Kurzweil 3000 for Windows Version 10 Released

The 2006 California State University of Northridge (CSUN) Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, held March 20-25 at the Airport Marriott in Los Angeles, saw the unveiling of the Kurzweil 3000 for Windows Version 10. Manufactured by the Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc., the device is a reading, writing and learning software package for struggling students.

With Remote License-to-Go, Kurzweil 3000 is accessible to teachers and students even while using a computer not connected to a Kurzweil 3000 Network. This comes as a boon to students who use Kurzweil 3000 on a home computer that cannot be brought to school. This facility enables students to work on their assignments both at school and at home. Additionally, parents can become active participants in their children’s homework.

Broadcast Feature Locks from Server allows the use of the Server Administrator software to disable, enable or leave “as is” selected Kurzweil 3000 features on multiple client computers. Such a feature is invaluable for such purposes as administering tests, protecting documents or providing user interface consistency.

New features of network and standalone editions of Version 10:

• Kurzweil 3000 Taskbar - Key features, such as reading, word lookup and spell check, can now be made available to any program that is running on the local machine. For example, the Kurzweil 3000 Taskbar can be used with email or word processing programs, even without Kurzweil 3000 running.
• Save Toolbars and Feature Locks in Documents – These options are useful when a consistent set of toolbars/buttons which Kurzweil 3000 features are to be made available to everyone with a particular document, for example, when conducting a test.
• Toolbar Toggles – This feature is to quickly hide or show toolbars whenever required by clicking the toolbar’s Toggle, which is a narrow colored bar along the left of each toolbar.
• Override OCR Feature – Flexibility in the scanning process is possible as it converts unrecognized text (such as a large or unusual font or text with wide word spacing typical of headings) into zones that Kurzweil 3000 can read.
• Header/Footer Editor – Often documents have headers and footers that are not desired to be read aloud. Using Header/Footer Editor, the areas of an image document can be marked so that Kurzweil does not read it.
• New Circle Text Feature - Useful for test taking, this option allows the circling of words in an image file.
• Spell Checking as you type – This feature alerts users about misspelled words by highlighting them with red underlines.
• Documentation Tools to make the most of Kurzweil 3000 – “How to Videos” give quick overviews of major Kurzweil 3000 features, while the Online Help offers full text search to find required help information.
• Share Different Lists and Dictionaries - Version 10 offers an easy way to use the same Pronunciation and Word Prediction Dictionaries, as well as OCR Corrections and Vocabulary Lists.
• Animated GIF Picture Dictionary Support - This new feature provides support for animated GIF files such as the American Sign Language (ASL) animations available from Vcom3D, Inc., giving people with hearing disabilities and those interested in learning American Sign Language access to ASL.
• Expanded Reference Access - Version 10 provides users having a Bookshare.org account through NFB-Newsline access to newspapers and magazines (subscription to Bookshare.org is required; access to newspapers is based on funding at a state level). Additionally, Version 10 also provides online access to Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary.
• Talking Calculator - Take advantage of full-function talking standard, statistics, scientific and business calculators.

Source: Kurzweil Education