System Access: The Alternative Commitment

As you know, Serotek is not a conventional assistive technology provider. In fact, we take pride in our willingness to think outside the box and leverage products that make a distinct mark on the customers we serve, 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?

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 American Foundation of the Blind, which sets forth the following:

"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."[1]

Well, if we're going by these fundamental guidelines, then System Access 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 classroom.

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."[2] 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.

There are at least three factors that feed people's hesitation to see System Access for what it is:

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 Kindle Fire, or you could put down more money and buy the more expensive iPad because the majority says the latter outperforms the former. So it comes as no surprise that if competing screen readers cost $895 and $1,095, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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, System Access is priced well below other options 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. It is an economical solution for people who believe in having easy to use yet powerful options instantly at hand.

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.

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 SAToGo.com. After all, why limit yourself to timed demonstrations when you could take our product for a more uninhibited test drive?

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 NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA), 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.

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?
?
[1] Screen Readers. American Foundation of the Blind: Last accessed December 6, 2011
http://www.afb.org/prodbrowsecatresults.asp?catid=49
[2] The Freedom Box, Technology for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Melanson, Dave. Teachers.Net Gazette. Last accessed: December 6, 2011
http://teachers.net/gazette/OCT02/melanson.html

Who Says? You Can't Build It and They Will Come

Knowbility blogger Desiree at Universally Designed gives us a wonderful tutorial in Webinars in her September 2nd posting along with an introduction to Serotek’s Accessible Event, which makes this phenomenally useful tool completely accessible to the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind. Desiree gives our AE team a lot of well-deserved pats on the back. That’s the way it should be because our people are out there changing the world, one demonstration at a time. Once again Serotek has blasted the barriers and brings the latest in social networking technology to everyone.
I call Accessible Event a social networking tool because online meetings are really a dimension of social networking. The one-on-one stuff is great and we make that available in many different ways, but some information is best provided to a group, all at the same time. That includes corporate meetings, webinars, university classes, sermons and presentations of many kinds – really any time one person or a group of people play show and tell to a larger group in real time. Thanks to the Internet and tools like GoToMeetinghttps://www1.gotomeeting.com/?Portal=www.gotomeeting.com and WebEx virtual meetings or webinars have been with us for a while now. But, as Desiree pointed out, the blind were not invited to be full participants. And neither were the deaf and deaf-blind.
Serotek changed that. We did it in a way that is very low cost and absolutely easy to use. We brought in the deaf and deaf-blind with closed caption capability and Braille interface. There is really no excuse now for any organization to offer a Webinar or even a presentation in an auditorium and not include full participation for the blind, deaf, and deaf-blind.
In case you haven’t noticed, this is what we do best. Make the world accessible with little or no hassle. We provide the accessibility tools people need to fully participate in today’s society. We make them easy to use and easy to own. We don’t wrap people up in expensive maintenance agreements or force them to own only our software in order to take advantage of the accessibility. AE, for example, works with any screen reader. And, of course, you don’t even need to purchase a screen reader for online use. System Access To Go is available free of charge to anyone.
When ADA was enacted there was always the built-in excuse that it was too costly or difficult to make certain activities accessible. Unfortunately, before we came on the scene, the Adaptive Technology Industry seemed to be doing its best to prove the ADA backsliders’ point. Serotek’s mission is to eliminate that excuse and with Accessible Event we’ve virtually eliminated it from presentations, online meetings and forums.
So speak up. If you are attending classes, webinars, going to meetings, or otherwise involved in presentations that are not fully accessible to you, it’s time to demand your rights. Any organization or individual can use AE at very little cost. The tools are available to tear down the barriers to accessibility, but only you can demand the people you deal with use those tools. Accessibility really begins with you demanding your right to it.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.91

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Windows Vista Speech Recognition

• Eliminated a crash which previously occurred if you started Speech Recognition while System Access was running.

• Added automatic reading of the voice training wizard, including a progress indication before each new phrase. You can press the accent grave key if you need to hear the current phrase again.

• Added echo of dictated text. We have tested this in Notepad, WordPad, and Word; we expect it to work in any edit control for which Windows Vista supports dictation.

• Made the alternates panel (also called the correction box) and the spelling panel accessible.

Word

• Undid a change that we made about two weeks ago in an attempt to improve responsiveness; this change was causing problems for some users of Word 2003, particularly under Windows Vista.

• Improved responsiveness when moving through a document line by line.

• Eliminated extraneous "end of line" messages when moving through an Outlook message character by character, when Word is the message editor for Outlook 2003.

Windows Mail

• Added code to make sure that the message list view receives focus when Windows Mail starts up. This was a problem when the inbox contained many messages.

Document Scan

• Eliminated security warnings which were shown when running Document Scan inside System Access.

SA Mobile Network Media Library

• Fixed a mistake which caused the Media Library to hang if you chose Play or Copy a CD.

Miscellaneous

• Eliminated unusually long pauses during continuous reading of documents.

• Improved automatic reading of dialogs, especially wizards under Windows Vista.

• Improved reading of status bars.

The Ranger Station Blogs About System Access Product Line

I am just humbled at this posting on the Ranger Station blog about Serotek's products. Words can't describe the feelings that came over me as I read word after encouraging word Ranger wrote about products that take up a majority of not only my life, but people like Matt Campbell, Brian Kevelighan, Casey Mathews, Michael Lauf, Bill Sparks, and so many others that are working behind the scenes to bring Seerotek's Accessibility Anywhere from our collective imaginations to reality.

I understand that I have undertaken a huge responsibility at Serotek. one that sometimes scares the pants off of me, because we are asking people to trust us with access to their entire lives. Not just at work but everywhere.

I can be a person of many words when I want to be, but for the first time in a long time, the only words I can say are Thank You God for allowing Serotek to give people a hope for universal accessibility. My only prayer is that when I fall short of the mark, and I will, that You give me the favor and grace in the community to recover and continue moving ahead. Help me to remain transparent.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.87

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Renaming

• Renamed FreedomBox and the FreedomBox Network to the System Access Mobile Network, or SA Mobile Network for short.

• Renamed the "FreedomBox 2" desktop and Start menu shortcuts to "System Access Mobile Network".

• Renamed the "FreedomBox 2" sub-menu in the Start menu to "System Access".

• Renamed the FreedomBox HomeServer to the System Access HomeServer, still HomeServer for short.

• Renamed the FreedomBox Desktop to the SA Mobile Desktop.

• Renamed the Assistant to SA Mobile Network Home.

• Renamed FreedomScan to Document Scan.

• Replaced references to the Key to Freedom with "U3 smart drive" or "USB flash drive".

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.86

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Internet Explorer

• Fixed a bug which caused links and non-link text on some web pages to be combined into a single link in System Access's virtual buffer. As always, please let us know if you find any web pages which System Access doesn't read correctly.

Word

• System Access now recognizes parentheses, angle brackets, square brackets, and braces as word delimiters, so when you type one of these punctuation marks while word echo is enabled, System Access will now speak the preceding word as it should.

• Attempted to improve performance when typing in Word, especially when key echo is on. Please let us know if Word still feels unresponsive, or if you encounter any new problems in Word.

• Improved detection of labels on forms, especially for check boxes. Please let us know if you find any forms that are still not accessible.

Miscellaneous

• Added automatic speech feedback in Windows Calculator.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.85

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Office 2007 Ribbon

• System Access now announces the keyboard shortcuts of the tabs as well as all buttons.

• System Access now automatically reads the help messages associated with buttons as if they were tool tips, unless you've disabled reading of tool tips.

• System Access now announces groups of controls as you enter them, by saying something like "Clipboard group".

• System Access now identifies split buttons, sub-menu buttons, and drop-down grid buttons as such.

• When navigating a grid such as the one opened by the Insert Table command, System Access now correctly announces the item with focus instead of repeatedly announcing the first item.

Internet Explorer and Outlook Express

• The Find Again (F3) command now works correctly.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.84

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Adobe Reader

• Fixed a bug to cause Adobe Reader 8.1 to crash when reading an untagged document.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.83

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Text to Speech

• Fixed problems that some users encountered with DECtalk under Windows XP because of the previous update.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.82

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Excel

• Fixed a problem which caused System Access to hang in Excel when a user ran some formatting commands. Please test System Access with the features of Excel that you use and let us know if you find any other problems.

Text to Speech

• System Access now uses the same high-quality DECtalk synthesizer on Windows Vista as it always has on previous versions of Windows.

• Actually removed the U.K. English version of DECtalk from the list of text-to-speech engines offered by System Access to Go.

Miscellaneous

• When System Access starts, it now moves you to the Windows desktop if no visible window is in the foreground.

• When you toggle key echo or word echo through the System Access menu, System Access now always indicates the new setting.

• In System Access's audio tutorials window, the Escape key once again works as described in the window's instructions.

• Eliminated Internet Explorer script errors which occurred when navigating our network with System Access to Go. However, you will currently not be able to activate numbered links by entering the link number when accessing the network this way; this will be fixed soon. This change does not affect access to the network through the FreedomBox browser.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.72

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

Windows Live Messenger

• The command to read the status bar in the conversation window works again.

• The typing sound is back.

• When you start a new conversation, System Access will speak your first message, as it should.

• When you press the accent grave key immediately after opening a waiting conversation window, System Access will read all of the messages sent thus far. Please let us know if this behavior should be changed.

• The command to read recent activity in the conversation window is now associated with the accent grave key regardless of keyboard layout. By mistake, it was formerly associated with the apostrophe in the U.K. English keyboard layout; it was probably associated with other keys in other non-U.S. layouts.

Internet Explorer and Outlook Express

• System Access now behaves correctly when you try to move to the previous word but you're already at the start of the page or message.

• Eliminated unwanted mid-sentence pauses in plain-text email messages.

Word

• When you cross a page boundary while moving through a document with the up and down arrow keys, System Access will now speak the new page number after the contents of the line and a short pause, unless you've disabled optional messages.

Excel

• System Access now provides appropriate feedback when you select a whole column with Control+Space, a whole row with Shift+Space, or the whole sheet with Control+A.

Settings

• Removed the "Optional Messages" and "Read Tool Tips" settings from the System Access preferences dialog in the FreedomBox browser. These settings are now only available from the System Access Menu.

• System Access now downloads your settings on startup and uploads them on shutdown even if FreedomBox is running when System Access starts.

• When you change settings on the System Access menu, System Access uploads your new settings in the background, to make sure they will be available wherever you run System Access next.

Miscellaneous

• Removed the U.K. English version of DECtalk from the list of available synthesizers in System Access to Go, since we don't include that synthesizer in SA to Go.

• Replaced the sound that System Access plays when a tool tip appears.

• In System Access to Go, if a firewall prompts you to allow System Access to connect to the Internet after you've logged in, System Access will speak in that dialog, unless you entered "trial" or "demo".

• Fixed a keypress handling bug which sometimes caused the Enter or Space key to be "sticky" in the thank-you dialog after sending logs or SA to Go feedback. This bug may have also affected other applications.

• System Access now correctly reads the fraction "three fourths" when it's represented as a single character, such as in Word.

• When reading the window title with Modifier+T, System Access now indicates after a short pause whether the window is minimized, maximized, or at normal size.

• The state of the check boxes in the list view of the Volume Control properties dialog is now read.

• When using the FreedomBox Network in System Access to Go, the browser now asks if you're sure you want to leave the FreedomBox Network when you press Escape or Alt+F4.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.71

This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go.

• Fixed a compatibility problem with McAfee VirusScan 8.0 which caused Internet Explorer and Word to crash.

• Fixed another compatibility problem with McAfee VirusScan which prevented System Access to Go from speaking in Outlook.

• Fixed a bug which prevented reading of some PDF documents.

• Eliminated an error that some users encountered immediately after pressing Alt+R the second time in System Access to Go.

• Fixed a bug in the SAPI 4 implementation which caused the speaking rate to revert to the synthesizer's default after some interruptions. If you had this problem before, please test this new version with your preferred SAPI 4 synthesizer and let us know if the problem is fixed.

On the Shoulders of Giants

System Access to Go represents a major step forward, not just in accessibility software, but in the fundamental way software is delivered. It is feature-rich, easy to use, and amazingly inexpensive. But it is in no way the end-all and be-all of what accessibility software can be. Nor was it created from whole cloth. It rests on the shoulders of accessibility giants like Ted Henter, Doug Geoffray and Dan Weirich, Jim Fruchterman, and others who broke down the barriers to the digital world and created a structure and process by which those without sight can use the computer and Internet with nearly the same ease as those with sight.

Serotek gladly acknowledges its debt to those who went before. Without them there would be no adaptive technology industry. They gave us standards and a framework that makes innovation possible. At the same time, we must point out that we are standing on their shoulders, which means we are reaching higher and accomplishing new accessibility goals that are beyond the capability of traditional tools. We can do that, in part, because we joined the party after lots of the hard work was already accomplished. We didn't have to invent what was already there; nor did we have to carry the burden of legacy software, accommodating users with older versions and a huge investment in training. We entered the frey lighter, with fewer restrictions and the benefits of 20/20 hindsight. We have used this advantage to create an even greater accessibility advantage for our customers.

If you follow the history of technical innovation you will note that it is almost always the late comer who breaks the mold and disrupts the technology pattern to the benefit of technology consumers. It was not IBM that created the personal computer; it was companies like Commodore and Apple, among others. It was not AT&T that gave us the cell phone. The fact is, the dominant player in any technology has a very difficult time innovating the next generation. Their investment in the entrenched technology -- their bread and butter -- is great, and they cannot afford to innovate at the expense of their cash cow. As one industry veteran noted, "A cash cow can be a damned heavy monkey on your back." Only new players with nothing to lose can take the risks of doing things in an entirely new way.

This is as true in the adaptive technology field as it is in mainstream technology. However, the unfortunate truth is that the dollars are a lot less in adaptive technology, so innovation is far more difficult to justify. There are no big venture players throwing billions at adaptive technologies. It's a game that has to be played for the love of rattling the cage and changing the mix. It is a matter of commitment to community and caring that each and every one of us has the same opportunity to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The challenges thrown at disruptive technologies are remarkably similar: people say that it doesn't do everything the traditional technology did, it's based on a mistake and when the mistake is corrected it won't work, it promises more than it delivers, and so on. Often the challenges are thrown by people who haven't taken the time to even use the new technology or by those who lack the vision to see how something might be done in a new way and thus open up vistas that have never been possible.

Let's look at System Access to Go versus these challenges.

First, SA to Go is simply a new delivery approach for System Access. Whether or not all System Access features work perfectly in the beta release, you can be sure that when the full product is presented to the marketplace it will be as robust as System Access. It has to be; it's the same software.

But it is also true that System Access doesn't deliver every feature and benefit that the traditional screen readers deliver. It really doesn't need to. What it does deliver are the features and benefits used most by most people most of the time. Screen readers are no different than any other technology. The vast majority of features go unused by most users. It's a comfort, to be sure, to know the features are there, but without a specific need, there is no incentive to invest the training time and dollars to become adept at something that will never be used in day to day life. System Access is an accessibility tool for the way we live, work, study, and communicate. And from the current, highly functional base, over time, other features will be added as demand dictates. (That, by the way, is precisely how the traditional screen readers evolved.) And, because System Access can do many things traditional screen readers cannot do, we expect that whole new applications that we have yet to imagine will emerge simply because they can. Think of it like the transition from rotary dialing to touch-tone dialing. Originally SA to Go technology may be just a replacement. Eventually it will spawn its own definition of what accessibility means.

During System Access development, Serotek worked closely with Microsoft, and Microsoft was fully aware of the techniques System Access uses to effectively access the Windows operating system. Not only did Microsoft not object; they have actively encouraged us and helped us to market our approach to accessibility.

Will Microsoft change its approach in the future and close some of our access methods? It's always possible. We certainly aren't so arrogant that we expect we can dictate what Microsoft chooses to do. On the other hand, there is no particular reason for them to close this path, so we do not expect it to happen precipitously. After all, some of the access methods we used in System Access have been around since Windows 3.1 and are still used even by Microsoft. Anyone that opines that Microsoft will change things about its operating system, unless they are reading documents that we aren't, is just stating an opinion. As a Microsoft partner we are just as in touch and privy to the same information as any other accessibility technology vendor.

The one thing that the industry can be confident of is that Serotek will stay right on top of the emerging mainstream technologies from Microsoft and others, and we will always be looking for ways to apply the latest mainstream features to make accessibility more natural.

If there is any criticism that really seems unjust it is the accusation that Serotek promises more than it delivers. We believe our company is unique, not only in the adaptive technology field, but in the entire software industry, for refusing to sell "vaporware." We go out of our way to make sure that every promise made is fulfilled.

That doesn't mean that we haven't had a bug or two from time to time. We have as good a track record as anyone, but not a perfect track record in that regard. But we have always fixed the bugs and brought the performance up to snuff at no additional cost to the user in very short order. In fact we'll put Serotek's release history against anyone in the adaptive technology industry and are confident that we have been faster, cleaner, and more functional, and have more consistently met expectations than anyone. One of the reasons we do public beta releases is to exercise the software fully before the first official release. It's the best test methodology we know.

Our biggest disappointment, though, is how slow our community has been to understand the implications of SA to Go. Hello? People, we are standing on the very edge of universal accessibility. We are delivering, in this beta release, software that can be accessed from anywhere and which immediately turns an ordinary Windows XP or above computer into a fully accessible device. It doesn't hack into any touchy parts of the computer creating a security risk. It simply works as long as it is needed and is then discarded like a used tissue, leaving no residue on the host machine. It's disposable accessibility. It's accessibility anywhere. Yet somehow several members of the community are more concerned about esoteric features, used by a tiny fraction of the public, than they are about the fact that with SA to Go, there need be no inaccessible computers. The shackles that have bound us to one machine, in one place, or put us at the mercy of businesses and government agencies to think that "accessibility" might be nice to offer, are gone. We don't need to fight for our right to accessibility in court. It's simply there.

The giants gave us a platform. Serotek has used that platform to leap forward into a world where accessibility is taken for granted. We are inviting everyone to come along and hoping that among them is the innovator who will stand on our shoulders for the next great leap.

More About Home Firewalls with System Access To Go

We have fixed the home firewall issue. Well, kind of. Now, when you run SAToGO for the first time using a home firewall, you will still have to allow it to run, but that's it. No More; never again. Thanks for your challenging emails, phone calls, and comments asking us to fix that. Just goes to prove once again that when you set your will to do something, it usually gets done.

Serotek Releases the World's First Web-based Access Technology Tool for the Blind

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Janelle Schulenberg

Tacet Consulting

612-720-1068

janelle@tacetconsulting.com

Serotek Makes Web 2.0 Accessible to the Blind

Technology Company Introduces SA To Go

Minneapolis, Minn. - June 13, 2007 - Serotek Corporation, the leading provider of Internet and digital information accessibility software and services, announces the public beta release of a web application called SA To Go (System Access To Go), the first product to make Web 2.0 accessible to the blind and the visually impaired. SA To Go is a web-resident product stemming from Serotek's award-winning System Access software. More than a screen reader, System Access requires no installation and provides complete control of your e-mail, makes web surfing easy, and offers intuitive access to Microsoft Office productivity tools like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. SA To Go makes System Access available on the Web for instant operation and has no permanence on the using computer. Users can now access System Access software anytime, anywhere that Internet access is available.

"We believe SA To Go will revolutionize the way blind people use the computer," said Mike Calvo, CEO, Serotek Corporation, "That's why we felt it critical to leverage the power of Web 2.0 to continue to fulfill our promise of accessibility anywhere."

SA To Go provides instant accessibility. Once online, users can visit www.SAtoGo.com and it appears in seconds. When finished, the user simply closes the program and any personal information vanishes leaving the host computer completely unchanged.

"Microsoft applauds Serotek's innovation with respect to access for all," said Daniel Hubbell, Technical Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation, "SA To Go is a revolution for people who need access to computers away from home."

Because of technologies like Fonix's text-to-speech and its small size, SA To Go loads within seconds giving the blind user the same access on the go as his sighted peers. And since SA To Go is a true web application, accessibility is no longer an expensive option; companies that want to provide public accessibility to customers can do so for a fraction of the cost.

"Serotek's new SA To Go application gives blind and visually impaired users quick, convenient access to PC functions," says Tim K. Hong, VP of Sales, Fonix Speech, Inc. "SA To Go incorporates Fonix text-to-speech, which is optimized to provide clear, intelligible TTS voices without using large amounts of processing power or memory. Fonix speech technology is a good fit for Serotek's System Access Mobile applications."

Serotek is putting the system out for public Beta because they are encouraging user input. The company can imagine hundreds of applications but believes users will direct its true potential.

"We think we've only scratched the surface of the potential of SA To Go," says Calvo, "That's why we're inviting users to take it for a spin and let us know how they think it might be applied."
The company will be surveying users on a regular basis and encouraging users to e-mail their ideas and comments to SAToGo@serotek.com.
To participate in the public beta, users can go to http://www.satogo.com and follow the instructions. Immediate accessibility will lead the user through the registration process. For more information about Serotek and its family of System Access accessibility tools, visit www.serotek.com.

Serotek Corporation

Serotek Corporation is a leading technology company that develops software and manufactures accessibility solutions. Committed to the mission of providing accessibility anywhere, Serotek launched an online community specifically designed to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Since then, Serotek has introduced several powerful, affordable solutions that require minimal training, including System Access, for which it was awarded the prestigious da Vinci award for innovation in universal accessibility by the National Multiple Sclerosis Association. For more information, visit www.serotek.com.

Fonix Corporation

Fonix Corporation (OTC BB: FNIX), based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is an innovative speech recognition and text-to-speech technology company that provides value-added speech solutions through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fonix Speech, Inc., currently offering voice solutions for mobile/wireless devices; interactive video games, toys and appliances; computer telephony systems; the assistive market and automotive telematics. Fonix provides developers and manufacturers with cost-effective speech solutions to enhance devices and systems. Visit www.fonix.com for more information, or call (801) 553-6600 and say "Sales."

Microsoft Corporation

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. For more information, visit www.microsoft.com.