For Immediate Release

ViewPlus Makes APS Science Journals Accessible to Blind People

Corvallis, Oregon USA, Wednesday, January 16, 2008 – ViewPlus Technologies
today announced an experimental project to make American Physical Society
(APS) journals accessible to the blind. The project is a collaboration
between APS and ViewPlus, funded by a Small Business Innovation Research
grant Number R43EY018799 from the National Eye Institute, National
Institutes of Health. The experimental project will develop streamlined
procedures that are cost effective and timely, for converting current APS
XML documents to the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information SYstem) form. 

DAISY is an international organization of nonprofit organizations dedicated
to serving needs of people who are blind or have other severe print
disabilities. Files in DAISY XML format can be read in speech or with
on-line refreshable Braille displays using any of several DAISY Reader
computer applications.  "I am excited that the American Physical Society may
be able to offer its journals in DAISY format" says Dr. George Kerscher,
Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium. "This new project is a tribute to
the APS advanced XML publishing methods and to DAISY's development of
standards that include accessibility to math and figures.  by offering
material in the DAISY format, the APS is opening its ranks to a whole new
group of scientists with print disabilities including blindness, low vision,
dyslexia or other disabilities."

DAISY's new SVG plug-in expands DAISY's capabilities, allowing ViewPlus'
SVG-based IVEO system to make DAISY figures accessible by
"audio/touch". Methods exist today that permit blind people to read the text
portions of the APS journals. Under this grant, ViewPlus will utilize and
expand their IVEO Hands-on Learning System technology to make the entire
journal accessible – text as well as previously inaccessible diagrams and
math. A tactile copy of the visual image will be made by printing the figure
on a ViewPlus embosser or using "swell" paper. Once the tactile copy is
placed on a touch-sensitive pad, a blind person may touch the tactile figure
and hear text labels spoken. Titles and descriptions of graphical objects
are also spoken when touched.”This project has been my dream for two
decades" says Prof. John Gardner, ViewPlus Founder and President. "The
technology developed through this grant will eliminate a giant hurdle for
blind people who are pursuing careers in math and science."

"Currently most uses for XML MathML are to feed a composition process that
result in a display of the material. Our goal is to be able to re-purpose
our XML and MathML for different reading experiences. Making content
available to reading by listening is potentially only one of the
deliverables" says Robert Kelly, APS Director of Journal Information
Systems.

Professor John Gardner is founder and president of ViewPlus and Professor
Emeritus of Physics at Oregon State University.  Gardner lost his sight in
mid-career and quickly became widely recognized for his innovative
developments for people with print disabilities as head of the Science
Access Project at Oregon State University and later at ViewPlus. 
ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. is a private firm that develops and manufactures
hardware and software for people with sensory disabilities, including people
who are blind, low-vision and learning disabled. For more information about
ViewPlus and the IVEO Hands-on Learning System please visit the ViewPlus
website, www.viewplus.com, email, [log in to unmask], or call 541.754.4002. 
Press contacts:
Abigail Jablonski
Marketing Coordinator, ViewPlus
Phone: (541) 754 4002 x 222
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