FREE accessible software

Premier Programming Solutions, a software
>company that specializes in assistive-technology products for
>learning-disabled students, is giving away its products to schools,
>with the goal of installing its products in every U.S. school by
>2003. The only requirement is that applicants must be a nonprofit
>organization, school, library, college or university. As of July,
>Steve Timmer, president and founder of Premier Programming Solutions,
>who is himself legally blind, said $6.5 million worth of software had
>been given away to about 500 educational and nonprofit organizations,
>including individual schools and entire districts. The grant program
>is set to end Oct.1, 2002.
>
>Based in DeWitt, Mich., Premier Programming Solutions (517-668-8188;
>www.premier-programming.com) is giving away its Accessibility Suite
>to any school that cannot afford to buy assistive software for its
>learning-disabled students. But they don’t have to prove it. We
>worked on the honor system, says Timmer. “We asked educators if they
>could afford to pay for it to do so. Because if they were given a
>grant, some other school who truly needed it may not get it.”
>
>Schools receiving the software package will get applications that
>convert printed materials into audio files, a talking word processor,
>a screen magnifier that enlarges screen images from 2X to 16X, and a
>talking Web browser and calculator, among other tools. The programs
>assist students who are diagnosed with learning disabilities - a
>broad term that includes vision and mobility impairments to learning.
>For now, the products focus on reading and writing, but Timmer says
>the company is planning to release products that cover math and
>assist the hearing impaired.
>
>Timmer says he hopes to get his programs in every school in the
>United States over the next year - a considerably lofty goal. But
>according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special
>Education Programs, schools nationwide have a need. More than 6
>million children and youths currently receive special education and
>related services, while nearly 200,000 infants, toddlers and their
>families qualify for early intervention programs and services
>provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
>
>Timmer says his own informal research of more than 300 school
>districts revealed many schools did not have much of a budget for
>assistive technology, if any. If they did, they didn’t have enough,
>or it was too complex and expensive for home use, he says.
>
>”By providing schools with this type of grant, they are no longer
>limited to just the significantly impaired individuals,” says Timmer.
>Students who are borderline and don’t have a “learning disabled”
>label can now use it, and ESL students can also benefit from it, he
>says.
>
>In addition, Timmer says his company is currently working with
>Canadian firm Global Etext to put together a program and seminar
>series on how to integrate assistive technology into the classroom
>and use it as a tool to learn. He’s also counting on word-of-mouth to
>help spread the news about his company’s products. In the meantime,
>Timmer is promising free upgrades and a full-time support staff for
>one year to all grantees. “Will we truly get every school? No,” says
>Timmer. “But we’re going to try.”