Kelly and VICUG listers:
I had the distinct pleasure of being able to attend this event in New York.
It was truly exciting to see that corporate America is taking such an
initiative to advocate for employment of people with disabilities.
In addition to helping to assist in gettng judges for the awards, I also
work as an SAP programmer, consulting at Bayer Corporation.
The event was very well put-together, and it was great to see worldwide
participation. I hope this will become a greater event in the future, and
will spark other companies to get involved.
SAP is a German-based company which produces an integrated client-server
database application (known as SAP). Ninety percent of Fortune 500
companies use it. It is definitely a force which is working for us. Please
write to SAP to let them know your appreciation. You can send notes via
e-mail to Gina Merchese at [log in to unmask]
Thanks.
-Mike
Michael W. Gravitt
[log in to unmask]
528 Chatham Park Dr., Apt. 1C
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
412.344.2313
-----Original Message-----
From: Kelly Pierce <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, August 16, 1998 1:25 AM
Subject: edu: stevie wonder awards
>I am pleased to find that Sara Morely, who developed the excellent
>windows and windows 95 explained tutorials has been recognized for her
>good work.
>
>kelly
>
>
> Stevie Wonder, SAP spotlight applications for disabled
> (InfoWorld)
>
>Stevie Wonder, SAP spotlight applications for disabled
>
>By Marc Ferranti
>InfoWorld Electric
>
>Posted at 6:56 AM PT, Aug 14, 1998
>NEW YORK -- It's hard to just say no to Stevie Wonder. After
>all, the blind musician is one of the great pop icons of the
>last three decades, and as an inspirational speaker for the
>young and disabled and an activist for the African-American
>community he has a certain moral force.
>
>So two years ago when he asked to speak to SAP America's Chief
>Executive Officer Paul Wahl about an idea he had, the company
>said yes.
>
>The germ of that idea turned into the SAP/Stevie Wonder Vision
>Awards program -- which just capped its first year with a gala
>celebration and concert by Wonder here Wednesday night --
>spotlighting computer technology that helps the blind and the
>visually impaired with access in the workplace.
>
>The program also comes at a time when SAP, a developer of
>enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology, is trying to take
>its traditional image as a company whose products are difficult
>to work with, and turn it around. ERP technology covers a range
>of business management, accounting, logistics, and human
>resource applications.
>
>More than 200 award applicants from 12 countries participated in
>the awards program Wednesday night, which gave out a total of
>$500,000 to winners in a variety of categories, including the
>Product of the Year -- a new version of the Kurzweil reader
>system that lets vision-impaired and blind people scan documents
>into a scanner, which then converts the text into speech output.
>
>Technology from finalists, shown at the awards ceremony, covers
>a broad range of enabling devices, from a mouse that lets blind
>people "feel" the icons on a graphical user interface to Windows
>training material for the blind.
>
>Corporate use of these tools is not just charity -- visually
>impaired and blind people can be a great asset to any workforce,
>according to Wahl.
>
>"We now have blind people [at SAP], some of them are
>programmers, and we are delighted to see how quickly they become
>a very talented work force to build applications," Wahl said.
>"Some of them are even going into the research side to build a
>very complex, innovative search engine for information for
>business that can be used by blind people."
>
>For blind people, the graphical user technology that almost all
>new applications use doesn't do much good, Wahl noted. The
>awards program was founded to encourage the development of
>software and hardware that lets visually impaired and blind
>people -- of which there are about 170 million in the world --
>take advantage of contemporary advances in technology.
>
>The plan for the program was hatched two years ago when SAP
>asked Wonder to play at a user group conference.
>
>"I was very happy to be asked to be part of their celebration
>.. and I said I'm fine doing the concert and performance, but
>what I want to do is get together with the president and talk
>about an idea I had," Wonder said.
>
>As it turned out, the idea to set up a program to encourage
>enabling technology for the blind had a special interest for
>Wahl, whose daughter Carolin is blind and works at SAP AG in
>Germany.
>
>"The common vision of Stevie Wonder and SAP is that we want to
>take the workforce of blind people and make it available for
>many companies around the world," Wahl said.
>
>Wonder, an avid user of technology in his work as a musician,
>was one of the product testers in the program.
>
>The awards program Wednesday night spotlighted finalists
>including:
>
>Kurzweil Educational Systems, whose Kurzweil 1000 took the
>Product of the Year award. The program is a PC-based reading
>tool that converts print into speech. Features include text
>editing, white-on-black scanning, and text enhancement for
>people with low vision. For pricing and other information, the
>company can be reached in Waltham, Mass., at
>http://www.kurzweiledu.com.
>
>GW Micro, whose product line includes the Sounding Board, a
>speech synthesizer that offers capitalization alert, format
>alert, fast forward, and rewind. The company is in Fort Wayne,
>Ind., at http://www.gwmicro.com.
>
>Sarah Morley, who took the Pioneer of the Year award for her
>work on Windows training materials for the blind and visually
>impaired. The material explains Windows 95 features and concepts
>from a non-visual point of view, and are available in print,
>diskette, Braille, and cassette formats. Information on Morley's
>materials can be obtained at the Export Department, Royal
>National Institute for the Blind in Peterborough, United
>Kingdom, or from Morley's Web site at http://www.winguide.co.uk.
>
>Control Advancements, which puts out the VRM Virtual Reality
>Mouse, which gives users tactile feedback, allowing them to feel
>their way around a Windows 95 graphical user interface. The
>company can be reached in Kitchener, Ontario, at
>http://www.controladv.com.
>
>F.H. Papenmeier GmbH & Co., whose products include the Braillex
>2D Screen, a display and accompanying keyboard that incorporates
>the use of the Braille raised-dot reading technique to let blind
>people "read" Windows and OS/2 interfaces. In Germany the
>company can be contacted in Schwerte; in the United States,
>contact Sighted Electronics Inc. at http://www.sighted.com.
>
>SAP America Inc., in Philadelphia, can be reached at
>http://www.sap.com. Its parent company, SAP AG, in Walldorf,
>Germany, can be reached at http://www.sap-ag.de.
>
>Marc Ferranti is the New York bureau chief for the IDG News
>Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.
>
>Related articles:
>
>"SAP to list on New York Stock Exchange"
>
> Go to the Week's Top News Stories
>
> Please direct your comments to InfoWorld Deputy News Editor,
> Carolyn April
>
> Copyright (c) 1998 InfoWorld Media Group Inc.
>
> InfoWorld Electric is a member of IDG.net
>
>
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