PRESS RELEASE

Start Chatting with the HumanWare Communicator app

Montreal, September 12, 2012 - the HumanWare Communicator is now in the App Store. HumanWare, in partnership with Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille (INLB), announced the development of the first communication app to facilitate simple face to face communication between a deaf-blind person and a sighted party. The deaf-blind person uses Bluetooth connectivity to pair their HumanWare Braille device to an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.

Apple’s iOS devices have contained built in Braille and speech accessibility to assist visually impaired users since the iPhone 3GS was released in 2009. In the past, some individuals who are both deaf and blind have used a combination of apps such as Notes, combined with Braille displays. Since the sighted user cannot type on the touch screen of the iOS device while the VoiceOver screen reader is running, a Bluetooth keyboard had to be used for communication with the sighted individual, preventing the solution from being truly portable.

The HumanWare Communicator greatly simplifies this process, allowing a deaf-blind individual to simply hand their tethered iOS device to any sighted individual they want to converse with, and the sighted person can instantly type on the iOS device’s touch screen without the need for a Bluetooth keyboard. The HumanWare communicator automatically deactivates the VoiceOver screen reader when the sighted participant is using the touch screen, and then uses its functionality to provide Braille access to the deaf-blind user.

In addition, the HumanWare Communicator also delivers the following benefits:

• Ability to create “shortcuts” for commonly used phrases, regardless of their length.
• Customizable “greetings” to change the way that the deaf-blind individual initiates a conversation and receives acknowledgement from the sighted person.
• Ability to save important conversations in an archives list.

This app can be downloaded directly from the Apple App Store today using your current iOS device.
Click here to download the HumanWare Communicator .

To learn about all of HumanWare’s communication solutions for deaf-blind people, including the Deaf-blind Communicator (DBC), along with the HumanWare Communicator packages, please visit our deaf-blind resources page at:

www.humanware.com/deafblind

About HumanWare

HumanWare (www.humanware.com) is the global leader in assistive technologies for the print disabled. HumanWare provides products to people who are blind or have low vision, and students with learning disabilities. HumanWare offers a collection of innovative products, including BrailleNote, the leading productivity device for the blind in education, business and for personal use; the Victor Reader product line, the world's leading digital audiobook players; the SmartView family of handheld and desktop electronic magnifiers; Trekker Breeze, the all-in-one handheld talking GPS; and myReader2, HumanWare's unique "auto-reader."

Please contact us for more information :