AssistiveWare Providing Onscreen Keyboard and Voice Output Tools for Macintosh

AssistiveWare, a company based in the Netherlands, is helping to change the perception that assistive technology is not available for Macintosh computers. “Mac OS X offers the most reliable and stable environment for users with disabilities and it allows us to build innovative solutions,” says David Niemeijer, AssistiveWare’s corporate technology officer.

During his presentation at the 2006 CSUN conference, Niemeijer emphasized that the philosophy behind AssistiveWare’s products is to allow people with disabilities to use the same productivity and recreational software as their peers. “The computer shouldn’t know you’re not using a standard keyboard,” he said, adding that any AT for the Macintosh should also take full advantage of the features already available in OS X.

New products from AssistiveWare, which were announced and demonstrated at CSUN 2006, include the following:

• Layout Kitchen Plus (available in May) -  builds on AssistiveWare’s existing Layout Kitchen interface design program for designing speech panels by adding the Imagine Symbols line of attractive, lighthearted images. About 3,000 Imagine Symbols are already available; Niemeijer expects there will be up to 5,000 symbols by the time Layout Kitchen Plus is released.
• KeyStrokes Plus - the latest version of AssistiveWare’s KeyStrokes line of onscreen keyboards for use with mice or other direct selection devices comes with Layout Kitchen software to permit users to create their own interfaces with buttons, shortcuts and other features; these panels can then be shared with other users. KeyStrokes Plus is expected to be released in May.
• Proloquo is a program that provides text-to-speech output for individuals who need or prefer to hear text rather than read it; it doubles as an augmentative communication program. Proloquo uses Acapela voices, which Niemeijer said are “much better than the voices built into OS X”; he demonstrated this by showing a video of a woman with ALS who uses Proloquo for communication and AssistiveWare’s SwitchXS scanning keyboard for computer access. Proloquo 1.1 has been released; this version permits sound files to be exported to iTunes to create files that can be run on an iPod.
• VisioVoice is a new program that will add Acapela and multilingual support to the VoiceOver screen reader already built into OS 10.4. The program is slated for a June release, but Niemeijer emphasized that feedback from potential users is still actively being solicited; a survey is available at assistiveware.com/survey.php.

Ordering information is available at assistiveware.com or from the company’s American distributor, Origin Instruments. Functional demonstrations can be downloaded from either of these sites; the demonstrations will run for 15 non-consecutive days and longer demo times are available on request.