and background scenery. The closest comparison to the experience I can think of is descriptive video. In 2001 I was brought to tears while experiencing “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” on DVD with my family without anyone having to tell me what was going on. As unforgetable as that day was, the problem is that video description is still quite two-dimensional. There is something completely different about a multisensory experience being aided by a voice telling you exactly what you are passing. You’ll hear details about the attraction that will in all likelihood escape the notice of even those who can see. There's just too much competing for visual attention that the average guest will not be able to take it all in.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/blog/105-honored-afb-access-award">Like Serotek’s System Access to Go in 2008</a>, Disney’s handheld device received the American Foundation for the Blind's prestigious Access Award in 2011. I now know firsthand that the recognition was well-deserved. As AFB's President and CEO Carl R. Augusto noted, "“Too often, swift advances in technology bring the rewards of convenience and entertainment to an eager world while inadvertently leaving those who are visually impaired behind.” I can testify that as far as I can tell, Disney has made people with disabilities a fully integrated part of their customer base.<br /><br />Visiting the Disney World Resort prompted me to think about a couple things:<br /><br />First, it occurs to me that as blind consumers, we spend so much time fighting for equal access that we too often forget to really praise the innovations of those companies that are doing it right. <a href="http://www.apple.com/">Apple</a> may have needed the threat of litigation to make accessibility a higher priority, but unlike most companies, Apple rose to the challenge in such a way as to make accessibility one more selling point of their core functionality and blind people just one more highlight of their TV commercials. Olympus is another company that continues to make something as simple as voice guidance a key feature of their products to make them enjoyable for a wider segment of their customer base. So I wonder, why is it that our social networks buzz when there are critiques and gripes about the lack of accessibility in this or that product or service, but no one says a thing about achievements that are better than anything we could have hoped for? I mean, I expect to be treated as an equal by product and service providers but, as we all know, that isn’t true for the most part. So, when a company does do something right for us, shouldn’t we really let them and others in our community know?<br /><br />Don’t get me wrong. I would never suggest we lay down our arms and stop asking for equal access. In fact, I am a big promoter of using <a href="http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=wxrhzlEmvNvRS51YzZ2IzQ">Yelp,</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mikecalvo">Twitter,</a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mikecalvo">Facebook</a> and other mainstream channels to express our opinions of restaurants that do not have Braille menus, <a href="http://serotalk.com/2011/10/04/kindle-fire-down-in-flames/">retailers that do not produce eReaders that speak out of the box</a> and facilities that think adding a wheelchair ramp is enough to make a place accessible. Just this morning one of my reviews on Yelp was blasted via email throughout Orlando. People will now be able to read the opinions of a fellow foody who just happens to be blind. Perhaps other restaurant owners will see my reviews that not only talk about the quality of food and customer service but also cover things like, did they freak out about my guide dog or did they have Braille menus. What I am saying is that whether we are praising a product or damning it, we need to break out of our blindness bubble of list-serves, forums, and chatroom communities and take our comments to the general public where their impacts are more likely to be felt by the parties responsible. We need to write product reviews. We need to send e-mails, and far be it from me to suggest we do something so outdated as picking up the phone to talk to a company about our experience with their product or service. And don’t tell me that you’re just one person and your voice doesn’t matter. That’s simply not true. When you combine individual voices they become a crowd.<br /><br />Every voice counts, and if we are going to gripe loudly then we need to selibrate just as loudly when a company gets it right. Our feedback should not be limited to those aspects of life that have a direct bearing on our blindness either. We need to participate as consumers to be taken seriously as consumers. If you think about it, Apple and Disney must have spent millions of dollars on research and development and implementation to make their experience more than just accessible. Universal design is creating an experience that is simultaneously enjoyable to all, as opposed to creating a hierarchy of access to the same encounter. The least we could do is say "thank you" with our wallets, our reviews, and continued encouragement to make it better. I have a feeling that such encouragement would prompt more companies to use the secret sauce of their success to create some accommodations that are out of this world.<br /><br />Second, taking a little of my own advice, I call upon all companies to rise to Disney's standard. My dollars as a blind consumer are every bit as important as the dollars of my sighted neighbor. It is not enough to add a layer of accessibility to your products and services because a law directs you to. I am using my hard-earned money to pay for the same privileges as my sighted peers, and those privileges include my walking into your restaurants and ordering from Braille menus just like all your other customers. Asking your wait staff to read the menus to me is not being hospitable. It is being patronizing. We deserve better. Just as Apple now depicts blind people actively using their mobile technology, Disney ought to consider showing blind people enjoying the same facilities as anyone else, because the same marketing strategies that feed the bottom line can go a long way toward changing public misconceptions.<br /><br />The landscape for blind people has not changed all that much in the ten years I've been involved with Serotek. What has changed is my attitude and my approach to these types of consumer challenges. I've decided I can either choose to look forlornly at the world I wish I could enjoy and get angry, or I can shatter the dividing line and be an active participant in that world. I hope for the sake of our collective progress that you will join me. So, when are you going to right a review? When are you going to call that company that has gone the extra mile and thank them or express your frustration with the lack of accessibility in a product or service? In short, are you going to have a little faith? Even though every time you ask for accessibility you may not get it, you have to continue to believe that there will be companies, like those I have covered in this post, who will heed your cry for equal access and amaze us all with the outcome.Mike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-28359479932023863182011-12-09T17:24:00.000-08:002011-12-09T17:26:01.619-08:00Communication: The Themes Remain the Same By Jeffrey D. StarkThe following is a reprint from a publication by the <a href="http://www.ccdonline.ca/">Council of Canadians with Disabilities</a>, entitled “Celebrating Our Accomplishments”. The publication covers issues including transportation, access, social policy, employment, and much more. We encourage you to <a href="http://www.ccdonline.ca/en/socialpolicy/poverty-citizenship/income-security-reform/celebrating-our-accomplishments">read the entire publication,</a> as there is plenty there to celebrate and be proud of. We’d like to share a specific section dealing with access and full inclusion here on the blog. Thanks to Jeffrey Stark for the excellent article, and thanks to all the contributors to the publication for providing such a positive illustration of how things are changing for the better for people with disabilities.<br /><br />Communication: The Themes Remain the Same<br />By Jeffrey D. Stark<br /><br />Communication is a very common theme that comes up time and time again in the disability community; whether that's access to information such as printed material or the ability to be included in a conversation. The barriers change as our world changes but the themes and common elements have remained the same over the last 30 years.<br /><br />In a professional setting being able to communicate and having access to the information being communicated in many cases is the difference between being able to do the job and not being able to do it. If you can't hear the verbal information being provided, or you can't see the information being referenced, you are essentially excluded from an important component of the activity.<br /><br />I, as a person who is blind, have found myself in this situation many times. If I go to a meeting and all the information is put up on a front projector, then I am essentially excluded from that material. One commonly proposed solution to this is to have the presenter or leader for a given activity read out whatever material they have on the flip chart or front projector. As you can imagine, this is awkward and time consuming at the best of times and doesn't really let me review the material. As computers, laptops and electronic notetakers became commonplace, the proposed solution that used to be common was to distribute the material electronically in advance and hope I could figure out which document, page, slide and information was currently being referenced. If a group wanted to collaborate on the same document or material, then this becomes even less effective because my copy of the material gets more and more stale as the updates to the document occur.<br /><br />My requirements are not unique and meetings and collaborative sessions have often been a barrier. This area has evolved tremendously over the last 20 years. Unfortunately, until recently many of the solutions were only available as separate solutions that each required a different technology component and required a huge undertaking to provide. Captioning, sign language interpretation, accessible information, accessible flip charts, alternate communication systems were all separate components and all had to be handled separately.<br /><br />At a recent meeting I attended, for the first time in my career, I was able to play on an equal footing. I had access to the same information as my sighted peers during the meeting and had access to any new information or changes that happened on the front projector. They had this nifty box called an <a href="http://accessibleevent.com/">"Accessible Event</a> Hotspot" that acted like an "accessible projector". I connected my laptop to the AE Hotspot and the same information that was projected on the front screen was also pushed out to my laptop. This meant that I could review it in my medium of choice using my technology of choice (a screen reader). As soon as a change happened on the presenter's screen, the same information was provided to me in real time. This same device can also be used to capture and present other channels of information such as captioning and signing. This essentially makes it an all-in-one solution for people who have hearing impairments, visual impairments, or print-related disabilities so participants can take full advantage of all aspects of any on-site or online event or presentation. This technology allows participants with disabilities to access slides, spreadsheets, web pages, documents and real-time captioning.<br /><br />This is essentially full inclusion, where the various channels of information from the spoken information to the presented information can be supplemented in real time with equivalents that ensure that everyone can participate on a level playing field.<br /><br />If you’d like more information about Accessible Event or the AE Hotspot, please call (612) 246-4818 or send an email to <a href="mailto:info@accessibleevent.com">info@accessibleevent.com</a>Mike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-24939983466342684042011-12-07T01:13:00.000-08:002011-12-07T01:16:07.171-08:00System Access: The Alternative CommitmentAs you know, <a href="http://www.serotek.com/why-serotekhttp:/www.serotek.com/">Serotek is not a conventional assistive technology provider</a>. In fact, we take pride in our willingness to think outside the box and leverage products that <a href="http://www.serotek.com/testimonials">make a distinct mark on the customers we serve</a>, but, the price of pulling away from the pack means succumbing to all manner of speculation perpetuated by competitors and by customers who rely on bias reviews to direct their own decisions. We have never shied away from defending our approach to development, and so following in that tradition, today we address a question that comes to our attention from time to time: Is System Access a full screen reader?<br /><br />Well, to begin on common ground, let's first start by defining what a screen reader is. In the way of an impartial source, we can use the <a href="http://www.afb.org/prodbrowsecatresults.asp?catid=49">American Foundation of the Blind</a>, which sets forth the following:<br /><br />"Screen readers are software programs that allow blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer. A screen reader is the interface between the computer’s operating system, its applications, and the user. The user sends commands by pressing different combinations of keys on the computer keyboard to instruct the speech synthesizer what to say and to speak automatically when changes occur on the computer screen."<a style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1143723380059090027#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a><br /><br />Well, if we're going by these fundamental guidelines, then <a href="http://www.satogo.com/">System Access</a> is most certainly a full screen reader. Customers can install our product and interact with a growing number of popular applications that facilitate e-mail, word processing, web browsing and other key activities that are essential to daily tasks inside and outside of the office or <a href="http://www.serotek.com/kk-main">classroom</a>.<br /><br />In its early days, it would have been fair to ask if our product could feasibly rise to the challenge of a traditional screen reader. Then again, we never promised more functionality than the product delivered. We understood that in its infancy, the product formerly known as Freedom Box that later included System Access 1.0 was a rudimentary solution with limited use of the off screen model to interact with applications, but even in 2002, many years after the birth of competing products, Freedom Box was hailed by the Teachers.Net Gazette as a product that "opened a new door for the blind and visually impaired, offering a new found freedom and a new kind of life."<a style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1143723380059090027#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> That was high praise for a product that was so basic compared to the innovation we see today and when compared to the screen readers that had already been enjoying a prominent spotlight in the market.<br /><br />There are at least three factors that feed people's hesitation to see System Access for what it is:<br /><br />First, customers respond to marketing tactics that feed on human instinct. When you are sick, and when given a choice between the less expensive and the more expensive treatments, your instinct is to want the more expensive treatment because the higher cost must surely mean that the results are better. The same is true of technology. Accessibility concerns aside, you could buy the new <a href="http://serotalk.com/2011/10/04/kindle-fire-down-in-flames/">Kindle Fire</a>, or you could put down more money and buy the more expensive <a href="http://serotalk.com/2011/11/02/macbook-air-review-part-4-productivity-and-ipad-comparison/">iPad</a> because the majority says the latter outperforms the former. So it comes as no surprise that if competing screen readers cost <a href="http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/">$895</a> and <a href="http://sales.freedomscientific.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=340026-001">$1,095</a>, the experience must surely be sweeter. We often hear that not all is peace in paradise, but it's not our place to comment on other companies' ability to live up to expectations.<br /><br />Second, there is a persistent view that a product cannot be considered a full screen reader if it does not allow for scripting. Such a view presumes that the absence of this feature was an oversight rather than an implementation by design. For the moment, Serotek does not buy into the practice of opening its product to scripting languages, and even if this were to change in the future, it would not be a dominant focus of our development.<br /><br />To understand this aspect of our approach, it's important to recognize our distinction between user interface and user experience. User interface provides users with a core platform and enough tools to make that platform work for the specific needs of the end user. The manufacturer admits it does not know what the user might want to do with the product, so it provides scripting language support to help advanced users manipulate the platform to fit their needs. Such an approach is by no means a bad one, but it relies on users to devote many hours to learning the scripting language. It also sometimes requires many dollars to gain training if a consumer wants assistance with using the language to interact with and configure access to complex applications.<br /><br />On the other hand, user experience boils down to nothing more complicated than creating a product that, to borrow Apple's philosophy, just works. Serotek has never claimed to outpace competing products on all fronts. We continue to cultivate a product that works very well for the most popular applications like ITunes, various e-mail clients, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome and a growing range of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter. The scope of what System Access can deliver might be painted as limited, but limitations are only as concrete as the real world use of the consumer in question. System Access need not be configurable through scripting if the product is already delivering a solid experience for what it is advertised to accomplish.<br /><br />Finally, Serotek has a specific customer in mind as it develops new products and services. We are thinking of the consumer who cannot afford to pay for competing products or for the software maintenance agreements to keep those products updated. Starting with monthly payment plans as little as $9.95 per month, <a href="http://www.serotek.com/system-access-standalone">System Access is priced well below other options</a> on the market, and we are the only company with enough faith in the evolution of our product and it’s ability to continue to attract new customers to have eliminated software maintenance agreements. Our option is economical enough for people who are recent adopters of screen reading technology who need a straightforward introduction to assistive technology before plunging into murkier waters. <a href="http://www.samobile.net/giftcards/buy.html">It is an economical solution</a> for people who believe in having easy to use yet powerful options instantly at hand.<br /><br />We are also thinking of the consumer who enjoys the bells and whistles of competing products but require a consistent companion on hand when the competing product crashes or is unable to be installed due to lack of access to admin rights on the target machine. Nothing is more frustrating than encountering silence and having no way to get around it than to reboot the entire system to get things talking again. We would never suggest that System Access is without faults, but as far as offering an approach that delivers immediate and intuitive access, we stand by our commitment to make it work as easily and as consistently as possible. We are also the only company that has developed portable solutions that work under a minute on any PC you plug your thumb drive into with our product or access them via our Internet sites on any compatible version of Windows without the need for admin rights.<br /><br />So, while we may not be the best choice for the software developer who requires specific tweaks to make her environment inhabitable, we are a perfect tool for the vast majority of users who want to take accessibility on the go and work anywhere, anytime, something best exhibited in the free service available on <a href="http://www.satogo.com/">SAToGo.com</a>. After all, why limit yourself to timed demonstrations when you could take our product for a more uninhibited test drive?<br /><br />At Serotek, System Access provides a fundamental platform upon which our other services have been launched. We rolled out System Access during the days before we had options like <a href="http://www.nvda-project.org/">NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA</a>), and in fact, System Access might have never been born if NVDA had been an option back then. As things stood, the only choices were too expensive for a vast majority of blind consumers, and our commitment to making products as affordable as possible is as vigorous today as it was when we released our first beta.<br /><br />So, is System Access a full screen reader? We believe in presenting you the evidence and letting you decide for yourself. Ultimately, the proof is in the performance and if the product works for your spasific applications. Right?<br />?<br /><a style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1143723380059090027#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> Screen Readers. American Foundation of the Blind: Last accessed December 6, 2011<br />http://www.afb.org/prodbrowsecatresults.asp?catid=49<br /><a style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2" title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1143723380059090027#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> The Freedom Box, Technology for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Melanson, Dave. Teachers.Net Gazette. Last accessed: December 6, 2011<br />http://teachers.net/gazette/OCT02/melanson.htmlMike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-87050903381100759602011-10-06T13:04:00.000-07:002011-10-06T13:07:52.290-07:00Thank You Steve!“If you live every day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right” Steve Jobs quoted an anonymous source in his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=youtu.be">speech to the Stanford graduating class in 2005</a>. <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20116374-37/steve-jobs-a-timeline/">Yesterday was the day Steve was right and the world lost one of its true creative geniuses –</a> a man who has changed each and every one of our lives in important and lasting ways. And not just with his disruptive products like the Mac and the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Those are some of his innovative tools but the real innovation was in how we relate to one another.<br />I imagine everyone recognizes that the way we interact has changed with iPhone and iPad. Steve gave us the gift of a great communication experience. For blind people, like myself, it is more than that. Steve Jobs opened that modern world fully to me and <a href="http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201138/7626/Stevie-Wonder-thanks-Steve-Jobs-for-iOS-accessibility">people like me</a> by making the full experience of his products accessible, out of the box. He had the vision to see me as a customer who wanted to be treated like any other customer and gave me the privilege of walking in a store and paying retail for a product off the shelf that immediately gave me the same access and experience as any person with sight.<br />If the marketplace were a religion, as I guess it is for some, Steve Jobs deserves to be canonized, not just for his unbelievable marketing successes but for his wisdom and foresight to reach out to the whole market. I can assure you that blind people everywhere would pause before his statue and say a prayer of thanks to whatever deity we believe in for giving us Steve Jobs.<br />Steve used the quote above to talk about his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer which is what eventually claimed him six years later, but not until he had seen Apple for one brief shining moment rise to be the <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/apple-most-valuable-company/">most valued company on the planet</a>. Not bad for a guy who didn’t graduate from college and who, twenty-five years ago, was <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/steve-jobs-fire-company/story?id=14683754">fired from Apple</a>, the company he and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak">Steve Wozniak</a> founded. He talked about how dropping out of college and getting fired from Apple were some of the best things that happened to him, opening up new vistas and freeing him to pursue what he loved with the freshness of beginning anew. <br />It was an inspiring speech that spoke to my heart and I’m sure the hearts of every student sitting in that great outdoor coliseum. And maybe the most important thing he said was that “no one wants to die. Even those who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.” But he added that dying was one of the great gifts of life because it cleared out the old and made way for the new. <br />And now Steve has cleared out and that leaves us with the challenge of making new experiential products even better than the gifts Steve brought us. And as he said, there is no time to waste because our time to be “cleared out” will soon be upon us. They seem impossibly large shoes to fill and yet if we follow his guidance and “do what we love,” how can we fail?<br />Rest in peace Steve! You will be missed! All we can do now is try our best to keep your dream of a magical user experience alive.Mike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-90497555367187137292011-09-22T09:40:00.000-07:002011-09-22T09:45:57.150-07:00Cloudy With a Chance of Profit: PreviewI’ve spent a great deal of time publicly evangelizing the merits of cloud computing, both on this blog and on the <a href="http://www.serotalk.com/">Serotalk podcast</a>. The next logical step was to expand, in the form of a book, on my experiences as an entrepreneur of a cloud-based business and share my thoughts on the effects of cloud computing on the information technology industry as a whole. Coming soon to your favorite bookstore is my first published work, entitled “Cloudy With a Chance of Profit: You, Me, And The Cloud That Binds us”. While you wait for the book to arrive, check out this exerpt.<br /><br /><br /><br />What is the Cloud? More to the point: why should you care? It's something I would have asked back in 1997 when I first began using that new platform called <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows">Windows</a> and the only clouds I knew were the ones from my cigars or the fog machines in the clubs where I worked as a DJ. Back then, the concept of cloud computing had not been conceived, but the Internet was causing a lot of excited noise about what this new type of communication would mean for people and businesses. I don't think even computer scientists had a clue of how the Worldwide Web would grow into the beast we see today.<br />Let me put it this way, the Cloud means to our generation what the telegraph meant to the world in the early 19th century. It changed communication. It changed how people viewed the world, and the great thing about inventions is that they build off each other until you sit back and think that things cannot possibly get any better. It's funny now to see that the car phone we once thought was so luxurious did not come close to the smartphones of today, but as you will read, the Cloud is so much more than point to point communication. It's a virtual playground, a global community, a new way of working and playing with friends and colleagues.<br />Writing this book brought back some interesting memories of the days when I was just getting started with <a href="http://www.serotek.com/">Serotek. </a>Those were the days when we felt good about renting enough servers to hold the work of the company in a safe location. We were proud when we had to rent more servers to keep up with the growth of our operations, but those were also the days when the difference between $100 and $1,000 to get the right hosting package would have been the difference between running with an idea and killing it. Now we're comfortably housed in the Cloud, and you know, I'm not even remotely kidding when I tell you that the sky is the limit.<br />But seriously, why should you care? In a world of bits and bytes, bandwidth and backups, you need to become a part of the technological evolution. You need to understand that the landscape is changing and there is more to the evolution than texts and Tweets. You cannot afford to be left behind when so much of the world is turning to the clouds to do business. Profit is as much about the funds you can generate from using cloud services as it is about the information you can use in the Cloud to build your personal human capital.<br />I am writing this book to you no matter where you sit. I am writing to the educator who wants to bring a whole new level of functionality to the classroom. I am writing to the person who just lost their job and is looking for a new source of income to survive. I am writing to the blind person who once had to pick living quarters conveniently located to public transportation, because before the Cloud, we were limited by physical time and distance. I am writing to the eager software developer who has yet to experience the beauty of choosing from a number of platforms to deploy your invention to the big blue sky of cloud possibilities. In short, I am writing to every consumer who wants to get in touch with their inner entrepreneur and act on that passion to make something happen.<br />The Cloud is an infinite frontier. That isn't to say that all clouds are built equally or that every cloud has a silver lining, but the potential is there. Speaking as someone who went from zero technology know-how to working my way through DOS and finally up to my current Cloud activity, I can tell you that it is not difficult. And it is not too late. I want you to put this book down having learned enough about the environment to proclaim that, you too, are ready to take on this ubiquitous thing we call the Cloud.Mike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-78051579937154496772011-07-05T10:28:00.001-07:002011-07-05T10:28:38.477-07:00Convention Coverage on the All New SAMNet Radio!<p>Serotek is proud to announce the launuch of the all new SAMNet Radio, your portal to all the great past, present and future podcasts and interviews on the newly launched SeroTalk Podcast Network. We begin with coverage from the 2011 NFB Convention in Orlando Florida. Listen now and please share this link with all your friends, family members and interested persons. <br /><a href="http://serotalk.com/podcasts/SAMNetRadio.m3u">Click Here to Listen to 2011 Convention Coverage on the All New SAMNet Radio!</a></p>
<p>Thanks and Enjoy!</p>
<p>The Serotek Team <br /></p>
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<dt></dt></dl>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-24716763083004309112011-07-01T20:15:00.001-07:002011-07-01T20:15:13.123-07:00Serotek and SeroTalk at the NFB and ACB conventions<p>It's convention time again, and as always you can expect <a href="http://www.serotalk.com/">SeroTalk</a> to bring you quality coverage from the <a href="http://www.nfb.org/nfb/National_Convention.asp">NFB</a> and <a href="http://www.acb.org/node/452">ACB</a> show floors. If you're attending one or both of the conventions this year, Serotek has a number of exciting things in store for you.</p>
<p>First, if you'd like the opportunity to meet staff members and ask questions about Serotek products and services, Mike Calvo and Joe Steinkamp will be on hand at the <a href="http://www.atguys.com/">A T Guys</a> booth A1 at the NFB convention. You can catch Mike and Joe on July 5 between 10 AM and 12 PM, or on July 6 from 12 PM to 1:45 PM. While you're there, don't forget to ask <a href="http://www.atguys.com/">The A T Guys</a> about <a href="http://atguys.blogspot.com/2011/06/iphone-tactile-screen-protectors-are.html">tactile screen protectors for your iPhone</a>, the <a href="http://www.atguys.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4">iBill Bank Note Identifier</a> and the affordable, customized <a href="http://www.atguys.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=29">bar code scanner</a> which recognizes millions of items and can even interface with the popular <a href="http://www.directionsforme.org/">Directions For Me</a> web site.</p>
<p>When you're done in the exhibit hall, you won't want to miss the NFB in computer Science meeting from 12:30 PM to 5 PM in Wekiwa 6, Level 2. Mike Calvo and Joe Steinkamp will present "A View from The cloud: Tales of a Multiplatform world" beginning at 3:20 PM. You might also be the lucky winner of a prize package donated to the group by Serotek, which includes a copy of the <a href="http://www.serotek.com/system-access-mobile">System Access Mobile</a> screen reader and three months of access to the <a href="http://www.serotek.com/remote-incident-manager-rim">Remote Incident Manager</a> allowing blind IT professionals and trainers to remotely access an end user's computer. If you're attending the ACB convention, you'll also have a shot at this package as you check out the fantastic program organized by the Blind Information Technology Specialists (BITS) group. You won't want to miss Michael Lauf as he presents "accessible Cloud Computing for Consumers and IT Professionals", beginning at 2:45 PM on July 11 in So Pac E.</p>
<p>Are you a blind student? Both the NFB and ACB conventions have student organizations which are well worth investigating. At NFB, check out the <a href="http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NABS.asp">National Association of Blind Students</a> and at ACB, check out the <a href="http://acbstudents.org/">National Alliance of Blind Students.</a> Both these organizations have received a prize package from Serotek which includes a copy of the <a href="http://www.serotek.com/system-access-mobile">System Access Mobile</a> screen reader and a copy of <a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">DocuScan Plus,</a> Serotek's cloud solution for converting printed materials to text on both Windows and Mac. If you're a senior, this year's conventions have something special for you as well. At the NFB, you can get involved in the NFB Seniors Division, and at ACB, you can get involved with the Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss. In both these groups, you'll have a chance to win a prize package from Serotek including The <a href="http://www.serotek.com/system-access-mobile">System Access Mobile</a> screen reader, a year of access to the <a href="http://www.serotek.com/system-access-mobile-network">SAMNet online community,</a> and a copy of the Neospeech VoiceText speech engine.</p>
<p>Convention coverage will be presented by Serotalk from both the show floors, and you can always hear the latest by visiting <a href="http://www.serotalk.com/">www.serotalk.com</a> or better yet, use the iBlink Radio app on your <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.serotek.iblink">Android</a> or <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-blink-radio/id332027117?mt=8">iOS</a> device.</p>
<p>When it comes to convention coverage, we don't just want to hear our own voices. We want to hear yours, too. Whether you're at NFB, ACB or Sight Village, we want to hear your reports on what's hot, what's not, and what's just plain interesting. You can send your written or prerecorded submissions to <a href="mailto:resources@serotalk.com">resources@serotalk.com.</a> Don't have any fancy recording equipment? Do you wish you could just leave an on-location message for us right from your phone? You can! Check the iBlink Radio app for your <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.serotek.iblink">Android</a> or <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-blink-radio/id332027117?mt=8">iOS</a> device for details.</p>
<p>Whether you're taking part this year from your home or from the show floor, we wish you a safe and fun convention experience.</p>
<p>The Serotek Team</p>
<p> </p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-58829186858012963682011-07-01T12:48:00.000-07:002011-07-01T13:11:47.683-07:00Another Accessibility Slap In The Face<span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">While this is a personal post and I don’t make it a habit to get on my personal soapbox on this blog, I think that the issues covered in the email are relevant to Serotek’s mission of providing and advocating for </span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">“Accessibility Anywhere.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Below is a letter submitted to the </span><a href="http://www.twit.tv/ipt"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">IPad Today show</span></a><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"> on the </span><a href="http://www.twit.tv/ipt"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Twit Netcast Network</span></a><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">. It frustrates me that even so called “geeks” don’t understand how important accessibility is in both software and on the web. What do you think of this letter? Please post your comments so perhaps someone will read them and really know that accessibility isn’t just a law but that it really does allow us as a market to enjoy the same level of ac</span><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">cess to products and services that our sighted peers enjoy and take for granted.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"> </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">F</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">rom:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Mike Calvo<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">To:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">ipadtoday@twit.tv<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Subject:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Program 51 Advocates for Universal Design … for Once<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Hello Leo and Sarah,<br /><br />I’ve been a long-time listener of The Twit Network and iPad today, and have<br />always been impressed with the insightful commentary you both consistently<br />provide on the show. I was very excited to hear your thoughts on HTML 5 on </span></span><a href="http://www.twit.tv/ipt51"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">the<br />show which aired on June 23</span></span></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">. As the CEO of an assistive technology company providing accessible cloud<br />services to the blind, I’m a staunch advocate of HTML 5. It allows for<br />consistent cross-platform design, and has the added benefit of being far more<br />accessible than other design technologies such as Flash.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">I was all set to hear a well-thought-out<br />and candid discussion of the benefits of HTML 5, so imagine my shock and<br />surprise when you began discussing the iPad experience for the new </span></span><a href="http://www.jkrowling.com/"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Harry<br />Potter site</span></span></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">. You first<br />lamented the fact that the site displayed on the iPad was a </span></span><a href="http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">text-only site</span></span></a><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">, which<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>lacked all the appealing features<br />of the main site. Then, Sarah took things one step further and asked the<br />developers to: "consider the community with good vision for once!"<br />Really? Seriously? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">Sarah, have you ever been prevented from<br />conducting legitimate business because of an inability to use a particular<br />site? Have you ever had to contact a site designer to explain that you wanted<br />to purchase a business’s products and services but were prevented from doing so<br />because of a flaw in web design? Have you ever overheard a friend or family<br />member discussing a particular site, only to realize you couldn’t enjoy that<br />site yourself, again, because of a flaw in web design? This is the struggle<br />that the blind community faces on a daily basis. When your entire audience of<br />web developers, business professionals, and blind and sighted consumers hear<br />you minimize this struggle with a few snide and ill-considered words, it is<br />incredibly damaging. With this single statement, you’ve implied that<br />accessibility may be a headache which some designers have to address, but only<br />when it doesn’t detract from the experience of the mainstream audience or in<br />your words "those of us with good vision." What you fail to<br />understand is that the members of an audience who need accessibility don’t<br />actually want separate but equal. We want the same bells and whistles that<br />everyone else enjoys. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate the consideration when a<br />site designer at least acknowledges the need for accessibility by providing a<br />text-only site. With that said, my primary goal is to educate developers that<br />accessibility doesn’t have to be an afterthought, and can be incorporated quite<br />easily without adversely impacting anyone else. In fact, when a developer<br />chooses to use something like HTML 5 over something like Flash, everyone<br />benefits, including the sighted iPad users like yourself who want a more<br />compelling experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">As well-respected tech enthusiasts,<br />imagine how much you could do to further the education on web accessibility<br />just by including information like this when you discuss platforms like HTML 5.<br />Conversely, consider just how damaging it can be when you make statements which<br />encourage actions which further your own interests while minimizing those of<br />another population. Would you rather advocate for the continuation of a<br />separate but equal philosophy, or would you rather advocate for universal design,<br />"for once?"<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">--<br /><br />Mike Calvo CEO<br /><br />Serotek Corporation<br /><br />Ph: (612) 246-4818<br /><br />Fax (612) 643-3483<br /><br />United Kingdom +44 2080-990685<br /><br />accessibility anywhere<br /><br />www.serotek.com<br /><br />1128 Harmon Place<br /><br />Suite 310<br /><br />Minneapolis, MN 55403<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><br /></span>Mike Calvohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229912559128745326noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-15090290271893297762011-05-26T20:19:00.001-07:002011-05-26T20:19:19.394-07:00Tech Chat 103: The Great Outdoors<p>Tech Chat 103 covered outdoor activities including boating and fishing with Lawrence Euttenier with</p>
<p><a href="http://www.blindfishingboat.com/">www.BlindFishingBoat.com</a></p>
<p>plus biking, hiking and camping with Nolan Derelek with</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wordnerd.info/">www.WordNerd.Info</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.accessibleevent.com/232264114/archive/1393/">View Tech Chat 103: The Great Outdoors Via Accessible Event</a><br /><a href="http://serotalk.com/podcasts/TechChat103.mp3">Listen to MP3 of Tech Chat 103: the Great Outdoors!</a></p>
<p> </p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-22854982492785275942011-05-25T15:54:00.001-07:002011-05-25T15:54:18.659-07:00iBlink Radio Comes To The Android Market With New Features And More<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 25<sup>th</sup> 2011<?xml:namespace prefix ="" o /><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The popular iBlink Radio application from </span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">Serotek Corporation</a></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">has just gone multiplatform! The world's first application for the visually impaired for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad is now available on the Android Market. Version 1.0 has some features not found on the Apple iOS version that take advantage of the hardware keyboards found on many Google Android handsets. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">iBlink Radio offers radio stations, podcasts and reading services of special interest to blind and visually impaired persons; as well as their friends, family, caregivers and those wanting to know what life is like without eyesight. The original release of iBlink Radio has been downloaded thousands of times and it has even been featured on the front page of the iTunes Store.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">All stations under Community Radio are owned and/or operated by persons with limited or no eye sight. Genres include oldies, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, alternative, classic Rock, Old Time Radio and more. This is a small sampling of SAMNet, Serotek’s award-winning online community dedicated to promoting the digital lifestyle to its low-vision and blind subscribers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Reading services provide narration of newspapers, magazines, periodicals and other print publications including: USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and hundreds more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Podcasts are produced by blind and partially sighted individuals, and cover topics including: broadcasting, computers, radio, technology, Independent Living, Travel, and much more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“iBlink radio is the premiere application for showcasing content produced by today’s Blind community. At Serotek, we believe that Android has many exciting things in store for us all. It was only logical that we would bring iBlink Radio to one of the fastest growing platforms for handsets and tablets.” said CEO Mike Calvo. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">The new Android iBlink radio includes the following features:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">First letter keyboard navigation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Use the hardware keyboard on your device to press the letter of the feed you want to jump to in order to get through a long list faster. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">Menu button navigation, Press the Menu Button to shift your focus to the list of items and back to the player. You can use your Directional Pad, or other controls, to move between the Play/Pause and Stop buttons. You can also place your focus into the seek bar for fast forwarding or rewinding of files like Podcasts. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">Notification bar support: Simply open the Notification Bar and select the media being played by iBlink radio for easy access to the player when multitasking on your device. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt">White on black font scheme: For those who are glare sensitive, the default color scheme for common Android menus have been incorporated into this version of iBlink Radio. The benefit of this choice is that this will let some Low vision users see the display better in various lighting conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.serotek.iblink">For more information, or to download iBlink Radio, visit the Android Market page</a></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-blink-radio/id332027117?mt=8">To obtain iBlink Radio for your Apple iOS device visit the iTunes Store.</a></o:p></span></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></span> </p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-66002267305042634132011-05-05T16:26:00.001-07:002011-05-05T16:26:57.540-07:00Shh! The Cat's away. Let's play with DocuScan Plus!<p>It's Cinco de Mayo, and our CEO just dashed out the door, frantically mumbling something about margaritas. The Serotek team got together and decided that if the CEO was celebrating, we should all follow his lead. To that end, we've decided to reset all trials of DocuScan Plus, giving you 7 extra days to play. If you have ever had a trial of DocuScan Plus, you'll be able to log in with your account credentials and try out the program again. And if you haven’t tried DocuScan Plus, then now is the perfect time to start with a 7 day free trial of the cross platform phenomenon. That’s right! Windows or Mac, it is time to have a blast with DocuScan Plus. Just don’t tell the boss our little secret, okay? </p>
<p>If you have other Serotek software installed, just choose DocuScan Plus from the System Access menu to get started. If you still have the app on your Mac, launch it and your trial will begin again. If you're using DocuScan Plus as a standalone product on Windows,</p>
<p><a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">just log in with your account credentials at www.docuscanplus.com</a><br />If you've never had a DocuScan Plus trial before, you can</p>
<p><a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">visit http://www.docuscanplus.com to create your account and get started.</a></p>
<p>If you're on the Mac, don't forget to [grab the app from the<br /><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=432595763&mt=12">Mac App Store.</a></p>
<p>Enjoy! <br />The Serotek Team<br /></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-27091645049082448102011-05-02T11:15:00.001-07:002011-05-02T11:15:13.597-07:00HoverCam T5V Document Camera Now Available<p>Looking for a fast and portable image capture solution for use with DocuScan Plus? Serotek now offers the HoverCam T5V document camera for $499. This light and portable document camera is the perfect accessory for scanning printed materials at home or on the go. Weighing just 1.8 pounds and measuring 4.5 inches by 12 inches, this 5-megapixel camera with built-in bright LED lights is the ideal solution for those needing a portable, accurate, and extremely fast scanning device. The camera works on Windows and Mac computers without the need to install additional drivers. Simply plug the camera in to an available USB slot, and you're ready to begin using the device with DocuScan Plus. The camera comes with a slip-resistant mat with tactile markings, ensuring you have the most stable surface for your camera and optimal placement for your printed materials. If you’d like to learn more about the document camera, <a href="http://samobile.net/help/scanplus/470792">you may read the help documentation.</a></p>
<p>If you don’t yet own DocuScan Plus, usable on both Mac and Windows platforms, visit </p>
<p><a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">http://www.docuscanplus.com</a></p>
<p>for more information.</p>
<p>When you’re ready to purchase, simply visit the “my account” section from your Serotek software by pressing modifier+f, followed by the letter A. From here, choose “purchase more products and services”, and choose the HoverCam T5V accessory. You may also call us at (612) 246-4818 and a member of our sales team will be happy to assist you.</p>
<p>The Serotek Team</p>
<ul>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="http://analytics.serotek.com/piwik.js"></script>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-34767919838740680402011-04-29T12:10:00.001-07:002011-04-29T12:10:15.188-07:00Words without boundaries, Serotek’s DocuScan Plus OCR Goes
Multi-Platform With Support For The Mac<p>Minneapolis, Minn, April 29, 2011</p>
<p><a href="mailto:pr@serotek.com">Media Contact: pr@serotek.com 612.246.4818 Ext. 104</a></p>
<p>Words without boundaries, Serotek’s DocuScan Plus OCR Goes Multi-Platform With Support For The Mac<br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">Serotek Corporation</a></p>
<p>the leading provider of accessible, multi-platform cloud-based solutions, is proud to announce the availability of DocuScan Plus for the Apple<br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/">AAPL Macintosh</a></p>
<p>platform.<br />DocuScan Plus, released for the <br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows">Microsoft Windows</a></p>
<p>platform in November 2010, allows individuals with a computer and attached imaging device to scan and convert printed materials in to text, and to store these documents in the cloud for easy retrieval on either Operating System from anywhere. The newly released Mac application contains the same compelling features as found in its wildly successful Windows counterpart, including easy conversion to daisy, Braille and MP3 formats, sending to<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/kindle">Amazon Kindle</a></p>
<p>password protection options, and saving to a local computer in large print or Rich Text Format. DocuScan Plus represents the first fully accessible cloud-based OCR solution to be available in the Mac app store.<br />“When we designed DocuScan Plus for Windows with cloud-based features, bringing it to the Mac was the next logical step,” said Mike Calvo, CEO. “People don’t use just one computer, or even one operating system anymore, and they need to access their information regardless of which platform they’re using at any given time.” “Apple has a host of accessibility features already built in to the operating system,” continued Calvo. “Because of this, we were able to make an application that is universally compelling in its own right, regardless of whether you’re print-disabled, and its accessible right out of the box to a very wide audience.”<br />DocuScan Plus is designed with an easy and intuitive interface, and works seamlessly with Apple’s Voiceover screen reader and Zoom magnifier. The application can be used in conjunction with the wide variety of Braille displays which are supported with Voiceover. The $299 price for this service provides users the ability to utilize DocuScan Plus on both the Windows and Mac platforms without paying a premium. This unique approach continues Serotek’s philosophy of offering accessibility anywhere at an affordable price, which is unparalleled in the Assistive Technology Industry.<br /><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=432595763&mt=12">The app is now [available through the Mac App Store,</a><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=432595763&mt=12"></a></p>
<p>and you can learn more about the revolutionary DocuScan Plus by visiting <br /><a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">www.docuscanplus.com</a></p>
<p>Serotek Corporation <br />Serotek Corporation is a leading technology company that develops software and manufactures accessibility solutions under the System Access brand. Committed to the mission of providing accessibility anywhere, Serotek began with the launch of the first online community specifically designed to meet the needs of people with visual impairment. Since then, Serotek has introduced several powerful, affordable solutions that require minimal training and investment. For more information, <a href="http://www.serotek.com/">visit www.serotek.com</a></p>
<p><a href="mailto:pr@serotek.com">Media Contact: pr@serotek.com 612.246.4818, Ext. 104</a></p>
<p><a href="mailto:info@serotek.com">Technical Contact: info@serotek.com</a></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-91624864469787225252011-04-15T13:14:00.001-07:002011-04-15T13:14:30.715-07:00Serotek Presents at International Association of Audio Information
Services Conference<p>News Release <br />For Immediate Release <br />Media Contact <br /><a href="mailto:pr@serotek.com">pr@serotek.com</a></p>
<p>612.246.4818, ext. 104 <br />Serotek Presents at International Association of Audio Information Services Conference<br />Minneapolis, Minn April 15, 2011 <br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">Serotek Corporation</a></p>
<p>the leading provider of Internet and digital information accessibility software, will be presenting at the</p>
<p><a href="http://www.iaais.org/conference.html">Annual International Association of Audio Information Services conference,</a></p>
<p>held May 12 - 14 at the Sheraton ST Louis City Center Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. The<br /><a href="http://www.iaais.org/">IAAIS</a></p>
<p>is a volunteer-driven organization whose aim is to turn text in to speech for those who have difficulty accessing the printed word. Serotek provides easy access to content produced by IAAIS members through its<br /><a href="http://www.samobile.net/">SAMNet subscription service,</a></p>
<p>as well as through a free application for iOS devices entitled<br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/iblink">iBlink Radio.</a></p>
<p>iBlink radio is the first blindness-specific app for iOS devices, and it provides access to a wide variety of content by and for the blind community.<br />Michael Lauf, Serotek’s content director, and the host of weekly <font color="#0000ff">podcasts</font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.serotalk.com,/">www.SeroTalk.com,</a></p>
<p>will be presenting at the conference on several topics. These include using iBlink Radio to reach existing and new listeners, saving money by negating the need to purchase radios, using the internet and social networking to expand coverage areas, making quality readings available so patrons can listen at times convenient for them, recruiting volunteer readers, increasing funding through donations, and real time engagement of audiences by taking questions during live and pre-recorded events.<br />“I’m honored to have been invited to present at this year’s event”, said Lauf. For Serotek and IAAIS, the mission is very much the same. We both understand the importance of having access to a wide variety of information, and we both provide that in a way which is comfortable for everyone to access.”<br />In addition to participating in this year’s conference, Serotek has offered its weekly podcasts for syndication by IAAIS members. The podcast, which provides access to the latest mainstream and assistive technology news, has already been chosen for syndication by<br /><a href="http://www.tapingfortheblind.org/">Houston Taping for the Blind,</a></p>
<p>and is expected to be syndicated by other Radio Reading Services in the near future. “Syndication is a very exciting step for us”, said Joe Steinkamp, producer of the podcast. “With<br /><a href="http://www.serotalk.com,/">www.SeroTalk.com,</a></p>
<p>we wanted to educate people about technology, and demonstrate that it’s not just for geeks. There’s a lot of technology out there that would truly make people’s lives easier if they knew about it, and could make decisions about what works best for them. Now that the podcast is in syndication, we can reach a much wider audience who may not have been able to access this type of information any other way.” With the podcast in syndication, Serotek and IAIIS can partner to identify informational needs among the audiences of specific IAIIS members, and create content beneficial to those groups. <br />For more information about Serotek Corporation, visit<br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">www.serotek.com</a></p>
<p>For more information about The International Association of Audio Information Services, visit<br /><a href="http://www.iaais.org/">www.iaais.org</a></p>
<p>Serotek Corporation<br />Serotek Corporation is a leading technology company that develops software and manufactures accessibility solutions under the System Access brand. Committed to the mission of providing accessibility anywhere, Serotek began with the launch of the first online community specifically designed to meet the needs of people with visual impairment. Since then, Serotek has introduced several powerful, affordable solutions that require minimal training and investment. For more information, visit<br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">www.serotek.com</a></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-24200429363443820212011-04-01T09:06:00.000-07:002011-04-01T09:11:30.306-07:00Serotek Enters The Note Taker Market With The New GTO!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> 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mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Minneapolis Minnesota</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">April 1st 2011</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Serotek, the leading provider of Internet and digital information accessibility software and services, today announced its entrance in to the notetaker market with a product simply named the GTO. The GTO, originally code-named Project Doorstop, aims to resurrect previously existing technology for a second chance at life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">“So many people believe that innovation is about doing something that’s never been done before,”, said Hugh Morris, product manager for the GTO. One thing that hasn’t been done nearly enough is to take seemingly obsolete technology and combine it in new, and perhaps ludicrous ways.” That’s exactly what we’ve done with the GTO. Morris went on to say that though the cost of manufacturing the GTO is extremely low because no one else in the market has use for its parts, consumers will not benefit from this cost reduction. “We’ve spent 3 weeks in hard-core development and testing with this product. We tested it until we got tired of doing so. All that hard work costs the company money, and we’re going to pass that cost along to the consumer tenfold. We’re going to make consumers pay … and pay … and pay!” Mr. Morris then begin cackling maniacally and was unavailable for further comment. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We spoke with Rusty Mettles, lead developer for GTO, to learn more on how the product came about. “I had this closet full of stuff,”, said Mettles. “My mom was going to make me throw it out, and it was in that moment of desperation that I came up with the idea of the GTO. I love the <a href="http://www.chavezuno.com/Sounds/modem.wav">sound of a 14.4KBPS modem connecting</a>, and I didn’t want others to miss out on that beautiful sound. I remember composing research papers using WordPerfect 5.1, and I don’t understand why technology like this has fallen by the wayside. The GTO was my chance to bring it back.” </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The GTO already works with several formats familiar to seasoned tech enthusiasts, and boasts specs on par with many previously released devices. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Specifications.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The GTO runs on RISC processors gathered from gently used Game Boy units. This will allow you to play many legacy games that may or may not be accessible.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The unit supports several external storage formats including but not limited to: 3.5 and 5 ¼ inch Floppy drives, bubble memory and tape backup. The unit's internal memory is a roomy <a href="http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Bill_Gates">640K</a>, which ought to be enough for anybody. The US Robotics 14.4KBPS modem works on any existing phone line and will connect to any dial up service using the included ProComm Plus software. Telix software is available for an additional fee. Serotek continues to applaud <a href="http://www.apple.com/">Apple's</a> accessibility efforts, so the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_2">Echo 2 synthesizer</a> was the logical choice for text-to-speech on the GTO. Everything about this unit is built to offer consumer choice, so the unit will support 6 popular versions of DOS. We know many out there are tired of having to deal with messy graphics. This way we ensure that almost everything is text-based.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Input on the unit is accomplished through Morse code. <a href="http://handiham.blogspot.com/">Blind ham radio enthusiasts</a> will be ecstatic about this innovation, and those who don't know Morse code should have learned it long since, and will no longer have an excuse to put off acquiring this skill.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The included car battery accessory with alligator clips allows for 20 hours of battery life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The unit has been tested rigorously by 6 Chimpanzee-Bonobo hybrids, who received bananas and peaches in payment for their hard work. During the testing process, it was discovered that a banana-resistant surface was necessary to maintain the integrity of the unit. This is a feature not present in any other product on the market.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Though the chimps were excellent test subjects, the only intelligible quotes they provided for the press release were: "Peach good. Banana good good."<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For a more in-depth testimonial, we approached a human user, Ms. Anne Thrope for her thoughts on the GTO. “I despise people”, mumbled Thrope. With this technology, I can legitimately bow out of communicating with people in an effective and timely manner. It’s tremendously liberating!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The unit is priced at a reasonable $4011, and comes with 2-hour tech support, from 11 AM to 1 PM Eastern Standard Time. We approached Izzy Smart, lead technical support </p> <p class="MsoNormal">representative, for his comments on the GTO. "So basically, if they call us and tell us something's wrong, all's we gotta do is tell them to buy another one,", said Smart. "I learned how to do that pretty quick. It was like a couple of weeks, and I totally had it down, ok? And then, like, if they ask us how to do something on the thing, we're supposed to just hang up. I told my boss, I was like, man that's mean! He goes, no way, see, this way we're teaching people to learn to think for themselves. I was like, oh, right on, man! I can dig that!" </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We are also proud to announce our newest addition to the Serotek stable today in support of the GTO. The SAMBBS, or System Access mobile Bulletin Board System, will let you connect with your friends and family from just about anywhere you can connect with a land line. Here are just a couple of the revolutionary things you can do on the SAMBBS. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Create documents using WordStar.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Read documentation through Borland, to relearn all that you have forgotten. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Play music files, painstakingly composed using QBasic.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Just dial in, log on and by tomorrow you will be reading email and browsing through files. Downloading files, however, is not supported at this time. This capability is slated for a future release in 2015. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">To get a sneak preview of the SAMBBS, use your Telnet client of choice to connect to bbs.samobile.net</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our marketing consultants told us we should at least pretend to care about your input. With that in mind, if you can think of features we should have included in the GTO but didn't, please comment here or call the <a href="http://www.serotealk.com/">Serotalk</a> blab line at (866) 997-2522 and we'll give your ideas the attention they deserve.</p>Rusty Mettleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09465872426698498252noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-79076305656878919262011-03-22T11:52:00.001-07:002011-03-22T11:52:20.693-07:00Serotek TownHall Meeting on March 30, 2011<p>All persons interested in the future of Serotek, as well as the blindness and low vision community, are cordially invited to join Serotek for a town hall meeting, to be held Wednesday March 30 at 9:00 P.M. Eastern, 6:00 P.M. Pacific, in the TownHall Voice chat room.</p>
<p>Serotek's CEO Mike Calvo will discuss future goals and objectives for both Serotek corporation, as well as some very important issues that should be of concern to blind and low vision persons.</p>
<p><a href="http://serotalk.com/listen.pls">Persons may also listen via SAMNet Radio,</a></p>
<p><a href="http://accessibleevent.com/005121036">listen via Accessible Event</a></p>
<p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-blink-radio/id332027117?mt=8">or by using Serotek's free iBlink Radio app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.</a></p>
<p>Because of the large number of attendees, we will not take live questions. However, persons are invited to </p>
<p><a href="mailto:ceo@serotek.com">email your questions and comments in advance to Mike Calvo.</a></p>
<p>We look forward to sharing some interesting objectives for Serotek, as well as outlining some exciting projects to greatly enhance the quality of life for blind and low vision persons. </p>
<p>The Serotek Team<br /></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-75600800887446633422011-02-16T00:01:00.001-08:002011-02-16T00:01:46.687-08:00Urgent Announcement concerning Vipre Antivirus and System Access<dd>The latest definitions for Vipre Antivirus from Sunbelt Software are flagging System Access as a trojan. this means if you reboot your computer, you will not have speech and will likely need sighted assistance. You may wish to run another screen reader to give permission to Vipre to allow System Access. You may even consider disabling Vipre, or even uninstalling Vipre until they have resolved the problem they have created.. we are in contact with Sunbelt Software at this late hour, in the hope of resolving the issue asap. <br />
<script type="text/javascript">writeDateTime(1297840351)</script>
</dd>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-451056775871249482011-01-03T13:30:00.001-08:002011-01-03T13:30:45.503-08:00News Release: HoverCam Teams with Docuscan Plus at CES<dd><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">For Immediate Release<br />Media Contact:<br /><a href="mailto:contact@thehovercam.com">contact@thehovercam.com</a></span></dd>
<dd><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">858-812-6358<br />Or<br /><a href="mailto:pr@serotek.com">pr@serotek.com</a></span></dd>
<dd><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">612.246.4818, Ext. 104<br />HoverCam Teams with DocuScan Plus at CES<br />Alliance Brings Together Pocket-Sized Document Camera<br />and World’s First Cloud-Based Scanning Technology<br />SAN DIEGO, Calif – January 3, 2011 –<br />Pathway Innovations and Technologies, Inc.<br />, the designer and manufacturer of HoverCam office cameras, and<br />Serotek Corporation<br />, the leading provider of accessible multi-platform and cloud-based mobile technology<br />solutions, announce their alliance for CES 2011. Together the organizations deliver<br />mainstream convenience plus assistive technology industry accessibility to mobile<br />document scanning.<br /> The HoverCam Mini™ and Neo™ office cameras and DocuScan Plus™, the world’s first<br />cloud-based scanning solution, will be demonstrated together at the 2011 International<br />Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 6 – 9.<br />Unlike conventional scanners, the portable Neo and pocket-sized HoverCam Mini scan<br />documents in one second or less. Users need only plug it into any computer’s USB<br />port. The<br />DocuScan Plus<br /> software offers high-quality optical character recognition to convert the printed<br />page to text. This self-voicing application requires no special drivers and can read<br />printed pages as well as many types of PDF files, including those containing text<br />or those containing only images. The entire camera and software package is affordably<br />priced below $800 USD.<br />“In today’s mobile business environment, users demand immediacy, portability and<br />global accessibility,” said Ji Shen, Chairman and CEO, Pathway Innovations and Technology,<br />Inc., “By teaming with Serotek’s DocuScan Plus technology, the HoverCam can deliver<br />all three.”<br />“While DocuScan Plus was originally designed for the reading impaired, such as those<br />who are blind, have low vision or are dyslexic, it also has mass appeal,” said Serotek<br />CEO, Mike Calvo, “The size and simplicity of the HoverCam Mini broadens the mobility<br />as well as the reach and appeal of this total scanning solution.”<br />Both products will be demonstrated at booth number 35955 on the second floor of the<br />south hall at CES 2011. For additional information, contact Pathway Innovations and<br />Technology, Inc. at 858-812-6358, visit<br /><a href="http://www.thehovercam.com/">www.thehovercam.com</a><br />, contact Serotek Corporation at (612) 246-4818 or visit<br /><a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">www.docuscanplus.com</a><br />.<br />Pathway Innovations and Technologies, Inc.<br />Based in San Diego, California, Pathway Innovations and Technology is the designer<br />and manufacturer of HoverCam document cameras. Used in schools, hospitals and other<br />businesses, HoverCam cameras are designed for document scanning, video recording,<br />student assessment and the visually impaired. For more information, visit<br /><a href="http://www.thehovercam.com/">www.thehovercam.com</a><br />.<br />Serotek Corporation<br />Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Serotek Corporation develops software and manufactures<br />accessible, multi-platform and cloud-based mobile technology solutions. Committed<br />to the mission of providing accessibility anywhere, Serotek designs its solutions<br />to meet the needs of people who are blind or have low vision, with minimal training<br />and investment. For more information, visit<br /><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">www.serotek.com</a><br /></span></dd>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-84548935411727946852010-12-28T17:17:00.001-08:002010-12-28T17:19:06.137-08:00iBlink Radio 2.0 Now Available On The Apple App Store<p>For Immediate Release</p>
<p>Minneapolis, Minnesota, December 28, 2010</p>
<p>The iBlink Radio application from the Serotek Corporation has just been updated! The world's first application for the visually impaired for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad is now available on the iTunes App Store. Version 2.0 sports Push Notifications, Localized Content and even more content for you to explore. IBlink Radio offers radio stations, podcasts and reading services of special interest to blind and visually impaired persons; as well as their friends, family, caregivers and those wanting to know what life is like without eyesight. The original release of iBlink Radio has been downloaded thousands of times and it has even been featured on the front page of the iTunes Store. All stations under Community Radio are owned and/or operated by persons with limited or no eye sight. Genres include oldies, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, alternative, classic Rock, Old Time Radio and more. This is a small sampling of SAMNet, Serotek's award-winning online community dedicated to promoting the digital lifestyle to its low-vision and blind subscribers. Reading services provide narration of newspapers, magazines, periodicals and other print publications including: USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and hundreds more. Podcasts are produced by blind and partially sighted individuals, and cover topics including: broadcasting, computers, radio, technology, Independent Living, Travel, and much more. "We created this application and placed it on the iTunes store, free of charge, for a number of reasons. The blind community is full of people with an astounding and diverse array of talents and skills. These abilities are worthy of being noticed and appreciated by everyone, in both the blind and sighted communities," said Mike Calvo, CEO. iBlink Radio is the perfect way to showcase the broadcasting talent within the blind community, and the app is available for anyone, blind or sighted, to download. What's New in Version 2.0 Improved Interface: The new iBlink Radio interface allows even easier navigation across your iDevice of choice. You can use your iPhone, iPod or iPad in either portrait or landscape modes to find your favorite station. Or just move through the lists to discover all new ones. In either case, the tap of a finger will have your selection playing instantly. You can also adjust the volume from iBlink Radio by swiping your finger on the volume control at the bottom of the display. New Easy To Add Favorites: You can add your favorite stations and Reading Services without ever leaving the list page. Tap the bottom left of the display to add the selection to your Favorites list. You can even do this while listening to the station! Push Notifications: You can now set alerts and sounds to notify you when your favorite content has been updated. The new notifications option can be found under the Settings section of your IOS device. Localized Content Having trouble finding the right content for you? Listen to information and entertainment specific to your area with the use of the Localized Content feature. New Content Added 5 new radio stations have been added to the Community Radio section. Several new Radio Reading Services have been added including those from; Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and all five feeds for Voice Print Canada. This upgrade makes it even easier to find and hear the community radio stations, reading services, and podcasts you want, including resources in your area. This upgrade also adds support for a wider variety of audio formats, so you can expect even more resources to be added in the near future.</p>
<p><font color="#0000ff"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/i-blink-radio/id332027117?mt=8">Download iBlink Radio Version 2.0</a></font></p>
<p><font color="#0000ff"></font> </p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-32917652363273744302010-12-23T15:07:00.001-08:002010-12-23T15:07:43.037-08:00Still Looking for a Holiday Gift?<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Are you still frantically searching for that perfect gift for a friend or family member, and you know that a sweater with a picture of Santa on the front just isn’t going to work again this year? Or maybe you have some holiday cash burning a hole in your pocket, just begging to be spent on a gift for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There’s no need to panic, because Serotek has got you covered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why not give the gift of accessibility this holiday season with a </font><a href="http://www.serotek.com/giftcards"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">Serotek gift card</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You don’t have to brave the holiday crowds to get one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You don’t even have to figure out how to make the gift wrap look pretty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>All you need to do is visit</font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><a href="http://www.serotek.com/giftcards">http://www.serotek.com/giftcards</a></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">and then relax knowing you’ve chosen the perfect gift for that special someone on your list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><?xml:namespace prefix ="" o /><o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></o:p> </p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Gift cards may be used toward any Serotek product or service. How about the gift of quick and easy access to printed documents and PDF’s at home or on the go with </font><a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">DocuScan Plus</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Or, choose Serotek’s award-winning </font><a href="http://www.satogo.com/"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">System Access</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri"> screen reader for use on a desktop, netbook, or from any computer anywhere using a U3 thumb drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Become a member of the </font><a href="http://www.samobile.net/"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">SAMNet community</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"> and get access to email, news, thousands of audio-described movies, users’ forums, voice chat, and much more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Find out about these and other products and services by visiting <o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">http://www.serotek.com</a></font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Wondering how this gift card thing works?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Don’t worry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s easy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Visit <a href="http://www.serotek.com/giftcards">http://www.serotek.com/giftcards</a></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">to begin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Enter the gift card amount, and then you’ll be taken to </font><a href="http://www.paypal.com/"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">PayPal</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"> to enter your payment information and complete the purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If you don’t have a PayPal account, no problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You don’t need one to complete the transaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Once your gift card has been purchased, we’ll send an email to you and your gift card recipient with a coupon code and instructions for using it. <o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">If the gift card recipient already has a Serotek account, he or she can </font><a href="https://secure.samobile.net/login.html?next_url=/signup/order_start"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">log in to place an order</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If not, the recipient can </font><a href="https://secure.samobile.net/signup/account_info.html"><font color="#0066cc" size="3" face="Calibri">create an account</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"> and then place an order. When prompted for a coupon code during the ordering process, simply enter your gift card code and it will be applied toward your purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If the gift card is not used in its entirety for the first purchase, it may be used as many times as necessary to spend all available funds on the card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You may check the amount on your gift card at any time by visiting <o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><a href="http://www.samobile.net/giftcards/check_balance.html">http://www.samobile.net/giftcards/check_balance.html</a></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">and entering your gift card code.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">If you have any questions or would like more information, call us at</font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">(612) 246-4818, or toll free at (866) 202-0520.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Happy holidays from the Serotek team!<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-7710149271471112362010-12-16T17:03:00.001-08:002010-12-16T17:03:10.916-08:00Second Annual SAMNet Christmas Concert<p>Join us for our second annual SAMNet Christmas concert, live tonight at 9PM Eastern U.S., in the Music Voice chat Room, and broadcast live.</p>
<p><a href="http://streams.swcast.net/launch.cgi/samnetradio/hi-band.pls">Click here to Listen Live to the 2nd Annual SAMNet Christmas concert December 16 from 9 to 10PM Eastern U.S. on SAMNet Radio</a></p>
<p>Seven of our talented SAMNet members will perform in this presentation. <br /></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-21951303479706275842010-12-13T14:18:00.001-08:002010-12-13T14:18:32.053-08:00SeroTalk and Serotek are Giving Away Three Gift Cardds for the Holidays<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Serotek and SeroTalk are giving away 3 gift cards<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>for the holidays. Tell us your favorite 2010 SeroTalk podcast or tech chat moment. Let us know when we made a fool of ourselves, made a mess of things, made you angry, saved you money, or just made you laugh! <?xml:namespace prefix ="" o ns ="" "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><a href="mailto:resources@serotalk.com">Send an email to resources@serotalk.com</a></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Please include your first and last name, working email address, number of the podcast or tech chat, and the segment you liked. One entry per person. Three qualifying entries will be drawn December 31 at Noon Eastern U.S. The first name drawn will receive a $50 gift card for Serotek software and services. Two others will each receive a $25 Serotek gift card. Deadline for entries is December 30 at Midnight U.S Eastern time.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Don’t forget, you can buy a Serotek gift card for the holidays, someone’s birthday or any old time you want by going to<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><a href="http://www.serotek.com/giftcards">www.serotek.com/giftcards</a></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><a href="mailto:resources@serotalk.com">Email us your favorite 2010 SeroTalk moment</a></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">and get ready to win from the SeroTalk Podcast Crew.<o:p></o:p></font></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"><a href="http://www.serotek.com/">www.serotek.com</a></font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Michael Laufhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09781758586506940411noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1143723380059090027.post-43827680411165110012010-12-07T14:59:00.001-08:002010-12-07T15:23:00.337-08:00Crowdsourcing as a software development tool<span xmlns=""> <p>With the recent release of <a href="http://www.docuscanplus.com/">DocuScan Plus,</a> the product development team would like to share with the community what we believe to be a new and exciting method of developing assistive technology. We feel that this tool is especially useful when developing assistive technology because of the unique challenges involved with creating this type of software. Assistive technology, unlike some other types of software, must be simultaneously easy enough for brand new computer user's to use, yet powerful enough to satisfy the needs of those with long term experience as well. In addition, developing a product that is so essential to so many people means that great care must be taken in every step of the design process.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>How software is traditionally developed<br /></h2><p>The traditional method of software development is for a design team to generate specifications for a software product. After mapping as much of the product out as possible, including features, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/Users/bossley.5/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary">UI</a> (which stands for user interface and defines how a user interacts with the software,) the overall capabilities of the software, pipe dreams, Et cetera, the design team hands these requirements off to the programmers. From this point forward, the programmers write the code using these specifications to construct the product. Once the programmers have completed their initial work, the product enters the <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=alpha+test&i=37674,00.asp">"Alpha test phase</a>", during which the product design team tests the software. If needed, they ask the programmers to make changes. Once Alpha testing is complete, potential <a href="http://www.techterms.com/definition/enduser">end users</a> are invited to play with the product. This phase is most commonly refered to as a <a href="http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/beta-test.html">beta test</a>. Yet, at this stage, the feature set, software capabilities, user interface, Et cetera, is mostly frozen and very few, if any changes to these areas are made. Most of the time beta testing is used to eliminate bugs only.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>The Serotek difference<br /></h2><p>All of us on the DocuScan Plus development team were very excited about this product. However, we knew that we were only a small segment of the population who would ultimately be using the product. We were determined to make the product as good as it could possibly be, not only for ourselves, but for the audience we wanted to serve. While we all had ideas on what we wanted the product to be, we decided that there was no better way to find out what the ideal document scanning solution should be like than to enlist the help of the people who would use the product the most. To do this, we knew we needed to go beyond the traditional model of software development. So, instead of bringing the users in on the traditional beta testing phase, we brought them in closer to the Alpha testing level.<br /></p><p><br /></p><h2>The community difference<br /></h2><p>Unlike traditional beta testing, we decided that we would invite current owners of Document Scan to preview the new product. In exchange for their help with the development process, they were offered an introductory upgrade price. Over 20% of existing owners of Document Scan chose to participate in the preview. The interaction we had with this group was nothing short of amazing. We created a discussion forum in which preview users were asked to leave any feedback, ask questions, make suggestions, and report problems. As the development and testing phase moved forward, many of these suggestions were incorporated into the final product. In addition to the forum, weekly voice chats were held in order to allow more direct interaction within our community. Members of the Serotek staff including the lead programmer were present at these chats and in much the same fassion as the forum, these weekly discussions produced outstanding feedback and promoted great interaction both among the preview user's themselves and with the development team directly.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>We have no doubt That DocuScan Plus is a far superior product because of the community involvement in the creation of the program. Many of the suggestions and ideas that were refined over the preview period greatly enhanced the usability, feature set, and quality of the end product. The DocuScan Plus team would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the preview users for their outstanding feedback and help making DocuScan Plus what it is today. It is truly remarkable to be part of such an awesome community. It is our hope that this type of software development, with an emphasis on community involvement, will serve as a blueprint to follow for future assistive technology products. </p></span>Peter Bossleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01492999490581280474noreply@blogger.com0