Changes in System Access 2.3.0.189

System Access Browser

• Re-added the "Copy Shortcut" command to the context menu for links.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.188

Starting with this version, the new System Access browser is used by default when you choose to connect from the SA Mobile Network from the System Access menu, or when you launch the SA Mobile Network icon on the Windows desktop. The old, Mozilla-based browser is still available; it's now the second option on the System Access menu. If you previously set the old browser as your default browser, the new browser will become the default when you install this update. You'll want to use the old browser if you want to use our instant messenger; otherwise, you should use the new browser.

Changes in System Access 2.3.0.187

Accessible Digital Lifestyle

Audio demos of the features described below are available.

• The new SA Mobile Network browser now supports the Amazon MP3 downloader, which we strongly recommend that you use when buying music from the Amazon MP3 store.

• You can now transfer described movie audio, other SA Mobile Network audio content such as old-time radio, RSS news articles, podcasts, email, and forum messages to a Victor Reader Stream. Note that you need at least version 1.2 of the Victor Reader Stream firmware, which we expect to be released within a few days of this blog post. You can also transfer music and podcasts to a Creative ZEN Stone MP3 player. Please check the online SA Mobile Network help for more information about these new features.

Are we nuts?

People are asking that question since Serotek elected to make its AFB Access Award winning product, SAToGo, available to all, in conjunction with The AIR Foundation, for no charge.
For the record, the answer is “No. We are not crazy. This makes good sense both from a humanitarian perspective and from a business perspective.”
Stop and think a minute. Does Google charge for using its search engine or for looking up a location on Google Maps? Does Microsoft charge for Internet Explorer? How about Firefox? And wasn’t it Netscape that broke open the Internet with a free browser?
In the long run Netscape lost the battle of the browsers but they completely changed the marketplace.
I think everyone out there understands the humanitarian reasons for making SAToGo available at no charge, but let me talk about the business reasons.
Before we made the free accessibility announcement the entire market for accessibility tools was a few hundred thousand people, worldwide. But there are more than 350 million blind people and a couple hundred million low vision people who would benefit from these tools. So in a very real sense the structure of the adaptive technology marketplace was such that it could never be more than a tiny niche market – a few thousand people fortunate enough to be subsidized by their government or some charity to purchase and be trained in complex accessibility tools.
When you’re a new company like Serotek an artificially restricted market is not only frustrating but debilitating. Even with the best tools available it is not possible to attract the capital to penetrate the market and claim your rightful share. The traditional vendors have a monopolistic stranglehold that virtually protects them from innovation. And who suffers? WE DO! Blind and low vision people suffer because they are left behind.
Our intent in giving away SAToGo is not to compete for the business that traditional screen readers are getting but to blow open the market and invite in millions more blind and low vision people. Our strategy is to say: “Hey this is no longer a private party for a few elite. Accessibility is for everyone, anytime, anywhere.”
So how will we make money? Well clearly we must make money or we will go out of business. We aren’t a charity and we aren’t subsidized by any fund. We survive on the sale of our products and services, pure and simple.
If you look at our Accessible Digital Lifestyle offering you can see that we have a very attractive suite of products for people who want a bit more than screen reader-like access. We anticipate that many SAToGo users will decide they want System Access Mobile and the SAM Net service. We anticipate many public and private institutions, organizations and businesses will want Remote Access Manager and/or Remote Incident Manager. We see schools that perhaps don’t want kids on the Internet, buying site licenses for System Access, confident that the kids have the same software at home that they have at school. Those are just a start.
We anticipate many, many new products that expand the accessible digital lifestyle to every facet of life. The fun of it is we no longer have to think small about a handful of possible users. We can think huge – every blind and low vision person in the world.
To us that makes very good business sense.
What do you think? Are we nuts?

Press Release: Nonprofit Launched to Bring Free Accessibility Worldwide

Nonprofit Launched to Bring Free Accessibility Worldwide

The AIR Foundation committed to ‘accessibility is a right’

Media Contact:

Janelle Schulenberg

Tacet Consulting

612-720-1068

janelle@tacetconsulting.com

Orlando, Florida – January 31, 2008 – The AIR Foundation, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. was announced today at a press conference held during the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) 2008 National Conference at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. The mission of the foundation is to promote universal accessibility so that every blind and low-vision person in the world has access to digital information over the Internet and Worldwide Web.

The foundation’s executive director, Art Schreiber, also announced that the organization’s first offering will be free usage of a Web 2.0 accessible screen reader. The product is provided through an exclusive license in perpetuity granted to The AIR Foundation from Serotek Corporation, the leading provider of Internet and digital information accessibility software and services. The screen reader is called SA To Go and is powered by Serotek’s award-winning System Access software which provides immediate text to speech, magnified visual, and Braille access to digital information presented through the Web or other means, while the user is directly connected to the Internet. The software does not remain resident on the user’s computer when the connection to the Internet is interrupted or terminated. Users can obtain access to the free software by calling 877-369-0101 or visiting www.AccessibilityIsaRight.org.

“The basic tenet of The AIR Foundation is that accessibility is a fundamental human right, regardless of financial or geographic constraints” said Art Schreiber, executive director of The AIR Foundation, “by allowing the blind and visually impaired to have equal access to computer and Internet information through the free use of an advanced screen reader like SA To Go, we have already taken great strides toward our mission.”
The AIR Foundation will solicit funds and contract development of product enhancements including availability in other languages. The organization’s first priority is to make SA To Go available in Mandarin Chinese.

“SA To Go is highly intuitive and requires minimal training to use,” said Serotek CEO, Mike Calvo, “the user not only has access to information displayed on Web pages, but to Web-based applications such as Internet telephone service, and to applications resident on the host computer. The user can also access PDF files, fill out forms, and otherwise interact with information with the same facility as a sighted person.”

The AIR Foundation will operate through the generosity of organizations donating their time, expertise, and funds. It invites other nonprofits, assistive technology vendors, mainstream hardware and software companies and anyone interested in promoting accessibility as every person’s right, to align with the AIR team.

The AIR Foundation

The AIR Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advocate, teach, and deliver information accessibility tools. We focus on the accessibility needs of blind and low-vision people. Our mantra is “accessibility is a right” and we work with corporations and agencies worldwide to deliver free accessibility to all. For more information, call 877-369-0101 or visit www.AccessibilityIsaRight.org.

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 the first 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 and investment. For more information, visit www.serotek.com.

Serotek CEO to Speak at ATIA Convention

Technology company will present on total accessibility at the Assistive Technology Industry Association Convention 

MINNEAPOLIS - January 28, 2008 - Serotek Corporation, the leading provider of Internet and digital information accessibility software and services, today announced that its CEO , Mike Calvo, will deliver a presentation at the Assistive Technology Industry Association Convention that will be completely web-accessible to both the blind and the deaf members of the audience. The theme for the speech is Accessibility Anywhere – The Next Generation, and will focus on the accessible digital lifestyle.

“The digital lifestyle, sometimes called i-life, includes free-flowing information and entertainment focused on the way you live,” said Mike Calvo, Serotek Corporation founder and CEO , “this lifestyle ought to be completely accessible to anyone wherever they are or go in the world. Serotek is working to ensure that it is.”

Serotek Corporation will also be exhibiting at the event and will be demonstrating new features of its award winning System Access software, including a new Internet browser, software as a service pricing plan (SAS), and the ability to transfer various personal and network content, including described movies (audio only), rss content, and email, from The System Access Mobile Network. Participants will also be introduced to the enhanced Media Library featuring Smart Sync technology combined with the Napster music service using the Creative Zen Stone mp3 player, and Victor Stream , as well as online streaming music services including XM radio Online, Pandora.com, and Last.fm through the new System Access browser.

The 2008 Assistive Technology Association Convention will be held January 30 – February 2, 2008 in Orlando , Florida , at the Caribe Royale Resort. Mr. Calvo's presentation will be delivered at 8:00 am EST on February 2, 2008 in the Curacao IV conference room.

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 the first 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 and investment. For more information, visit www.serotek.com .  

Serotek Honored with AFB Access Award

Technology company earns prestigious award for SA To Go software

MINNEAPOLIS – January 24, 2008 – Serotek Corporation, the leading provider of Internet and digital information accessibility software and services, is pleased to announce they have been chosen as a recipient of the 2008 Access Award. Presented by the American Foundation for the Blind, the Access Awards recognize individuals, corporations and organizations that are eliminating or substantially reducing inequities faced by people who are blind or visually impaired. One of only three companies chosen to receive the Access Award, Serotek Corporation is being honored for providing access to screen reading software from any computer at any time through its System Access To Go (SA To Go) product.

A Web 2.0 software offering, SA To Go is available at www.satogo.com to anyone interested in having their computer screen content read aloud to them. From the blind to novice users to multi-taskers, this accessibility option is operational from any computer with Internet access.

“From macular degeneration to diabetes and more, the world’s aging population will have a growing incidence of visual impairment, low vision and vision loss, making this technology more mainstream than ever,” said Mike Calvo, CEO, Serotek Corporation, “And we expect the world to demand accessibility from any computer while traveling, working or at home, without toting hardware or software along.”

Serotek Corporation will be presented with the AFB Access Award at the 2008 JLTLI National Conference (Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute). The ceremony will be held on April 4, 2008 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott in Burlingame, California at 5:00 pm (PDT). Previous Access Award winning companies include Google™, Blockbuster, The IBM Corporation, Sun Microsystems and Pitney Bowes Inc.

“We appreciate and accept this recognition on behalf of all those who have been and will be benefiting from an accessible digital lifestyle through SA To Go,” said Mike Calvo, CEO, Serotek Corporation. “Serotek is committed to accessibility anywhere, and will continue to develop innovative products and services that level the playing field for all.”

Since the company was formed, Serotek Corporation has been developing technology solutions that allow anyone, regardless of physical limitations, disabilities, lack of Internet savvy or computer ownership, the ability to access and command all of the resources of the Internet and an accessible digital lifestyle. For more information about Serotek Corporation or its product and service offering, visit http://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 and investment. For more information, visit http://www.serotek.com/.

JLTLI

The purpose of the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute (JLTLI) is to improve the quality of programming and services to blind and visually impaired children, adults, and their families. The Institute is designed to provide a forum in which leadership personnel and emerging leaders from the blindness field can come together to increase and share their knowledge and expertise. In addition, the JLTLI affords opportunities to network, share common concerns and innovative strategies, as well as learn about what projects AFB personnel and others in the field have undertaken to improve quality of life for people with visual impairments. It is through the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute that the American Foundation for the Blind not only recognizes Dr. Taylor's lifetime service but also hopes to perpetuate her philosophies.