WHAT'S NEW AND WHERE TO GET IT
by Jackie Ohime
LaPorte, Indiana


Note: The inclusion of items in this column is provided as an informational service to readers. As with all purchases, readers are expected to investigate thoroughly before making transactions. Send items for possible inclusion in this column to magazine@blindskills.com.

PUBLICATIONS


The American Printing House for the Blind celebrated its 150th anniversary with the publication of HISTORY IN THE MAKING: THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE FOR THE BLIND 1858-2008, which was released in late 2008. Written by former APH Museum director Carol Tobe, the coffee-table-style book is packed with rare details about the origins of APH and features five tactile pages from vintage books embossed on original APH presses using original plates. The hardcover book was designed by graphic artist Julius Friedman and features color photography by Geoffrey Carr. An accessible audiobook version is read by APH narrator Jack Fox. The 178-page hardcover book sells with the audiobook version for a cost of $39.95. For more information, contact American Printing House for the Blind at 800-223-1839 or www.aph.org.

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Reference Service Press released FUNDING FOR PERSONS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS: 2009 by Gail A. Schlachter and R. David Weber. This 313-page book describes more than 300 scholarships, fellowships, loans, grants-in-aid, awards and internships that are set aside just for people with visual impairments. The book is available in large print for $30. For more information, contact Reference Service Press at 916-939-9620 or www.rspfunding.com.

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National Braille Press has released the INDIVIDUAL BRAILLE TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES LIST 2009. The list includes organizations that will braille a single copy of a document. It is available free in braille or Portabook (CD). To request a copy, contact National Braille Press at 888-965-8965 or www.nbp.org.

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American Foundation for the Blind released BETTER LIGHTING FOR BETTER SIGHT, which provides information about critical factors that can enhance vision, including different types of lighting, positioning of lighting, contrast sensitivity, and control of glare. It includes suggestions on how to choose the right light for the person and the task. It is available on DVD for $49.95. For more information, contact AFB Press at 800-232-3044 or www.afb.org/store.

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PRODUCTS AND SERVICES


Clarity announced WinZoom Magnifier and WinZoom USB. WinZoom features ClearPoint font smoothing which keeps text quality regardless of the zoom level. SmartAlign technology allows the user to re-align entire paragraphs to fit on the screen with a simple mouse click. In addition, WinZoom supports eight different viewing modes, ensuring a perfect zoom mode for any situation; contains several locators which allow users to know where they are on the page at any time; and has several mouse enhancements to allow users to customize the mouse size and color. WinZoom USB is truly portable and will install on any Windows-compatible computer with no software installation required. Simply plug WinZoom USB in and the autoplay function will launch the application immediately without having to download any drivers. When you are done, unplug WinZoom and no trace will be left on the computer. WinZoom Magnifier costs $299 and WinZoom USB costs $399. For more information, contact Clarity at 925-449-2000 or www.getwinzoom.com.

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Ai Squared launched Easy Pay purchasing plans which allow customers to pay in monthly installments. End users can purchase plans starting at $37/month for ZoomText Magnifier and $55/month for ZoomText Magnifier/Reader. These prices are for domestic single-user copies only and include shipping. Purchase plans are available for upgrades as well. For more information about Easy Pay, contact Ai Squared at 800-859-0270 or www.aisquared.com.

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GW Micro and Tenacity have joined together to make office phones accessible to blind and visually impaired people through the use of GW Micro's Window-Eyes and Tenacity's accessaphone. Accessaphone provides audible caller ID information from the telephone as well as audible message waiting, alternative input methods to conduct call control including intuitive keyboard hot keys (i.e. alt-a to answer, alt-h to hold and alt-c to conference, etc.), a call log, the option to keep notes about the call, and much more. For information about accessaphone, visit www.accessaphone.com or call Tenacity, Inc. at 866-756-0321 or 337-233-8329 (TTY).

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Handy Tech North America sells a wide variety of blindness products including accessible mobile phones and PDAs, bar code scanners, braille products, Index braille embossers, screen reading and magnification software and video magnification and OCR systems. A Mobile Access Payment Program is available that allows consumers to pay for specific mobile software products over time interest-free. Residents of the United States may purchase mobile screen readers from Code Factory and Nuance Communications as well as popular GPS navigation solutions such as Way Finder Access and Mobile Geo and have the freedom of paying it off in installments. Hardware products such as mobile phones and GPS receivers are not currently available on the installment program. To learn more, contact Handy Tech, 3989 Central Avenue NE, Suite 402, Columbia Heights, MN 55421; Phone: 651-636-5184; E-mail: info@handytech.us; Web site: www.handytech.us.

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The Braille+ QWERTY Docking Station is a new accessory for use with APH's Braille+™ Mobile Manager. Smaller than a laptop, the docking station provides connectivity and comfort on-the-go or at your desk. Snap the Braille+ Mobile Manager into the QWERTY Docking Station and create a highly functional, comfortable-to-use, portable notetaker with Ethernet connectivity. The docking station sells for $600 plus shipping. For information, contact the American Printing House for the Blind at 800-223-1839 or www.aph.org.

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The Clever Chek Starter Kit for monitoring glucose levels is available from Independent Living Aids. Featuring Clever Chek Auto-Code Voice ™, prompts guide you through each step and the unit announces the results. This talking blood glucose monitor requires no coding for convenient testing, beeps when the strip has enough blood, allows multiple test sites so fingers can get a rest, stores up to 450 results with date and time, provides results in 7, 14, 21, 28, 60 and 90-day averages, and more. The kit includes the Clever Chek Blood Glucose Monitor, carrying case, user's manual, quick reference guide, log book, and batteries (installed). For use only with Clever Chek Auto-Code Voice Blood Glucose Test Strips. Clever Chek sells for $29.95. For more information, contact Independent Living Aids at 800-537-2118 or www.independentliving.com.

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