Dolphin Newsletter - December 2004
Index:
- Seasonal Greetings from Dolphin.
- New Maps released.
- Last chance to get a free SMA.
- BETT 2005.
- Staff News.
- Remploy chooses Supernova for visually impaired staff.
Seasonal Greetings from Dolphin.
Dolphin Computer Access would like to wish all their customers a merry Christmas and best wishes for 2005. We value our customers and continually develop features to improve the lives of our users, we hope that the changes we made in 2004 have made a difference to all of you.
New Maps released.
The latest set of new and updated maps for version 5.21, 5.30 and version 6.01, 6.02 and 6.03 software are now available via the Internet Updater. They can also be obtained from the Dolphin website.
Last chance to get a free SMA.
A free Software Maintenance Agreement has been offered with all full purchases* of Dolphin's version 6.01, 6.02 and 6.03 software for a limited period (*excludes upgrades). This allows all customers of these products to free upgrades, for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. SMA's, normally costing up to £165 each, are an ideal way of ensuring you always have the latest software. This special offer will be ending as of 31 st December 2004, so to be sure of benefiting from this great deal, customers will need to confirm their orders with the Dolphin sales office before Christmas.
BETT 2005.
The next major show that Dolphin will exhibit at is BETT 2005, at Olympia in London. The show runs from 12th - 15th January 2005. Dolphin's EaseReader DAISY player and EasePublisher DAISY authoring software have both been short listed for a prestigious BETT Award.
Dolphin and RNIB Vocational College will also be officially launching a range of E-learning ICT resources for the education market at BETT 2005. Produced by the RNIB Vocational College, in partnership with Dolphin, the resources cover popular examinations such as Clait, Clait Plus and ECDL. The resource titles include; Windows Concepts, Word, Excel, Access, Internet Explorer, PowerPoint and Outlook and have all been written for keyboard access with a range of Dolphin products. All of the materials will be rolled out early in 2005.
If you are planning to visit the exhibbition, please visit Alex and Dave at the Dolphin stand SN52, to experience the latest release of version 6.03 and our DAISY audio publishing software.
Staff News.
Please note that the Dolphin office will be closed from December 25th and reopen on January 4th. Any customer orders required for pre-Christmas delivery, will need to be ordered through the Dolphin sales office before Monday December 13th.
Remploy chooses Supernova for visually impaired staff.
Remploy is the UK's leading supplier of employment opportunities for disabled people. They provide jobs and training in all parts of the economy - as well as at their own facilities. Working closely with Government programmes like Workstep and NDDP, Remploy assists over 5,500 people with a range of physical and mental disabilities to find work every year. In addition, they train and support over 4,500 people in the employment of other organisations as well as employing around 6,000 people on their own sites.
Remploy's aim is to create a society where equality of opportunity and the chance to live a full and independent life is available to all, regardless of any disability an individual may have. Remploy believe that the availability of meaningful employment for everybody plays a key part in achieving this goal.
There are over 80 Remploy factories in the UK. They supply half the top British companies with goods and services. Their products include high-tech motor and electronic assemblies, school and college furniture, protective clothing for military and civil use and printing and packaging. Remploy services also include recycling of white goods and computers, office back-up, and CCTV monitoring.
Over the past 12 months Dolphin has been providing computer access solutions to Remploy's blind and visually impaired staff through their award winning Supernova screen reader magnifier. Supernova is the only product available that combines screen magnification, speech and Braille support in a single package. There is no need to buy a separate screen reader and screen magnifier, Supernova combines the world's most powerful screen magnifier with the world's most stable screen reader, and also supports more speech synthesisers and Braille devices than any other product available. Supernova is ideal for individuals who want more flexible screen access or for larger organisations serving a range of visual needs. Dolphin products also work with the latest Windows Server and Citrix MetaFrame operating systems, supporting terminal server environments. It was this reliability and stability that made Supernova the ideal choice for Remploy.
Howard Chambers, Adaptive Technology Project Manager at Remploy, commented "We have been extremely pleased with the Dolphin products used in the past and have always had excellent support from Dolphin. When we recently reviewed the changes in version 6.02 during demonstrations with our staff, the reactions to the new features and its ease of use showed that Supernova was the perfect choice. It is very important that the access software chosen is reliable, simple to install and easy to use and has the support of all of the Remploy staff and users, in this way we can build employee independence and integration in the work place. Whilst Supernova has always been a very stable product that seldom caused the computers to crash, it now has better support for applications such as Word, Excel, Access and the Internet, making it the perfect choice for our direct employees and those employees we support within other organisations. We are very pleased to be expanding our partnership with Dolphin, and we feel this is a winning combination".
Following a recent investment programme in IT, Remploy has just committed to an additional 60 Multi-User licence for Supernova, including annual software maintenance. This will ensure that all their systems are operating the latest version software and that their staff are trained using the latest access products from Dolphin.
Steve Palmer, Dolphin CEO, concludes "This is a winning combination. We are delighted that Remploy has chosen to extend their association with Dolphin, by providing increased training and support. We are confident that together we can provide the best possible products, training and support for blind and visually impaired computer users in the workplace and provide the tools to allow equal access of information. This will help to build inclusion and integration in the workplace, whilst ensuring employers are able to support the Disability Discrimination Act."
