Empowering Technologies

Sight and Sound Technology acquire Forcetenco

Sight and Sound Technologyhave posted on their website the following news item:

Sight and Sound Technologythe UK�s leading provider of assistive solutions for the blind, visually impaired and those with learning and reading difficulties, are today pleased to announce the acquisition of The Force Ten Company Limited (Forcetenco).

Forcetenco, has been a major supplier of low vision aids and assistive hearing solutions since 1989. This merger will see Sight and Sound Technology further enhance its already extensive range of technology for the visually impaired, adding further master distribution agreements to those of Freedom Scientific, AI Squared and Cambium (Kurzweil).

Forcetenco recently won the BETT 2012 SEN Technology award with the acclaimed VOICEYE product, which provides a unique print text accessibility solution for users with print and visual impairments. Sight and Sound Technology will now acquire the exclusive distributorship of this acclaimed product.

Sight and Sound Technology will continue to service and support all of the products previously purchased from Forcetenco.

Norman Lilly of Forcetenco said:

�For us it was time to pass the good work we have been doing for over 16 years into hands that could further develop the relationships that we have and build them into the UK�s largest technology company for the blind, visually impaired and those with learning difficulties. We will still be involved and will help integrate the two businesses together to ensure that all of our customers have a seamless transfer to the new operation.�

CEO of Sight and Sound Technology, Glenn Tookey comments:

�The merger of the two companies integrates almost 50 years of knowledge and experience, creating a powerful operation in assistive technology for those with visual impairment. The benefits to customers of both companies is access to a wider range of solutions to meet their needs, all trained and supported under one roof. We can offer more value than ever before.�

MindView Suite NoteControl and MindView

Rory O�Byrne from MatchWare Ltd has sent out an email stating that:
"The most requested feature from both students and assessors was a tool to help with the arduous task of referencing in Academic Work that links with a mind mapping tool. As a result we have developed a new online tool. NoteControl allows students to capture information both from online sources and quotations from books and journals. Students are then able to easily reference their sources thanks to our partnership with WorldCat, an online database with over 1.5 billion sources, which is able to generate all the required information for referencing including publisher, date of publishing and page number of the reference. Students can then choose to export their research into MindView for further structuring and organising or directly into Word using one of the Academic templates included in the software.

We are offering a DSA Licence to students which is a 4 year subscription to the tool � the RRP �79 (+VAT). For students to get the maximum from the tool we would recommend that the take the MindView Suite which includes a full copy of MindView 4 BE and a DSA Licence of NoteControl at an RRP of �149 (+VAT). Please note that NoteControl is only available on the PC at the moment.

As with MindView we are offering complimentary copies of NoteControl to DSA Assessment Centres � please do let us know if you would like to receive a copy and we can deliver this to you directly and give you a quick introduction to the functionality of the software.

MindView 4 BE � NEW FEATURE ON LATEST SERVICE PACK � FREE UPGRADE

To enable smooth integration between NoteControl and MindView we have released a service pack which can be found below. This free upgrade allows you not only view and make corrections to existing references from NoteControl but also to add any references using the WorldCat Database. You will also be able to export to Microsoft Word using �Academic� templates including Harvard and MLA so that full bibliographies are created. If you have any questions about the [url=
http://www.matchware.com/en/support/servicepacks/mindview4.htm]Service Pack[/url] or if you do not have a copy of MindView 4 BE please contact us.

MindView and NoteControl Regional Training 2012 � FREE OF CHARGE AND INCLUDE CPD CERTIFCATION

Following the success of Regional Training in both Manchester and Leeds towards to the end of last year we are planning to hold more Regional Training on MindView in 2012. This will be a �hands on� training session and following the completion of a test (as part of the training) we will provide you with a Certificate for your CPD portfolio. The training is free of charge and we would ask you to bring a laptop computer with you if possible � we will also provide you with a full copy of MindView 4 BE if you don�t already have one or if you would prefer a copy of MindView 4 on Mac.

� Newcastle - 29th February 2012
� London � 7th March 2012
� Birmingham � 21st March 2012
� Cambridge � 2nd May 2012
� Sheffield - 16th May 2012
� Bristol � 30th May 2012
� Plymouth � 27th June 2012

All the sessions will take place in hotels based close to the City Centre � when we have a clearer idea of numbers we will send out exact locations. We will be holding two sessions on each day � one in the morning starting at 9:30 and one in the afternoon starting at 14:00. We would also like to invite you to join us for lunch at the hotel, regardless of the time of your training � this will be at 12:30.

Name:
Job Title / Position:
University / Assessment Centre:
Email Address:

Will you be training venue to attend?
Session to be attended (Please choose one): Morning (9:30am � 12:30pm) / Afternoon (2pm � 5pm)

Would you like to stay for lunch? Yes / No
If yes, do have any special dietary requirements?

If you have any additional requirements please do let me know as soon as possible

Assessment Centre Visits

We continue to visit assessment centres and would be more than happy to arrange a time to come and see you to demonstrate any of the new features above or to answer existing questions you have about MindView. We are also happy to arrange training directly with Assessment Centres. This training will follow the same format as above and all attendees will receive certification at the end of the session. If you would like to arrange a visit or training with your centre please contact me directly."

Rory O�Byrne
MatchWare Ltd.
9 - 11 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1BP
Tel: +44 (0)20 8940 9700
Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 2170
Rory.Obyrne@MatchWare.com
For more information on MatchWare

One day courses offered by the Ace Centre, Oxford.

The Ace Centre web pages state that they are offering "A unique range of training days for teachers, therapists, parents and enablers to help ensure that communication and assistive technology is used appropriately with the people they support.

Our day courses are packed full of information, ideas and discussion about the very latest equipment and strategies. And as a working centre we can draw on real case examples to illustrate points and generate discussion.
Day Courses for 2012:

Getting started with AAC - Thursday 22 March 2012
Moving on from PECS - Wednesday 30 May 2012
iPads, iPods and Communication - Tuesday 3 July 2012

The Day Courses listed are held at the ACE Centre and run from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. A light buffet lunch is provided. To discuss all your training needs contact the training coordinator on 01865 759800 or email training@ace-centre.org.uk
Discount for two courses!

Book and pay for two courses together and receive a 10% discount!

Booking

Book your place now by:

Completing and returning the downloadable booking form (Word document) along with payment.
Book and pay by credit card over the phone by calling Rehana Nasib on 01865 759800.
We can invoice you for the course fee - complete the relevant section on the booking form and return it to us.
SLA holders can book places on this course by contacting their ACE contact or calling Rehana Nasib on 01865 759800(nasib@ace-centre.org.uk). The unit charge is 0.25 units.

BRITE Training 2012 Facilitating Inclusive Learning Strategies

The BRITE Initiative is pleased to announce [via an email received this week] that additional places have been made available for colleagues interested in working towards the BRITE PDA in Inclusiveness.

The next course intake for vFILS, our live online version of the training, is 9th February 2012. The course requires a commitment of 2 hours per week, including an online 1 hour live taught session per fortnight.

Our training is relevant for all those working in an education setting, both academic and support staff, and is available via live online and interactive teaching sessions hosted via Adobe Connect, and supported through our Moodle VLE. All you need is a quiet space, internet-connected computer and a microphone headset.

The focus of the training is on Inclusiveness:

� Inclusive Teaching and Learning
� Assistive Technologies
� Educational Support and Enabling Strategies

Download a PDF to Learn more about the content in the course handbook
Key Information:

� The online sessions will be fortnightly on Thursdays at either 11am or 2pm
� There are 17 online sessions in total, during term time, February to December 2012
� The cost is �595
� Assessment is via an Organisational Analysis assignment and completion of course work

To book a place, or for more information, please contact enquiries@brite.ac.uk

Bett 2012 updates

LG Scanner mouse on the Remtek stand, that allows users to use the mouse in the ordinary way, but also to scan over text and see it turned into a readable item on the screen that could be dropped into Mindmapping notes or any text document to be read with TTS. �80

ClaroRead for Mac now works with Pages as a separate toolbar which is remarkable for a Mac product. It allows for text to speech, text highlighting etc. Pages is a very easy to use Word processor which is compatible with MS Word but has the bonus of exporting to ePub to allow for use on many portable ereader devices.

There is a very good microphone available for the iPhone made by Tascam and supplied by Canford for �40 (Tascam iM2) - this may sound expensive but if you have someone who needs very good quality recordings this can really help make the iPhone into a better recorder and can be used with the built in recorder or other apps.

Reciteme were offering their service of a toolbar with text to speech using the Cereproc voices for reading web pages that have their code in place. It was very quick and offered mouse over reading that was easy to use.

ForceTen won the Bett 2012 special needs award was showing the VoiceEye QR code maker and reader app that make reading the contents of these codes on an iPhone.

Both TextHelp and Inclusive Technology were showing their apps! In the case of the former it was their latest TextHelp web apps supplied with Read and Write and with Inclusive it was 5 new apps for iPad and iPhone - the start of a group of apps for younger users.

Spark-Space have revamped their web pages and added several new products including a mind mapping system to guide users through the process of creative writing with subject dictionaries and 40 templates with their Essay Writer program.

Clicker 6 remains very easy to use and allows users to create multimedia documents with the help of Word banks and easy image creation whilst staying on the page where the student is writing.

Sight and Sound were showing the new Intel Reader as a slim portable tablet reader with camera coming out soon and Global Auto Correct has a new update due in the coming months that will offer users a larger vocabulary with instant changes.

My Accessible School launched by Dolphin

This information comes from the Dolphin website "My Accessible School is a proven approach to raising achievement with ALL students, but particularly focuses on learners with

Becoming an accessible school equips you with best practices, staff training, guidance and tools you need to enable all your students to reach their full potential.
Friendly, Practical Advice

My Accessible School is a working partnership between your school and your Dolphin Education Consultant. As a trained teacher, with over 10 years experience as a trainer in the accessibility industry, Sarah Smye-Rumsby will become a familiar face to you and your team. Initially working with you to undertake your School Accessibility Assessment, Sarah will explore the accessibility measures already in place, your students' needs and how curriculum access could be developed. It's not a test, so there's no failing - just simple, practical face-to-face advice that fits your school's ethos.

Once your School Accessibility Report arrives in the post (or your inbox) you�ll have the recommendations and advice you need to discuss with your senior management team. Plus your Dolphin Education Consultant is still only a call away, should you have any questions.

Next step is lashings of training; the Accessible Resources Pilot Project recommended teacher training. Dolphin's training team are education professionals too, so they know the ropes and what's practical in school.
Software for ALL students

My Accessible School includes all the software your school could need to become accessible for learners with dyslexia, EAL, low literacy, reading and writing difficulties and other SpLDs.