Dolphin Newsletter - March 2004
Index:
- New Maps released.
- 19th Annual CSUN Conference.
- Vision 2004.
- Helping the UK Government succeed.
- Staff News.
New Maps released.
Do you need a screen reader that supports Office 2003? Supernova already works well with Office 2003 via the Office XP map, simply select 'classic view' to ensure the best access.
The latest internet update includes the following maps.
New maps:
- Norton Anti virus 2004
- MSN Messenger 6
- Sage Line 50
- Sage Line 50 v9
- Sage Instant Accounts Plus
- Sage Report Designer
Updated maps:
- Outlook Express (v1.008 updated)
19th Annual CSUN Conference.
The next major international show that Dolphin will exhibit at is CSUN Technology & Persons with Disabilities which runs in Los Angeles from 17th - 20th March. We will be previewing all the latest developments in screen reading and magnification technology, as well as our latest DAISY book creation and reading software tools.
If you plan to visit CSUN, please come along and see us on stand 317-318 in the Marriott Imperial Ballroom.
Dolphin will also be presenting the following papers at the conference:
- New Developments in Access Technology, on Thursday at 10.40am in the LAX Hilton, Newport C room.
- EaseReader and EasePublisher - Digital Authoring Tools, on Saturday at 09.20am in the LAX Hilton, Los Angeles Ballroom.
Vision 2004.
Dolphin will be exhibiting at the forthcoming Vision 2004 education and employment exhibition, held at Kensington Town Hall, London. This is the 12th RNIB sponsored Vision exhibition, and will be held on Tuesday 6th April. The show starts at 9.30am and finishes at 5.30pm and entry is free. If you plan to visit the exhibition, please come along and see us.
Helping the UK Government succeed.
In order for the UK Government's e-learning initiative to be successful all materials produced have to be not only informative and educational but also useable and accessible to the whole population. In 2001, The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC), was appointed by BECTa (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) to evaluate the usability and accessibility of all the e-learning content being created for the National Learning Network. The aim is to create a powerful bank of e-learning materials that will be available via the national learning network and local Regional Support Centres.
The RNC has evaluated 100's of individual modules of e-learning materials. Each module has to be rigorously evaluated to ensure blind and visually impaired students are able to understand and use the materials. The RNC has been using Dolphin's Supernova reader magnifier, amongst other assistive software, in order to ascertain if the modules are acceptable or not. Supernova was chosen due to its total flexibility - allowing screen reader evaluations as well as screen magnification and colour manipulation. Whilst the primary focus of the evaluations is concerned with screen reader accessibility, it is important to consider the needs of dyslexic students and students suffering with colour blindness. Supernova covers all needs, providing a single package that combines magnification, speech and Braille. It also offers many customisable features, so that students can select their preferred settings, avoiding difficult colours or fonts etc.
Sue Lobb, ICT Development Officer at the RNC comments "The Team has been using students of varying ability and disability to undertake the evaluation work. Using Supernova installed on the college network means the students can access the system from any terminal on the site, giving them the freedom to move around a building or campus".
Staff News.
Congratulations also to Thomas Magnusson, from the Sweden Office, and partner Cissi on the safe arrival of their son we're pleased to report that all are doing well!
