Apple have announced the release date of the next version of their OS X operating system called Leopard. Particularly exciting is the update of the Universal Access component. Highlights include braille and speech output during operating system installation, Voiceover navigation using the numpad (similar to JAWS and Windows Eyes) and a new voice called Alex. Here is a sample of Alex's voice. Leopard may cause a shake up in the alternative interface market as it will be very competitive when you can buy a great laptop in a MacBook for $1700 and get the accesibility software free. Tas Living Tech will be offering training and consulting on Leopard as of the release date on the 26th October.

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This product has been replaced by the Quicklook Zoom

Quicklook is a hand-held, full color, electronic magnifier with an integrated 4" (10.2 cm) TFT display. It can magnify text, photos and maps or just about anything. It's small enough to fit in a jacket pocket or a ladies' handbag, but big enough to make a difference. If regular print is too small to read, Quicklook can help.

Below is a demonstration of some of the features of Software Express Handsfree Guide. It lasts approximately 5 minutes.It requires Flash player 8 or later to function correctly. Unfortunately the movie is not accessible to screen readers at present, although if you can get focus on the movie you can tab through the controls and use space and enter to activate them.

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The most popular screen reader worldwide, JAWS for Windows works with your PC to provide access to today's software applications and the Internet. With its internal software speech synthesizer and the computer's sound card, information from the screen is read aloud, providing technology to access a wide variety of information, education and job related applications. JAWS also outputs to refreshable braille displays, providing unmatched braille support of any screen reader on the market. Get started with training in DAISY format and a trial version of Freedom Scientific's FSReader DAISY player software.

Demo Version

Demonstration versions of JAWS can be found on the Freedom Scientific website.

• www.freedomscientific.com/fs_downloads/jaws.asp