PRESS RELEASE

                                                                             Release date: October 21, 2003
                                                       Contact: John M. Williams (703-404-9557)
                                                                                                                                                            Howard McClintic (202-312-2913)
                                                                                                                        
Assistive Technology Book Will Educate Employers

    Washington, DC ­ This week public and private sector employers and consumers will have access to the most comprehensive list of assistive technology manufacturers ever published.  

The directory, Assistive Technologies: Creating a Universe of Opportunities for People with Disabilities, lists more than 700 AT manufacturers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. Employers looking for information on products benefiting speech impaired, blind, visually impaired, deaf, hearing impaired, physically challenged, cognitively-challenged and mobility challenged employees will discover it in the book.

Readers will find information on voice recognition systems, text-to-speech products, Braille products, keyboards, low vision products, hearing products, environmental control products, and other products that will increase independence and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.   

           "With millions of aging employees with disabilities requiring assistive technology to maintain their productivity and efficiency, and millions of working age people with disabilities unemployed, this book provides employers and consumers a one-stop shopping source in the field of assistive technology products," says Howard McClintic, executive director, CTC Foundation.     

   "Access to these products enables people with disabilities to become productive workers while simultaneously expanding a talented pool of industrious workers," says John M. Williams, the author of the book.

   Additional contents include summaries of federal legislation passed on disability areas since 1965 and recent United States Supreme Court decisions on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

             Other sections include: 12 columns on assistive technology products by John M. Williams, an overview of assistive technology today, articles written by Microsoft, IBM, Kurzweil Educational Systems, Deque and Oracle on their corporate philosophies in assistive technology areas, and a chapter on United Nations¹ activities in the assistive technology field and definitions of AT terms.  

   For employers interested in knowing ways a variety of these products are used in work environments, the 12 columns tell them.

               The book will be published online, in print and in digital talking book format. The web data will be updated monthly and will be available through a protective password. The site it will be accessible to people with disabilities. Deque, one of the country¹s foremost authorities on building accessible web sites, is making the site accessible. A sample of the on-line version can be seen at .

The printed contents will be updated several times annually.

              The price is $149 for the on-line version, and $99 in any one of the two remaining formats mentioned above. Twenty percent discounts are available if you order before October 30, 2003. Larger discounts are available for larger orders. A 30% discount is available for schools k-college students, teachers and administrators.  To pre-order contact CTC Foundation at 202-312-2913 or you can order by credit card or check.

           Assistive Technologies:Creating a Universe of Opportunities for People with Disabilities is published jointly by Assistive Technology News and the CTC Foundation (Concurrent Technologies Corporation¹s Foundation, http://www.ctcfoundation.org). Publishing date is October 20, 2003.

   Founded by John Williams, Assistive Technology News offers a variety of print and online editorial services on assistive technology products and services. Mr. Williams has written about disability issues and assistive technology products for 25 years. He is an award-winning columnist.

            The CTC Foundation (www.ctcfoundation.org) was established five years ago with the primary goal of mainstreaming niche technologies. The Foundation is working to have AT more widely used in local communities where there are a community of persons with disabilities, with foundation and/or corporate support.  Contact Howard McClintic at (202) 312-2913 or [log in to unmask] for information.

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