SuperNova Access Suite Case Study: Dolphin Pen provides a New Lease of Life for David.

Freedom to work from anywhere.

David Padmore, a visually impaired gentleman based in the East Midlands, has experienced new levels of independence and freedom, thanks to Dolphin Computer Access and their innovative Dolphin Pen access software. Not only does the Dolphin Pen celebrate its first birthday this month, it has also become internationally recognised as the market leading USB software device – Dolphin were the first company to offer a complete range of access software in this way, and are still the benchmark by which all other products are measured.

Dolphin Computer Access products; Supernova, Hal, Lunar and Lunar Plus are all available on the USB Dolphin Pen, which plugs into any USB access port on any PC. Using the Dolphin Pen means that users of Dolphin Computer Access software can carry their software with them and instantly run it on any Dolphin Pen Friendly PC, as if it were their own home system. Crucially, this means that the individual user’s settings are automatically applied to the system. As soon as the Dolphin Pen is removed, the software is no longer running and the PC is ready for another user to insert their Dolphin Pen and have their software running, with their own personal settings applied.

For David Padmore in the East Midlands, this has given him a whole new lease of life. Visually impaired since the age of 15, David has been limited on the type of work he can do and how he lives his day to day life. “I used to spend all my time sitting up in my bedroom wiling away the day on my PC,” says David. “Having previously used JAWS, I am now a regular user of Supernova and Hal, as I find these products are much more user friendly.”

As David’s confidence grew, he started to go to internet café’s and local libraries with his circle of friends. However, he found that a lot of computer systems in libraries and internet café’s were not set up to be user friendly for visually impaired people. “Sometimes all you had was one computer in a library or internet café configured for visually impaired people and this was usually set up at the back away from everyone else, which made me feel very isolated,” said David. “If I asked to have a second computer set up (if the only one they had was in use) in many cases the staff were unable to help with the request. As you can imagine this didn’t help my confidence or self esteem”.

When the Dolphin Pen was released in May 2005, being an existing Dolphin user, David received the latest information from Dolphin and he decided to check out the benefits and features. So David decided to invest in the latest version Supernova Pen. Now he was able to use any compatible computer anywhere with his personalised settings all on the pen, ready to plug into a USB port on any laptop or PC.

“I loved the fact I could carry the pen in my pocket and it was there to use whenever I needed it,” said David. “I no longer felt excluded or relegated to the back of libraries and internet café’s and I found my social life benefited as a result. I even met my girlfriend while in an internet café using the Dolphin Pen on one of the PC’s!”

David has an avid interest in computers and the internet but found that he couldn’t find suitable work in this field that paid sufficiently, so he decided to set up as a freelance web designer specialising in accessibility issues. Now thanks to the Supernova Pen, David can attend meetings and work with potential clients, on their premises, using their equipment and no longer needs to carry around his own laptop and other personal equipment.

“I just plug in the pen to a USB port, install the small piece of interceptor software and I am ready for work anywhere,” says David. “I’m no longer stuck in my house day after day; I’m out meeting new people and am even making enough money to live on as a freelancer. Its definitely one of the best purchases I have ever made”.

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