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In This Issue Erik Weihenmayer appointed chair of Freedom Scientific Product Advisory Board Erik Weihenmayer has been on the cover of Time Magazine and Parade. He has been the subject of articles in Sports Illustrated, Reader's Digest and in newspapers worldwide. He has appeared on the Today Show, CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News and the Tonight Show. Weihenmayer, the first blind mountain climber to summit Mt. Everest, is now going to join Freedom Scientific as chairman of its newly developed Product Advisory Board. Richard H. Chandler, chairman and president of Freedom Scientific Inc., said Weihenmayer will also serve as company spokesperson for Freedom's full line of hardware and software products. Weihenmayer is a long time user of Freedom Scientific notetakers and screen reading software. He took his Braille 'n Speak notetaker on his Everest expedition, using it to record his journal notes and report back to those following his progress on the Internet from around the world. "Erik embodies the mission of our company--to help those with vision impairments change their world," Chandler said. "His extraordinary resolve and accomplishments have encouraged others to achieve the highest levels of success and make him a welcome addition to the Freedom Scientific team." Members of Freedom Scientific's Product Advisory Board are prominent assistive technology experts representing some of the most recognized public and private organizations in the blindness field. The Board meets three to four times annually with company product managers and engineers, providing advice on product ideas and enhancements most needed by those who are blind or vision impaired. Weihenmayer will assume his role as chairman on January 16, 2002 at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) 2002 Conference in Orlando, Florida. "Too often, those who are blind are told to recognize their limitations, but I've always found it more fun to ignore that advice and focus on stretching your own limits; that is why this chairmanship is so attractive to me," Weihenmayer said. "Technology helps you do that--leveling the playing field in educational and professional pursuits for the blind. The Product Advisory Board gives me and other product users a totally new forum to contribute our ideas and help define the next generation of product breakthroughs." Along with his historic climb of Mt. Everest this past spring, Weihenmayer, at 33 years old, is on course to become one of the youngest people to join an elite group of 100 climbers who have scaled the highest peaks on each of the seven continents, known as the Seven Summits. The two that are left for him are Mount Elbrus in Russia and Carstenz Pyramid in Indonesia. In each of his climbs, Weihenmayer has documented his accomplishments on a Freedom Scientific Braille 'n Speak notetaker and his inspiring story is told in his recent book, "Touch the Top of the World".
Businessman credits his continuing success to JAWS® for Windows If you were inclined to connect your computer with JAWS to one of Ken Gould's products, the voice synthesizer could have the potential of rattling your neighbor's windows. Ken, an accomplished JAWS® for Windows user, owns Audio Nexus, an audio/video retail business in Summit, New Jersey. His business caters to a clientele ranging from the novice customer to the most discriminating audiophile who has thousands of dollars to lay out for high-end electronics and speakers. But, in addition to the popularity of his stereos and home theater systems, it is his JAWS® for Windows screen reader which is a vital underpinning of his success. "If it weren't for JAWS, I wouldn't be able to run my business independently." Gould states. "Thankfully, its features give you everything required to operate in a retail environment." Ken uses JAWS to maintain customer data and profiles, record sales receipts for a given day, keep track of bank activity, write proposals, email his customers and suppliers, and manage a variety of spreadsheets containing store data. He even developed a template to print checks using his computer, and with his HTML background, he maintains his business Web site www.audionexus.com. But the real test of his knowledge of JAWS occurred in the past year when necessity prompted him to write scripts to make an inaccessible accounting software program work for him. "My partner regularly handled the accounting side of the business," Gould said. "When he became ill last year, I went into a panic because all our financial data was kept on paper which I could not access. My wife Bobbie has a full time job and could not dedicate the time it would have required to maintain the books." After his partner became ill, Ken and Bobbie spent almost every waking hour during last year's Christmas holiday inputting a year's worth of financial information into an electronic format. Through his knowledge of JAWS for Windows scripting, he was determined to make the accounting software program accessible for his needs. He was successful. "It would have been impossible to accomplish this with any other screen reading software," Gould said. "Its features, flexibility and potential for customization are so far superior to the competition, nothing can compare to it in the working environment. My business is running more efficiently than ever thanks to JAWS." Ken is an avid supporter of adaptive technology in general. Several years ago, his partner convinced Ken to learn Braille because he noticed that his deteriorating sight was making it more and more difficult for him to read CD labels and other printed material. Now every CD in the store has a Braille label on it. Ken recommends that others who are vision impaired learn adaptive/ assistive technology and integrate it into their lives before they need it. That way they'll be prepared when the time comes. "Once upon a time the thought of using a cane to get to where I
needed to go was inconceivable to me," Ken said. "Now it has
become one of my points of pride." Founder of international foundation gives the gift of JAWS As a child in India, Ann Moideen's aspiration was to become a physician, with the dream to help children with illnesses and disabilities. Later, her career aspirations changed, but not her dream. Years later, she founded the Ann Foundation, a New York based non-profit organization with a noble vision: Building a Future for Disabled Children. This month, Ann returned from a two-week mission in her home country. Her visits to four schools for blind and blind and deaf/blind children contributed once again to her determination to better the educational standards and the health of young people. While there, she donated copies of JAWS® for Windows to each of the schools. "The children were full of surprise and delight," Ann explained. "Often, there are so many students that must share too few resources such as computers and software. They are so deserving, and when they received their copy of JAWS they called it a miracle." Approximately 380 children are educated at the four schools she and her mission team visited. They included the Divine Light Trust for the Blind and the National Association for the Blind in Bangalore, Karnataka. In Chennai, the capital of the Tamil Nadhu state, her mission team traveled to The Little Flower Convent and the St. Louis Institute for the Deaf and Blind. "I will always have vivid memories of two schools in Chennai," Ann recalled. "At first, the principal was speechless, but later he said the school would treasure the JAWS software and make the best use of it for their children. It was so heart warming to hear those words." Although Ann Moideen just returned from her lengthy mission, she is already in the beginning phases of another to provide free medical care to children in the Philippines, Ghana, or the West Indies. She is hoping to arrange the mission with doctors representing a wide range of specialties including ophthalmology, cardiology, orthopedics and plastic surgery. A woman who wanted to become a physician discovered an even greater talent--the ability recognize, motivate and recruit other medical professionals who are just as dedicated to assist less fortunate children reach their full potential.
 Editors Note: The following article contains important information about our technical support contact number. Effective January 2, 2002, customers wanting either software or hardware support will need to remember only one telephone number: 1-727-803-8600. This number represents a change to all of our loyal hardware support customers. Please make the appropriate update in your files. The New Year to "ring in" even better technical support Last year, we announced extended technical support hours for Freedom Scientific hardware and software customers. Now, we are taking even greater measures to assure that you receive optimum support for your products. Freedom Scientific combined both of its software and hardware technical support teams at our St. Petersburg, Florida location. We are optimistic that this change will foster an excellent service environment for all of our customers. With all of our technical support staff in the same location, the integration of both hardware and software expertise will further promote the exchange of ideas across all of our product lines, providing better service and faster response times. The consolidation of the two teams means that you will only need to remember one telephone number when calling technical support: 1-727-803-8600, effective January 2, 2002. Teams are available to help you from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. If you use our email support method, Freedom Scientific decided to maintain the separate email addresses. This will assist the administrative process of distributing your question to the appropriate team. Those having software technical questions can email them to Software Support at FreedomScientific.com. Those needing hardware support should direct their query to Hardware Support at FreedomScientific.com.
Training in text Learn how to access components of the Windows Operating System, navigate and use applications including the Internet, and master the keystrokes that allow blind and low-vision users to work in a Windows environment. This free text version is ideal for the instructor and the user of JAWS® for Windows. Freedom of Speech offers free workshops During this half-day workshop, Freedom Scientific will provide information and demonstrate the revolutionary SAL (Speech Assisted Learning) System. SAL is a stand-alone, easy to use device used to augment the teaching and learning of Braille for people of all ages. This workshop will also cover the soon-to-be-released Focus Series of Braille Displays in 44, 70 and 84-cell models. The sleek design and abundance of features provide users superior navigation to the entire Windows® environment.
Freedom
Scientific's mission is to develop, manufacture and market innovative technology-based
products and services that those with vision impairments and learning disabilities
use to change their world. @Freedom
Scientific is published by Customers
can email their software technical questions to Software Support at FreedomScientific.com.
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