FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>Contact: Jamie Principato
>Director of Public Relations
>Phone: (239)810-4951
>E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
>MOST AFFORDABLE E-BOOK READER FOR THE BLIND HIT'S THE MARKET
>Blind Readers Can Access eText for Less than the Cost of an
Evening Out
>Mar 2, 2012: In the age of technology, when most people turn to
the
>Internet for information, and a laptop is practically a necessity
in
>the workplace or at school, the e-book is rapidly becoming as
common
>and important to daily life as its paper-bound counterpart.
Access
>to printed information for the Blind is more important now than
>ever, and though there is a variety of software available to make
>electronic books and documents accessible, it either comes
complete
>with a price only few could afford without assistance from a
school
>or rehab agency, or does not allow the reader to open even a
>minority of the various eText formats. Christopher Toth, a blind
>software developer, aims to change that with QRead, the first
>e-reader for the blind that is affordable even to the average
college student.
>QRead is a program that provides blind users with fast and
efficient
>screen-reader access to most common e-book formats, including
both
>PDF, the industry standard for textbooks, ePub, a format popular
for
>technical titles and fiction as well as many others. Users can
open
>and tab between an unlimited number of books, place an unlimited
>number of bookmarks, and return to their current place in each
book
>even after a session has ended. QRead offers the ability to read
>continuously, "skim" through a text by percentage, and even
search
>for specific passages with its "Find" feature.
>QRead interfaces directly with all major screen reading software,
>including JAWS for Windows, Window-Eyes, Super Nova, System
Access,
>and the free and open source NVDA.
>The program goes on sale today for an introductory price of $20,
and
>is expected to retail for $30. Its nearest competitors are
available
>for upwards of $80.
>Mr. Toth says his software offers a unique benefit in addition
to
>affordability.
>"Historically, access to PDF, ePub and other eText formats has
been
>cumbersome, difficult or even impossible. I invented QRead to
fix
>this, and in the process have created a tool which will vastly
>improve your reading experience, regardless if you're a casual
>reader, student, or professional", he states.
>For more information about QRead and other accessibility software
>developed by Toth, visit http://q-continuum.net/ .
>###
>ABOUT THE DEVELOPER:
>Christopher Toth is a freelance software developer in
Tallahassee,
>Florida. His projects focus primarily on breaking down the
access
>barriers faced by blind consumers of technology on a daily basis.
He
>is the creator of Hope, the accessible Pandora Radio client, and
>contributes regularly to various open-source projects. Toth has
been
>blind since early infancy as a result of Retinoblastoma, and
started
>writing software while he was in high school. He founded Q
Software
>Solutions as a means of distributing his ideas and his code to
those
>who will find it most useful.
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