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Welcome to the December 2008 issue of ZoomNews In this Issue
Did You Know January 4, 2009, will mark the 200th birthday of the man who created the tactile code that has allowed blind people around the world to read: Louis Braille. Many organizations, schools, agencies, and individuals are planning special celebrations to commemorate this event and to honor Louis Braille and the code he created. Maybe there's one happening near you!  |
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October Contest Winner Last issue, we asked you to share with us what magazines you subscribe to and what websites you visit to learn information about your eye condition, or what's new in assistive technology, or just about eye health in general. Anyone who submitted an entry was entered into a raffle for a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate, and congratulations are in order to Mark Sunday who won. Mark is 37, currently lives in Logan, Utah, and has been using ZoomText for over ten years now! There's a picture of Mark along with a photo of the CD flowers he thought everyone would get enjoyment out of. Here are some of the websites and magazines that you suggested - check them out and you may find them useful as well. They're not all related to vision or eye health, but I'm including a bunch nonetheless:
Websites:
Magazines: Other: New Contest 
This month, we'd like to hear from you about your library - specifically their computers. Answer the following questions for us and you'll be entered into a drawing for a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate:
Email your responses to Becca at by December 31st to be entered into the contest! You don't have to see it to tee it 
Ty Thompson loves to golf, play poker, and volunteer at the local elementary school helping kids to read. Did I mention he does all this despite suffering from the rare genetic disorder Pseudo Xanthma Elasticum (PXE) which has left him without any central vision and legally blind? For much of his life, the PXE symptoms didn't surface. Ty graduated from the University of Virginia as a Mechanical Engineer and he worked for IBM on the very first PCs in Boca Raton, Florida. Ty always felt that he was better in sales and marketing so he transitioned to the sales department with IBM and moved to Chicago. Here he became the lead sales rep for Walgreens, the largest pharmacy chain in the US. It was through this job that Ty developed a system for in-store signage and shelf pricing labels which was adopted by over 90% of retailers in a few short years! He then transferred to Lexington, Kentucky to work at implementing new ways of selling printing technology for IBM which became Lexmark. He developed the idea of laser printing pharmacy vial labels and warning labels and combining that with drug utilization and patient information sheets. Today 100% of pharmacies utilize laser printers - mostly due to Ty's idea! Ty spent much of his time thinking about how to improve processes using technology to become more efficient and of financial benefit to the users. In the mid 1990s, he lost depth perception in one of his eyes. Ty didn't lose hope and taught himself to triangulate his world with one eye to give himself a better sense of depth. Because of this he could continue driving. Several years later, he was offered the position of national sales manager for a pharmacy software company and he was with this company for several years when he suddenly lost his vision in the other eye. This is when Ty discovered ZoomText which helped him to keep up with his work on the computer. "ZoomText is a wonderful product," said Ty. "My software background really helped me quickly become adept at using it to help me email and search on the web." He tried diligently to continue on his path but the realization soon set in that as he lost more and more sight, he truly was unable to perform in his role - he could no longer recognize customers or prospects, demonstrate the software, couldn't drive to see clients - and went on disability. Life turned upside down for Ty and his wife, Jan. Jan had been working part time in the medical field for years, where she taught classes in medical school. She switched gears and is enrolled in a master's degree program to become a Physician's Assistant. Ty on the other hand, learned how to wash clothes and cook for his wife and daughter, Alex. Life changed drastically for Ty and his family but his spirits are very high. He frequently speaks to the elderly who are afflicted with vision loss at local forums. He designed the ADAPT (Attitude, Design, Apply, Practice, and Try, try again) methodology for the visually impaired to assist them in living their lives again. "The mind is the most powerful tool to 'see' with," says Ty. "I teach people to think differently and also introduce them to ZoomText, a program that many people don't know even exists. With a little training, they can realize the potential of the software and are then unafraid to go online or type an email because they now have a way to accomplish tasks on the computer." In addition, Ty joined the US Blind Golf Association (USBGA) and recently won the 2008 Net National Championship! He had become a good short game player and feels he can read the green with his feet better than many people can see with their eyes. This league has the same rules as for professionals except you're allowed a coach in addition to the caddy to give you strategic advice, line you up and tell you where the ball goes. The coach can stand behind you for any shot to give you visual feedback on the ball. As Ty says, "You don't have to see it to tee it." Ty also plays in a couple's poker league where he uses cards that have larger characters. This way he can sometimes make them out in his peripheral vision and memorizes all the cards on the table once they are read to him. He also loves to help elementary kids with their reading. He takes them to the library where they check out a book. He takes a better reader with him first so that they can read the book aloud to him and he assists them with their pronunciation. He then memorizes the trouble spots of the entire story and can help the students who have more trouble reading. "You don’t have to see it to teach it," declares Ty. Ty had been writing a book on English Ceramics that were imported into the United States during the time period of 1820 to 1860 called spatterware. He had researched this topic for over a decade but his research is temporarily on hold because he cannot read the notes or antique reference books. All of us here at Ai Squared wish Ty well and hope that he can one day finish and publish the book! Reassigning Feature Keys on the How many of you have the ZoomText Large-Print keyboard but aren't using the feature keys at the top to their full potential? Did you know that if there are buttons up there that you never use, you can reassign them to your choice of another ZoomText command, Internet and multimedia commands, or to open an application, document or web page? Here's how:
It's as simple as that! As always you can contact technical support if you have any questions at 802-362-3612 and choose option #3. Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors . . . and ZoomText! 
Randy Roach sent in this comment to the last issue of ZoomNews: "I was able to write my 562 page book only because of ZoomText." Naturally, this sounded so interesting that I had to contact him for some more detail. Randy had been a bodybuilder, trainer, and student of nutrition since the 1970s, and had made his primary living as a computer programmer in the commercial software, museum, and environmental engineering fields. In 2002, Randy was asked to write an article on the history of nutrition in bodybuilding. At the time, he still had some eyesight and used ZoomText primarily for the large print. The article was published in the Winter 2004 issue of Wise Traditions. In the meantime, Randy was being encouraged by many to carry the piece into a full blown book. In January of 2005, he was working on the second chapter of the book when the rest of his eyesight left totally. He was thrown for quite a loop and felt that the rug was just pulled right out from beneath him. The book came to a screeching halt for a number of months as he scrambled to regroup. Randy now had no choice but to learn to perform all keystroke operations and rely totally on the Reader portion of ZoomText. It didn't take long for him to ramp up where he was listening to material 10 times faster than he had ever been able to visually read it! With the help of his close-knit team, Randy was able to finish and release the book in June 2008. He has been somewhat stunned with the outstanding response to the book, getting endorsements from David Epstein of Sports Illustrated, along with many others from the bodybuilding, fitness, and alternative health fields. You can read many of the endorsements and reviews along with other information at www.randyroach.ca. Randy is now working on Volume II which he hopes to release in 2009. He says, "I am only able to do this due to your wonderful technology that gives me the tools to do so. ZoomText has brought such a level of enjoyment to my life as a blind individual that I can't express to you enough my gratitude."
Congratulations to Randy for all his success and much more to come!
Tips and Tricks
"I almost always leave ZoomText on with 8x magnification. As ZoomText users would know this really isolates you to a small section on the desktop. I needed a way to find icons quickly so I used the colors of the rainbow starting with Red (upper left), orange (upper middle), yellow (upper right), green (lower left), blue (lower middle) and purple (lower right). As soon as I move my mouse pointer I know which portion of the desktop that I am navigating. In my case in the red section I keep shortcuts for my documents, my computer, etc. In the orange section I keep shortcuts to photo and music libraries and programs. In the yellow section I keep my documents and such that are works in progress that I want easily access. The green is shortcuts to web sites. The blue which is in the middle has the icons that I most frequently use such as ZoomText, Word and AOL. And last the yellow, is used for computer maintenance such as defrag, cookies, recycle bin and so on." Dennis sent me a Word file of the Desktop Finder along with instructions on how to make one yourself. If you're interested, send me an email to and I'll email you the files! In The News 
BLINDSPOTS: Movie reviews for the visually impaired - Marty Klein set up this film review service to get as many people who are blind and visually impaired to realize that going to the movies is a realistic option. He rates movies on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being a movie that is next to impossible to follow, even with the best sighted assistant, and 10 being a movie that a blind person could follow and enjoy without any assistance from someone with sight. Click here to see his full list of reviewed movies. Binatone big button phone launched for visually impaired - the Binatone SpeakEasy Mobile Phone is the lowest priced big button mobile phone available in the UK. Click here to read more about this phone. Why businesses need to invest in disabled employees - More and more organizations are learning to get the best out of disabled employees by being more flexible. Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) produces Braille bills for visually impaired - DLPC becomes the second company in the Philippines to come up with a Braille system for its billing. Fire safety tips for the visually impaired - United States Fire Administration (USFA) encourages the visually impaired population to practice the following precautionary steps to help protect themselves, their home and their surroundings from the danger of fire.
Charities hold blind gardening awards - An 82-year-old woman with macular degeneration was awarded the prize for Blind Gardener of the Year at a ceremony in London.
Tradeshow schedule 
Winter's here in Vermont but our tradeshow schedule is heating up! If you're attending any of these shows, be sure you stop by and see what's new with us. 2009 CSUN International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference Baruch College's Conference on Policy and Practice - "Changing Vision, Changing Lives" Assistive Technology Industry Association Chicago Conference (ATIA)
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There were so many great suggestions in a previous ZoomNews contest that I'm going to keep sharing them. This one came from Dennis Wyant and he calls this his Rainbow Desktop Finder:
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