Hello Judi & other interested parties:
Thank you, for sharing the OcuSource resource.
I frequent the ONLINE PROGRAMING for ALL LIBRARIES website at www.opal.org
quite a bit. The OPAL site uses the services of Talking Communities. I have
had about 20 hours of listening experience with OPAL. It is easy to access
the meeting rooms you can participate in a live meeting or access their
archives of past meetings. Yes they have a schedule of upcoming events.
You can type your correspondence in the text box or use an inexpensive
microphone to participate in voice over Internet protocol VOIP. Way cool!
You are able to record the session to your hard drive using Microsoft's
media player version 10.
This is where the sensory overload comes into play. When the synchronized
web surfing is turned on you are able to view each site the moderator is
visiting. If you have your screen reader going and the voice over Internet
protocol VOIP is going well it is sometimes overwhelming to me. Trying to
listen to two voices at the same time.
It has to be the most fun I have had with my computer!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Judi Piscitello" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 1:13 PM
Subject: Free Internet Voice Conferencing for the Visually Impaired
: Has anyone used these services enough to comment on them?
:
: For Immediate Release:
:
: OcuSource Pens Alliance with Talking Communities to Bring Free Internet
: Voice Conferencing to the Visually Impaired
:
: Placentia, CA - March 10, 2005 - Vision impairment industry portal
: OcuSource.com, LLC and Talking Communities announced the formation of an
: alliance between the companies to provide a comprehensive worldwide
: voice-chat community for visually impaired consumers, their caregivers,
: and the professionals who service them.
:
: "We are delighted to be bringing Talking Communities technology to all
: areas of the vision impairment industry" states Dr. Lou Lipschultz,
: founder and CEO of OcuSource.com. "Our alliance with Talking
: Communities fulfills our goals of enhancing the global access to
: products and services. The alliance also facilitates several
: initiatives that we have planned for various disabilities" Lipschultz
: affirmed. "Our goal is to provide a place where visitors can speak with
: a family member anywhere in the world without additional cost, can
: communicate with others with similar interests locally and abroad, and
: can participate in online presentations or educational events. Naturally
: our plan required a fully accessible solution for blind users, and
: Talking Communities beat the competition hands down. Their voice chat
: utility is fully accessible by programs called screen readers which
: enable blind users to interact with their computer" stated Lipschultz.
:
: The community's "rooms" are organized in logical categories. The
: visitor then clicks on the desired room and is brought to an Internet
: Explorer browser window with a login screen. Most rooms are open access
: and do not require a password to enter. After the log in, the visitor is
: then directed to a second window where, in addition to voice-chat
: capabilities, several resources can be viewed; the list of others in the
: room, a conventional text chat area, and a large browser window were web
: pages or other documents can be shared with other viewers. Rooms can be
: used for discussions, training, business presentations and more, all
: from the comfort of the user's computer.
:
: "Accessibility is the core competency of our team" stated George Buys,
: CEO of Talking Communities. Blind from a disorder called retinitis
: pigmentosa, Buys founded Talking Communities and employs multiple blind
: programmers, customer support, and administrative staff. "Our new
: relationship with OcuSource allows us to leap into a new age of global
: communications for the vision impaired community" stated Buys. "It was
: actually somewhat unsettling when I ended my first conversation with
: Lou. Our respective plans were exactly the same; we just needed each
: other's resources to complete the circle. The combined resources found
: in OcuSource and Talking Communities are an ideal fit'" Buys confirmed.
:
:
: The voice-chat area of OcuSource is free to users, and is found at
: www.ocusource.com in the Community area of the site.
:
: About OcuSource
: California based OcuSource.com, LLC is the owner and operator of the
: internet portal dedicated to assisting the low vision and blindness
: industry with essential online resources. OcuSource's mission is to
: enhance access to products, information, and services to individuals
: with vision impairment, as well as the professionals who assist them,
: through a set of integrated web-based utilities. OcuSource provides
: auctions of adaptive products and accessories, search tools to find
: local and national resources including eye care professionals and
: advocacy organizations, as well as other tools useful to eye care and
: rehabilitation professionals. The privately held company was founded in
: 2003, and is headquartered in Placentia, California. The company's URL
: is www.ocusource.com.
:
: About Talking Communities
: Michigan based Talking Communities offers interactive synchronous web
: community-building tools proven to provide customers numerous
: capabilities in both their business and personal lives at a very
: affordable rate. Live voice-over-internet conference rooms are suitable
: for public or private business meetings, employee training and support,
: family get-togethers, educational purposes, public and private
: interactive events, live broadcasts, web presentations and high level
: text chat. The company entered the market with its Audio Tips resource
: located at www.audio-tips.com. Audio-Tips is a family oriented voice
: chat community open to anyone seeking friends, support, fun and
: learning. In addition to its voice-chat utility, Talking Communities has
: also developed web-based utilities by consumers and businesses.
:
: Contact information:
: Louis Lipschultz, OD
: President & CEO - OcuSource.com, LLC
: Email: [log in to unmask]
: Website: www.ocusource.com
: Phone: 888-299-6657 ext 701 Contact information:
:
: George Buys
: President & CEO - Talking Communities
: Email: [log in to unmask]
: Website: www.talkingcommunities.com
: Phone: (810)667-3043
:
:
: VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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:
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
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