WE MAKE COMPUTERS TALK NEWS FROM HENTER-JOYCE, INC. June 1994 2100 62nd Ave. N. St. Petersburg, FL 33702 (800) 336-5658 or (813) 528-8900 FAX (813) 528-8901, BBS (813) 528-8903 A PERSONAL TOUCH OF INDEPENDENCE As president of Henter-Joyce, Inc., Ted Henter always keeps time in his busy schedule for community service. In recent months, Ted has visited many Florida communities to talk with young people about blindness and his company. This personal contact helps students learn about blindness and other disabilities, and demonstrates that people with disabilities can live happy and productive lives. Ted recently spoke to a class of visually impaired elementa- ry students at Cross Bayou Elementary School, Pinellas Park, Florida. He described his work with Henter-Joyce, Inc., and provided many of the students with their first contact with the world of adaptive technology. The children especially enjoyed working with his Type 'n Speak, and were delighted by the stories he told about his championship waterskiing and the handling of his guide dog, Lori. Here are a few responses to his visit. "Thank you for coming. We like your watch. And we like your dog. We like Type and Speak. We love that you talked to us about being blind. We think you are a great trick skier. Love, Chris and Keosha" "Dear Mr. Henter, Thank you so very much for giving up your time to visit Cross Bayou. As an intern for visually impaired children, I have had limited exposure to successful adults who are blind. Your visit to our class was just as exciting for me as the children. I was very impressed by your accomplishments since your impairment. I also believe the students were also very interested in your skiing abilities and your dog guide. Role models for visually impaired students seem to help stress what their abilities are and take the emphasis off their disability. Sincerely, Kelly Hunt" Speaking to children is also a high priority of other staff with Henter-Joyce, Inc. Recently, sixth and eighth graders at St. Petersburg Christian School in St. Petersburg, participated in a Career Day. Ted Henter and Jeff Belina (our Manager of Technical Support) told the several classes of middle-schoolers about career opportunities for computer programmers. They explained how their work with computer technology has solved many problems for persons with disabilities and they encouraged the students to think about careers in the expanding world of assistive technology. Ted and Jeff gave the sixty students a hands-on experience with a "talking" computer, and answered an endless stream of questions. The kids were extremely interested in the inner working of computer technology and they wanted to know the cost of everything. The day was an especially good experience for Jeff, for he enjoyed his many conversations and appreciated the opportunity to polish the skills he has been learning in a Dale Carnegie course. On another occasion, Ted and Eric S. Damery (our Director of Marketing) spoke to the monthly meeting of the Dade Access Technology Association (DATA). At its monthly meetings, DATA discusses various concerns related to the access to technology by blind people. Participants at the meeting included members of DATA, and representatives from the Miami Lighthouse, the Meed Program at Miami-Dade Community College (Wolfson Campus) and Miami-Dade Community College (North Campus). Eric and Ted spoke about JAWS, JAWS for Windows and demonstrated the Arkenstone reading machine. We would like to thank Paul Edwards and the other members of DATA for the invitation to speak to such an informed gathering. Through our community involvement, we are able to contact people with varied backgrounds and to spread the word about adaptive technology. We are proud of the personal touch we provide to the greater Florida community and look forward to future opportunities to promote the independence of people who have disabilities. A SMALL WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS Many people do not realize that Henter-Joyce, Inc. is a woman-owned business. Our Chief Executive Officer and majority stockholder is Ms. Mary E. Henter. The designation of Henter-Joyce, Inc. as a woman-owned business is relevant to the purchasing policies of a large number of companies and government agencies. We are always willing to complete certification forms that your purchasing department may need in order to list us as a vendor with the designation of woman-owned small business enterprise. Please ask your purchasing manager to update his/her records to reflect our company's vendor classification. FINANCING ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGY Beyond Sight, a business owned and operated by Jim Misener, recently began offering a loan program for adaptive technology. Jim is an inventive H-J dealer in the Denver area who is working hard to bring technology to the people who need it. Terms of financing are 15% for loan periods up to 5 years. They currently have a loan approval rate of 90%. You can call Jim and Beyond Sight at 303-795-6455 for more details. FROM THE BEACHES OF PANAMA An Employee Biography Suzanne C. Nolan, (Sue) is Henter-Joyce's administrative assistant. Sue has been with Henter-Joyce for five years and has acquired experience from working in almost every facet of our business. She currently supervises the shipping department and also helps with accounting matters. Even though she was born in Waltham Massachusetts, she didn't stay there for long. When she was three months old, she and her family moved to the Panama Canal Zone where she was raised. Eventually, she and her six brothers and sisters left the tropical breezes and sun of Central America, and have all relocated to the "more temperate" climate of Florida. During her free time, Sue enjoys frisbee golf, bowling and spending time with her boyfriend Jeff and her six year old son Jason. Sue is a friendly source of valuable information for Henter- Joyce customers and co-workers. She orders all of our supplies and equipment, and directs the shipment of approximately 1000 out-going packages a month. She is a packaging expert when it comes to shipping delicate computer equipment, which is confirmed by our low incidents of damaged or misdirected shipments. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to customer service. AFB'S CTIB The Careers and Technology Information Bank(CTIB), operated by the American Foundation for the Blind, provides first-hand information about work experiences and assistive technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired. You can, for example, use it to locate sight impaired persons who are employed in your field or in a field of interest. You also can use it to exchange information with other users of assistive technology, which includes over 100 users of Henter-Joyce products. The CTIB is a network of 1600 blind and visually impaired people who use assistive technology at home, at work, or at school. It provides a unique opportunity to exchange information and get advice. You can get in touch with someone who is willing to discuss how they perform their job tasks, or exchange information with other users of a particular product. A complete list of jobs held by the people in the CTIB is available in print or in braille upon request. To participate in the CTIB, or to tap into its resources, contact: Careers & Technology Information Bank American Foundation for the Blind, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, phone (212) 620-2080. SOME RESULTS OF TRAINING We hold a JAWS training session at our training center in Florida on the third Saturday of each month. Representatives from various blindness agencies in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area have participated in our six hour training class in recent months. Many trainees are themselves trainers and are responsible for training others in the use of screen reading software. During a typical Saturday, we will demonstrate the simplicity of JAWS software in a variety of applications, and provide detailed instruction on the use of the JAWS speech pad, menu system, and macros. Trainees enjoy the hands-on opportunity to try out screen reading features and to creatively explore new solutions to screen access problems. Various other training topics are also covered during the day depending on the interests of the trainees. An attendee at our June training, Betty Ewerts, instructor for the Pinellas County Schools (Center for the Visually Impaired) sent the following note. "Thank you so much for offering me the opportunity to participate in your JAWS workshop. It was a very beneficial session and I learned so much more about JAWS to be able to give to my students." Greg Carlson, Talking Book Library in Largo, Florida writes: "Thanks for the JAWS training and hands- on experience. We should be able to communicate basic features effectively to visitors and investi- gate more sophisticated uses on our own." You may make a reservation to attend one of our upcoming sessions by calling our office. We charge a fee of fifty dollars for the day of training. A similar program can be arranged on an individual basis for agencies desiring JAWS training who are not located in the St. Petersburg area or in Florida. LET THE FACTS SPEAK Comparing JAWS to Vocal-Eyes We frequently receive requests for factual comparisons between JAWS and other screen reading software. We are always willing to discuss the facts about JAWS, but we have not made an attempt to closely scrutinize other screen reading software. The numerous requests from potential customers, rehabilitation engineers, and our dealers have encouraged us to begin a systematic comparison of JAWS to other screen reading programs. In doing these comparisons, we will focus on the facts of performance and avoid sales rhetoric. Comments we make about the performance and features of software from other companies will be based on the statements they make about their products, and on our use of their software. We have completed a comparison between JAWS and Vocal-Eyes. This fact filled analysis clearly reveals the superiority of JAWS, but we would like to give you the opportunity to draw your own conclusions. The written comparison can be downloaded from our BBS or can be sent to you free of charge when requested. The BBS document containing the comparison is named "VOCALEYE.JAW" and is located in the newsletter area of the files section. Future issues of this newsletter will contain announcements about the availability of other product comparisons. WORDPERFECT 6.0 AND JAWS VERSION 2.31 We are now shipping the latest update for our JAWS screen reading software. JAWS version 2.31 has a powerful new configuration for WordPerfect 6.0. Based on comparisons with other screen reading products, we feel that the 400 hours of staff time we devoted to producing the WordPerfect 6.0 configuration has produced a highly effective and easy to use tool for working with this newest version of WordPerfect. JAWS 2.31 also contains a new Macro Compiler. The compiler can be used to create a text file from the macros that are contained in a JAWS macro file. This text file can then be read and edited with a text editor or word processor. The compiler also can be used to "compile" the revised text back into a JAWS macro file. Please contact your local H-J dealer or Henter-Joyce, Inc. for a complete description of new features, pricing information, or to order the JAWS 2.31 update. The update cost for those who are currently using JAWS 2.3 is $25, which includes shipping and handling. TRADING POST WANTED: Used ScanJet Plus interface card, part number 88290-60011. Contact Glen at (607) 273-3042. FOR SALE: Used Accent SX('92), price $300, ask for Bud, (301) 473-4656. FOR SALE: Used Accent SA('90), pre-battery model, price $400, contact Cathy at (813) 528-8900. NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTIONS The H-J Newsletter is published six times per year. The annual subscription cost for the print or cassette versions of the newsletter is $25. The newsletter also can be downloaded from our BBS without a subscription charge. Back issues are also available on the H-J BBS. The cassette version of the newsletter will from time-to-time include expanded commentary on topics presented in the newsletter, such as product demos or training tape samples.