[Nfbf-l] ZoomText, Sitecues and GW Micro, the creator of Window-Eyes, have merged into one company.

[Alan Dicey]

Manchester, Vermont and Fort Wayne, Indiana (
May 1, 2014) -
Ai Squared, the maker of ZoomText and sitecues; and GW Micro, the creator of 
Window-Eyes, have merged into one company. With this merger, the companies 
will combine their talents to better assist computer users who are blind or 
visually impaired.

ZoomText is the world's number one screen magnifier and text-to-speech 
software package that allows people who are visually impaired to use a 
computer with ease. Window-Eyes is a popular screen reader that enables 
people who are blind to be fully independent on the computer by translating 
visual information into speech and/or Braille.

"Our mission is to provide a full family of computer accessibility solutions 
for users who are low vision or blind, whether they access digital 
information via their desktop, the web or their mobile device," said David 
Wu, CEO of Ai Squared. "Earlier this year, we commercially launched 
sitecues, a product which enables website owners to build accessibility 
tools right into their websites. Today's merger with GW Micro rounds out our 
mantra of 'We've got accessibility covered' - with our combined forces, we 
can now deliver an even wider range of computer access solutions."

The need for assistive technology continues to grow. According to the World 
Health Organization, over 285 million people in the world are considered 
visually impaired; 39 million of those are blind, and 246 million have 
moderate to severe visual impairments. "The merger of Ai Squared and GW 
Micro brings together two companies that offer great solutions for the 
millions of Microsoft customers around the world who are blind or visually 
impaired," said Rob Sinclair, Chief Accessibility Officer at Microsoft.

"We are also delighted that Ai Squared will continue to develop and support 
the Window-Eyes for Office Offer as many of our customers rely on this 
screen reading solution to enable access to Windows, Office and other 
Microsoft products," Sinclair said.

Dan Weirich, Co-founder of GW Micro and now Vice President at Ai Squared, 
said he is thrilled to incorporate Window-Eyes into the Ai Squared product 
family.

"It's a natural fit," Weirich said. "Combining our companies will strengthen 
Ai Squared's global presence in the assistive technology industry, allowing 
us to serve even more customers."

Weirich noted that many customers using web and computer accessibility tools 
inevitably progress further along the visual impairment spectrum during 
their lifetime.  As a result, they will require more advanced assistive 
technology as their needs change. With the merger, Ai Squared will be in a 
better position to assist those customers, developing products that provide 
a seamless transition and user experience as customers adapt to their 
changing vision.

Ai Squared will continue to offer Window-Eyes and its related products as 
they were previously offered by GW Micro. In addition, a free and fully 
featured version of Window-Eyes will continue to be available via the 
Window-Eyes Offer for Users of Microsoft Office as part of the recently 
announced partnership with Microsoft and GW Micro. The GW Micro team will 
remain in Indiana as part of the Ai Squared team, which is headquartered in 
Vermont.

About Ai Squared: Ai Squared (www.aisquared.com) has been the worldwide 
leader in assistive technology solutions for people who are visually 
impaired for over 20 years. The product line is available in over 20 
languages and sold in 45 countries through a network of over 350 global 
distributors. Ai Squared's screen magnification and screen-reading products 
dramatically improve a computer's usability and friendliness for users who 
are blind or low vision, raising their level of productivity, satisfaction, 
and independence. The family of Ai Squared products includes ZoomText, 
ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard, ZoomText ImageReader, ZoomText Mac, 
Window-Eyes, sitecues, the ZoomReader iOS app, and the ZoomContacts iPad 
app.

About GW Micro: GW Micro, Inc. (www.gwmicro.com) has been a trusted pioneer 
in the assistive technology industry since 1990; it has led with innovative, 
customer-driven solutions, and the GW Micro team has always been proud of 
its description as the Voice of Vision.



__._,_.___