@Freedom Scientific Newsletter
Freedom Scientific Reduces Price of MAGic Screen Magnification Software by $100
Freedom Scientific® has announced a $100 price reduction for all versions of its MAGic® Screen Magnification Software.
“This will especially benefit the many locations where customers need to have both screen reading and magnification installed on the same computer,” states Eric Damery, Freedom Scientific's Vice President of Software Product Management.
MAGic with Speech single-user licenses are reduced to $495 from $595.
MAGic without Speech is reduced to $295 from $395.
Multi-user pricing has been significantly reduced across the board as well. A 20-seat district license for MAGic now offers a savings of over $3,000, when compared to other full-featured screen magnification products. Agencies and schools will benefit from such savings in this time of tight budgets.
“At these lower prices, more low vision computer users will be able to take advantage of the many features of MAGic to use their computers more productively,” added Damery. “MAGic’s browser support lets them seamlessly read Web pages and fill out forms without the need to invoke special reading modes. The speech in MAGic is based on JAWS, the world’s most popular screen reader, and has been tailored to meet the needs of the low vision user, providing an intuitive and efficient user experience.”
The new prices are effective immediately.
For more information, please visit the Freedom Scientific Web site or call 800-444-4443.
Freedom Scientific’s PEARL Portable Reading Solution at Special Introductory Price
The crowds around the Freedom Scientific booth at the recent CSUN conference said it all. Our new PEARL™ reading solution was the hit of the conference.
Those who saw it were impressed by how easily the PEARL camera could be set up and, in conjunction with Freedom Scientific’s OpenBook™ software, start speaking text from a printed page in seconds.
The PEARL is sure to be a hit with blind and low vision students and professionals everywhere. The product combines the new PEARL portable reading camera and the latest release of Freedom Scientific’s popular OpenBook software. The PEARL camera deploys in seconds to connect to a PC, and users simply press a keystroke to snap a picture and hear their documents read back to them with synthesized speech while they control the reading rate and voice. OpenBook lets them select from the Eloquence synthesizer or one of the human-sounding voices from RealSpeak Solo Direct®.
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Capturing text images is faster than ever before. The PEARL camera has an automatic mode that senses motion, so it knows to snap an image whenever a page is turned. Place a paperback novel sideways, and the PEARL will snap two pages at a time and maintain the pagination. For larger books, capture the even pages first, and then flip the book over to capture the odd pages. Keep turning the pages while OpenBook reads to you, capturing up to 20 pages of a bound book per minute. Use the PEARL to read books, magazines, and bills. OpenBook identifies columns and places them in logical reading order. Change the language setting to read foreign language documents with native speaker voices. Once a page has been captured, OpenBook gives low vision users multiple options for viewing the information. They can display the text so that it wraps on the screen, enlarge the font, change the font style, change the foreground and background colors, and have the individual words spotlighted as they are spoken. The PEARL works in most room lighting. If the room is dark, simply turn on the built-in LED lighting. |
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The PEARL is the ultimate in portable scanning and reading. The camera sets up in seconds to provide a stable platform with alignment features to ensure you capture a good image every time," said Brad Davis, Vice President of Hardware Product Management for Freedom Scientific. "Because it works with OpenBook 9, users will have all the features and ease of use that OpenBook provides. You can edit documents in split view, add comments and highlighting, and even export them to other applications like Microsoft Word. Now, the PEARL camera adds lightning fast OCR for real-time reading. When you are ready to move on, fold the PEARL into a compact package and zip it into its protective neoprene case. Carry it by its shoulder strap or slip it into your briefcase or backpack." |
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The PEARL camera is priced at $1,195, and OpenBook 9 is $995. Together, the solution costs $2,190. Those who already have a previous version of OpenBook can upgrade to OpenBook 9 for $150.
Special Half-off Introductory Price
The PEARL reading camera comes with a two-year warranty and is available at the special introductory price of $600 until July 15, 2010.
Hear for yourself just how quick and accurate the PEARL is. Listen to an audio demonstration in the April FSCast.
New Widescreen ONYX Deskset XL Portable Video Magnifier Now Shipping
Since its release last year in 17-inch and 19-inch models, customers have been thrilled with the features of the ONYX™ Deskset XL. The flexible camera mounting system that lets them look all around their environment, the convenient remote control, the adjustable monitor, freeze frame, and four enhanced reading modes make this the tool people with low vision are choosing for reading at home, at school, and at work.
Customers have asked for a widescreen 22-inch monitor model, and we’re pleased to deliver. The ONYX Deskset XL 22 is now shipping, including all the above features and its own rolling carrying case that also accommodates the optional ONYX XY Table.
For more information, please contact your Freedom Scientific distributor, or visit the Freedom Scientific Web site.
Free Update for All JAWS 11 Users
In April, we released a free update for all JAWS® 11 users. New features include:
- Office 2010 support
- Improved Research It user interface, making it easier to get to the information you want
- Even more look-up options for Research It
- AOL Instant Messenger 7.2 support including Facebook Chat
- A quick way to mute speech
You can update your copy of JAWS 11 by checking for updates from the Help Menu. To see all that is new, and to download the full release, visit our What's New in JAWS 11 page.
Join Freedom Scientific at the NFB and ACB Conventions
Freedom Scientific will be exhibiting at this year’s national conventions of the National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind.
NFB
This year’s NFB Convention is being held in Dallas from Saturday, July 3 to Thursday, July 8, 2010, at:
Hilton Anatole Hotel
2201 Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, Texas 75207
Please keep Saturday free to attend some great presentations on what’s new with Freedom Scientific technology. Consult our Web site as we get closer to convention time for full details.
Saturday, July 3, 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM - What’s New in JAWS 11 and a First Look at JAWS 12
Presenter: Eric Damery
Room: Senators Lecture Hall, Tower Lobby
Join Eric Damery for an exciting and informative session covering all of the new details surrounding JAWS development. This will also be the first look at JAWS 12, scheduled for public beta in August. Bring questions!
Saturday, July 3, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM - OpenBook 9 and the PEARL Portable Reading Solution
Presenter: Dusty Voorhees
Room: Senators Lecture Hall, Tower Lobby
Have lightning fast OCR with OpenBook in a portable solution that folds up. Connect via a USB port and scan documents. Have them read aloud using Eloquence voices or any of the RealSpeak Solo Direct human-sounding voices now available in OpenBook. Magnify your work, write under the camera, and reformat text.
You will be able to get your hands on our latest products in the exhibit hall, and once again we will be providing our free PAC Mate™ personal training during exhibit hours.
ACB
The ACB Convention this year is being held in Phoenix from Friday, July 9 to Saturday, July 17 2010, at:
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel
340 North 3rd Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
You will be able to get your hands on our latest products in the exhibit hall, and once again our trainers will be on hand for free PAC Mate training sessions.
2010 Braille Challenge a Huge Success
Freedom Scientific is a proud sponsor of the Braille Challenge®, an annual event to promote Braille literacy conducted by Braille Institute.
Once again this year, the five winners and the teacher of the year will each receive a Freedom Scientific PAC Mate Omni Accessible Pocket PC with a removable Braille display.
Nancy Niebrugge, Director of the Challenge at Braille Institute, says that the 10th Anniversary Braille Challenge continues to grow in size and scope.
“This year we supported 34 regional sites and scored almost 800 contests. Compare that to just three years ago — when we hosted 17 regional events and scored 450 contests. If you include both regional events and individually proctored contests, we now have contestants participating in 43 states and four Canadian provinces. This collectively represents about 13 percent of all estimated school age braille readers nationally,” she says.
Freedom Scientific is delighted to promote Braille literacy through this initiative that highlights the value of Braille and advances excellence in Braille skills.
From the Training Department: Hands-on Workshops in Saint Petersburg for the Third Quarter
Hands-on, instructor-led workshops held in our Saint Petersburg, Florida, headquarters training lab are the absolute best way to learn more about JAWS screen reading software and MAGic screen magnification software. For the third quarter, we have the following workshops scheduled:
- Basics of Script Writing - August 9-13
- Script Development with JAWS and MAGic - August 16-20
- Supporting and Teaching Windows with JAWS and MAGic - September 13-17
Attend any one of these five-day hands-on workshops for just $1,249. Purchase two or more and receive a 10% discount on each workshop.
Visit the training workshop Web page for more information on these and other training workshops.
Two New Research It Webinars in July
Research It is a new feature that provides quick access to information while also making it easy to return to your primary task. Use just a few keystrokes to look up information and display salient data in the Virtual Viewer. When you have finished researching, press another keystroke to return to the task you were performing before the research started. All that is required to use Research It is JAWS 11 and an Internet connection.
In March we held our first Webinar on Research It. We learned that there was too much information to cover in that one Webinar, so we have now created two Webinars to deliver the training in a more logical format:
- Research It for the Everyday JAWS User, July 7
In this free one-hour Webinar we explore how to use Research It. We go through several examples together to help you learn how to use Research It. We will not discuss how to create custom rules or lookup modules. If you are interested in that please sign up for the Research It for Developers Webinar scheduled for Thursday, July 8.
- Research It for Developers, Guest Presenter: Brian Hartgen of T&T Consultancy, United Kingdom, July 8
In this free one-and-one-half-hour Webinar we will show you how to create custom rule sets and lookup modules for Research It. We will also look at the Research It Developer's Guide, a tool that will guide you in creation of new lookups, and more.
Brian Hartgen will walk you through the process of creating a Research It lookup from the beginning to the end.
To create Research It modules you need to know the following:
- JAWS
- XQuery
- XPath
- XML and HTML
It is not necessary to know all of these to participate in the Webinar, but having knowledge of the above topics is necessary for creating Research It lookups. We will also point you to references where you can learn more about these topics.
Read more and register online at the e-learning entrance page of the Freedom Scientific Training department.
From the Technical Support Department
In Windows 7, if you cannot read anything using the JAWS cursor (it just says “blank”), or you cannot read the property areas of places like the System or Display Driver page, it is most likely due to the system text size.
The system text size is located under Display in the Control Panel. It should be set to the default – 100 percent, Small. If it is not, change it back to the default setting and reboot the computer. JAWS should then be reading normally.
Announcing the WYNN Lesson Plan Portfolio
Freedom Scientific’s Learning Systems Group is happy to present their newest educator resource, the WYNN™ Lesson Plan Portfolio, dedicated to presenting lesson plans for using WYNN to enhance the learning process.
To get started we have created some of our own lesson plans for you to view. We have also included one created by some teachers from the Deron School in New Jersey. When thinking of how to continue to develop this collection we thought, "Who would make better contributors than those people who are using WYNN in their classrooms?" It would be a powerful motivator for new users to see WYNN lessons that worked in classrooms around the world. We think your plans would benefit teachers, students, and individual users. So please take the time to share your lessons.
If your lesson is approved and posted in our Lesson Plan Portfolio, you will receive a $25 Target gift card . We will gladly accept your plans in any format, but here is a sample of a format you might find user-friendly:
Sample Lesson Plan Using WYNN
Teacher: Mr. Quinn
School: Carlton Jr. High School
Grade Level: 7th Grade Resource Room
Subject Area: Language Arts
Skill: Written Composition
Title: Descriptive Paragraph
Description: Teacher will provide list of possible topics to write about
Goals: Students will write a Descriptive Paragraph using WYNN
Objectives: Students will use a topic sentence, at least eight sentences of detail, and a concluding/clincher sentence to compose a descriptive paragraph
Procedure: Have students choose from one of the following topics:
- Your Favorite Sport
- The House You Live In
- A Dream Vacation
- Your Favorite Pet
- Your Favorite Book, Song, or Movie
Before students begin to write their paragraphs, using a microphone, they will dictate their thoughts on the topic they have chosen using the Voice Note* on the Pink Study Tools toolbar. Next they will open a new document on the Blue File Management toolbar and then will go to the Yellow Writing toolbar. While in Edit Mode, they will begin to write their paragraph. Remind the students to include a topic sentence, at least eight sentences of detail, and a concluding sentence. Students will be given the option of using the Word Prediction and Outline features on this toolbar to aid in writing their paragraphs.
(*As mentioned in the January/February WYNNing Word, current research validates the power of Voice Notes to improve student reading comprehension and writing abilities. Many students find it much easier to tell their story than to write it. The Voice Note allows the student to verbalize thoughts in a retrievable format prior to writing. This enhances the student's ability to express thoughts without frustration, thereby building self-confidence.)
Materials Needed: Computer with WYNN 5.1, microphone for Voice Note, and this lesson plan
Assessment/Evaluation: Using WYNN, the seven students in this class were able to compose a descriptive paragraph including a topic sentence, sentences of detail, and a concluding sentence.
Additional Lesson Plans
Below are links to several other WYNN lesson plans:
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The Human Body A series of four lesson plans that can be adapted to any level |
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Launch to WYNN An interesting idea from teachers at the Deron School for training teachers and students |
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Island of the Blue Dolphins A lesson to help all students enjoy literature |
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A House Divided An interactive way to introduce your students to the Civil War |
Click here to download the lesson plan format shown in this article. Remember, you are not restricted to this format. You may send your plan to wynningword@FreedomScientific.com or fax it to 772-461-2812. We look forward to hearing from you.
May FSCast Features MAGic, Dropbox, Blind Golf
The May edition of FSCast, Freedom Scientific's official podcast, features Dusty Voorhees discussing dual monitor support for MAGic. Jonathan Mosen then provides a demonstration of the Dropbox software, used for sharing files between multiple computers and backing up important data.
The April edition of FSCast features Dusty Voorhees demonstrating our new PEARL portable reading solution with OpenBook 9.
Jonathan Mosen then demonstrates the Focus 40 Blue and how it can be used with a wide range of devices to give you Braille anywhere you need it.
You won’t want to miss any of these interviews, and you won’t if you subscribe to FSCast. The subscription is free, and delivers notification right to your computer when new FSCasts are released. If you did miss a previous FSCast, catch up by visiting the FSCast archives to download FSCast episodes in MP3.
Reminder: With JAWS now providing excellent support for iTunes, you can subscribe to FSCast through the iTunes Store.
Freedom Scientific's Mission
To develop, manufacture, and market technology-based products that provide equal access to information and computing for those with vision impairments or learning disabilities.
