A History Making Day For The Blind

This week, Serotek’s iBlink Radio app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is in the “Featured apps” section of the iTunes Store. On the surface, this may appear to be a nice feather in Serotek’s cap, but the implications go far beyond company recognition. This listing recognizes the blind community as a worthy market as well as putting Serotek on display as a contributor of high quality software and content. This is a first. The first time ever an application for blind people has been offered to the world at large, by a major marketing organization, without qualification or apology. It’s just there as part of the best of the best applications Apple has highlighted for its iPhone and iPod users.

We created this application and placed it on the iTunes store, free of charge, for a number of reasons. First and foremost it is great content – a complete array of entertainment and information, all created by and for the blind and low vision community. This is everything a blind person needs to know in one place, quick and easy, accessible anywhere. This is my personal app of choice.

Second, this is a valuable resource for sighted people if they or someone in their family is losing their sight. It’s a time when it feels as if the whole world is ending. But this one application can be salvation. With it the person can have access to everything they need to know. It used to be considered a tragedy to lose your sight. But today, it is just an inconvenience. With the power of full accessibility any one can live a rich and rewarding independent life even as their eyesight fades to black. iBlink leads a newly blind person to all the information he or she needs and puts them in touch with what they need to know to survive and thrive.

Third, 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. There are a lot of cool dudes out there who happen to be blind and who create some amazing information and entertainment. iBlink brings together the best of the best. A sighted person who wants to experience the world from a blind perspective, can do it on iBlink.

For as long as I remember, our community has been viewed as separate, different, and less capable by the businesses that produce high tech products. A few producers and marketers have seen us as perhaps worthy of separate but equal access to the things that everyone else takes for granted. Even fewer have been willing to provide full accessibility, but only if providing that accessibility doesn’t inconvenience anyone else. Unfortunately large parts of society, including many within the blind community, believe the blind population needs to depend on the kindness and generosity of the government and our sighted counterparts to accomplish the most basic of tasks. They just assume that social networking, the Internet and all the latest hi-tech gadgets are and always will be beyond our grasp. But Apple, and a growing number of followers, recognized that blind people are part of the market. They recognized that including us within their market scope is good business and builds their bottom line.

Apple has opened a whole new take on accessibility with products like the Mac, iPhone, iPod, and soon the iPad; each product is completely accessible out of the box and with all the same functionality our sighted counterparts enjoy. We owe it to ourselves to exploit these mainstream platforms and show the world just how smart Apple is. This week, our community, with its diverse array of talents, ideas and skills, is being showcased right alongside the talents, ideas and skills of the world at large. And you know what? It feels right. This is what accessibility is all about. This is what Serotek has been campaigning for since the company was founded. Blind and low vision folks being treated like ordinary people. It doesn’t get better than that.

Serotek Now Offers Paypal for All Software and Services

 

Serotek is pleased to announce that you have one more convenient option for purchasing our range of products and services. Effective immediately, you may now use Paypal to complete all purchases of products and services from Serotek, including SAMNet, Software As a Service, and Build a Bundle options. For subscription payments for monthly or annually billed services, you will be responsible for insuring that payments are scheduled in time to avoid service interruptions, as we are unable to set up recurring Paypal billing. When you receive billing reminders for your subscription

services, you'll be able to submit payment through Paypal by following the

Paypal link in the email, or you may continue to allow our billing system

to charge the credit card currently on file.

Paypal is a convenient online payment service designed to securely facilitate online transactions. Using Paypal, your credit card or banking

information is never exposed, and payment is simple and easy. To sign up

for a Paypal account, please visit:

http://www.paypal.com

When making a product purchase from Serotek, you will be presented with an option to pay by either credit card or with Paypal. To pay with Paypal,

simply select the pay with Paypal button, fill in your Paypal account

information, and follow the prompts to complete payment. Please note that

Paypal purchases may only be submitted online, and cannot be handled by

phone with a Serotek representative.

We hope you will enjoy this quick and convenient method for purchasing all

your favorite Serotek products and services.

The Serotek Team

 

Serotek's iBlink Radio Makes the Front Page of the iTunes Apps Store

Thanks to everyone responsible for

Serotek's iBlink Radio Making the Front Page in the Apps Section of the iTunes Store.

This proves that the blind community does have a voice, and that we can, and should, promote quality applications, and vote down those that are not accessible. We hope you will spread the word to people in other countries, submit reviews, and take time to rate applications before removing them from your iPhone.

 

The SeroTalk team!

 

 

AE HotSpot appliance will make local events accessible

Serotek today unveiled its newest product, the AE HotSpot, at the 2010 ATIA conference in Orlando, FL. This revolutionary appliance, based on the same technology as Serotek's Web-based Accessible Event service, gives people with disabilities access to classroom presentations, seminars, and other events. For the first time, people who have hearing or visual impairments can take full advantage of all aspects of any online or on-site event/presentation.

By leveraging our Accessible Event platform and secure wireless networking technology, Serotek's AE HotSpot appliance allows event participants with disabilities to access slides, Excel spreadsheets, Web pages, and Word documents using their own wireless-enabled computers and access technology in real time. With the AE HotSpot, an event can be accessed from the Internet if the event coordinator wishes, but an Internet connection is not necessary for on-site participants to have full access to the event. That's because the AE HotSpot appliance is a completely independent WiFi access point. This allows the event coordinator and/or presenter to decide what content will and will not be available to the attendees. The self-contained nature of this appliance enables a closed, secure Intranet environment, regardless of whether Internet connectivity is available. However, where Internet connectivity is available, the event coordinator can configure the AE HotSpot appliance to provide wireless Internet access as well as access to the event. The AE HotSpot can also record all event content and publish it on a web site or intranet with no need to install additional software on the target server. This enables anyone to deploy an accessible recording of an event, even if they don't subscribe to the Web-based Accessible Event service.

Serotek will release the AE HotSpot soon. Learn more about the AE HotSpot by watching this accessible presentation.

Serotek at ATIA 2010 in Orlando

Serotek Corporation cordially invites you to drop by booth 520 at the 2010 ATIA conference at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, January 28 – 30.  Come and see hands-on demonstrations of all the latest Serotek technology, including a new surprise or two.

 

If you’re wondering which sessions to attend at this year’s conference, Serotek’s CEO, Mike Calvo, is conducting a presentation that you won’t want to miss.  “The Art of Being a Change Agent” will be presented on January 28 in the Curacao room ¾, from 1:30 to 2:30. 

 

When you’re not attending sessions, drop by our booth and learn how you can have access to powerful and portable assistive technology without breaking the bank.  Serotek is the first company offering you the ability to purchase screen reading technology on an as-needed basis through our “Build A Bundle” service.   Starting at just $9.95 per month, you can now have access to one license of the System Access screen reader, with additional machine licenses for only $5 per month.  Try out the System Access Mobile Network, known as SAMNet, with over 2,100 described movies, thousands of radio stations, recipes, TV shows, the Socializer for instant messaging and social networking, voice chat to meet other interesting people, web-based email, and so much more for just $9.95 per month.  For an additional $5, you can provide remote support and training to other Serotek customers, and even access your own computers remotely from anywhere!

 

When you’d like to carry your SAMNet content with you, you can do so by transferring it to your favorite portable device.  SAMNet supports a wide variety of audio players, allowing members to sync a wealth of content from the network including movies, email, and now, books from the National Library Service BARD program. IN addition to the Victor Reader Stream from Humanware, the Icon from Levelstar, and Braile Plus from the American Printinghouse for the Blind, SAMNet content is supported on the Plextalk Pocket. Serotek is also proud to announce that we will very soon be supporting the BookSense player from GW Micro and we’ll be demoing this upcoming support in our booth.  If you don’t yet have one of these sleek and powerful players, drop by the GW Micro booth #413 and pick one up, or visit www.gwmicro.com for more information.

 

Ask about Serotek’s free Keys for K-12 program, offering free portable screen reading technology for all grade school, middle school and high school students, ensuring that truly, no student gets left behind.

 

Serotek’s Accessible Event offers true Section 508 compliance to corporate meetings, webinars, classroom lectures and government projects.  You won’t want to miss getting a look at the very latest exciting innovation from Serotek and Accessible Event, so be sure to drop by our booth and see the technology that organizations and corporations like The Federal Communications Commission and Humanware are using to make meetings accessible to their entire staff.

 

If you’re not able to make it to Orlando this year, you can still keep up with the latest happenings at ATIA by putting http://serotalk.com/feed in to your favorite RSS reader or podcatcher, or simply by visiting http://www.serotalk.com, where we’ll be bringing you news and interviews from the show floor

 

The Serotek Team

 

 

The Serotek Story Documentary A Must For your Audio Archive

I don’t usually post things from the Serotalk Podcast here, but, The Serotek Story Documentary is so compelling that I figured I would post it. Of course I’m biased!

If you haven’t put the Serotalk Podcast on your RSS, shame on you! LOL! Really though, it is a great resource for information on what’s happening in the World of technology according to a few blind and rather disturbed geeks! So, if you’d like a few laughs and some pretty good information head over to the Serotalk Podcast! And hey, you might not even be sorry you did!

Happy New Year!

The Passing of Richard Costa

It is with a great deal of sadness that we must share the news that Richard Costa passed away from a heart attack on December 12 2009. Richard was one of the first Serotek customers to sign up for Freedombox (now SAMNet) in 2002, and he was truly a blessing to the entire blind community. Richard always had a kind word for everyone, and he had such a passion for technology. Richard could be counted on to ask great questions during ACB Radio's Main Menu and BlindLine, Handi-Talk and Accessible World. His friends and family remember him as the computer wizard who could always be counted on to help with computer issues. The Serotek team remembers him as a knowledgeable and enthusiastic person who was always a pleasure to chat with.

When Richard wasn’t focused on technology, he enjoyed horseback riding, and won several ribbons at horse shows in Houston and Long Island. Richard did much of his riding at HorseAbility on Long Island, and if you’d like to donate in memory of him, you may do so here.

If you would like to send cards, flowers, or condolences to Richard’s family, their contact info is:
Anthony and Teresa Costa
52 Hayrick LaneCommack, NY 11725
afcosta@optonline.net

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Richard’s friends and family at this time. Richard, you were a light and a joy in our lives and we won’t forget you. You will be missed. Rest in peace.

The Entire Serotek Team