Did you know that Spectronics is the exclusive Australian importer for many of the products available on our web site?

Far from seeking to be a monopoly however, Spectronics supplies a number of major dealers who offer both clinical and technical expertise in support of their clients (examples include: Ability Technology and Technability in New South Wales as well as Rehabilitation Engineering at Regency Park in South Australia - contact Spectronics for dealers in other areas of Australia).

Customers can choose to deal directly with Spectronics, or source through one of our dealers for local support. Either way, Spectronics will always assist persons who are having difficulty with any of the products we sell. We do not check where customers purchased one of our products when they seek help.

There are many ways that customers benefit from Spectronics being an exclusive importer as outlined in Spectronics' Background - see www.spectronicsinoz.com/info.asp?info=background for more information.

A more recent benefit was realised when Spectronics was appointed the South East Asian distributor for BigKeys earlier this year. By becoming the sole importer, Spectronics was able to significantly reduce the price of BigKeys LX, now just $299. This was possible principally because of the savings in freight charges and importing fees - which are amazingly less costly when importing large quantities as opposed to small numbers of units. Customers benefit from cheaper prices. Our dealers benefit both by cheaper freight and more prompt supply.

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PDF (or Portable Document Files) files are a real problem for people with reading difficulties who rely on the computer to speak out text for them. You know these documents ... you receive a file via email or download a file on the Internet and it needs to be opened up in the Acrobat Reader program. You are then looking at a "PDF" file which can't be read aloud easily with programs like textHELP Read&Write - because you can't highlight the text at all. As a result, PDF files are effectively inaccessible to readers who rely on text-to-speech support for their reading.

PDFaloud - the latest clever program from textHELP Systems is the missing link for PDF files!

PDFaloud works as a simple add-in tool bar for Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader and reads any page instantly. It is able to read documents with thousands of pages. It has various buttons to activate speech within the PDF document as and when required.

With 400 million users of the Acrobat Reader program worldwide - this little toolbar will have a big impact for people who experience reading difficulties or have mild visual impairments. It is able to read PDF files with synchronised coloured highlighting right there on screen within the original PDF document. Seeing each word highlighted as it is spoken is of great assistance to people who struggle to read. Prior to PDFaloud being available, PDF files had to be converted and read as "text only files" - losing all of their graphics and formatting and not always translating well for pages with complex formatting.

To see screen shots of the program in action visit our website at www.spectronicsinoz.com/library.asp?article=14343

How do you obtain a copy of PDFaloud?

At present, PDFaloud is only available from Spectronics as a free "add-in" to textHELP Read&Write Version 6.0 or textHELP Read&Write GOLD. (This may change in future.) If you have a copy of either program installed on your computer, you can simply download a "Service Pack" which will install this new program for free! Visit the textHELP Systems website at www.textHELP.com/techdown.asp?section=support to download the Service Pack.

Please contact us at Spectronics if you have any questions.

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If you are using Co:Writer 4000 you may be aware of the power of its Topic Dictionaries. They allow users of Co:Writer's clever word prediction to be able to choose words from a list of topic specific words. For example, if you turn on a "Dinosaurs Topic Dictionary" in Co:Writer, you will have words such as Stegosaurus, Jurassic Age and Tyrannosaurus Rex predicted ahead of other words. This speeds topic specific writing and really does motivate students as they work on essays and assignments in different curriculum areas.

Don Johnston Inc. (manufacturer of Co:Writer) have posted up on their website two new wordlists which will help Australian writers.

1. The Australian Topic Dictionary

This Topic Dictionary is made up of 1400 words and phrases for writing about Australian places, geography, history, physical features, hazards and the population. It was developed in consultation with Australian teachers and students. Many useful words can be found in there - ranging from AFL and Aussie through to Ned Kelly and Walter Burley Griffin.

2. The Iraqi War Topic Dictionary

This Topic Dictionary is made up of 1400 words for writing about the attack on Iraq by the coalition forces - covering people, leaders, places, the events and debate leading up to the attack, along with the equipment used.

How to install and use these Topic Dictionaries

To use these Topic Dictionaries, you need to first download them from the Don Johnston website.

To download the Australian Topic Dictionary for Windows visit
ftp://161.58.151.152/Topic_Dictionaries/BE/Australia.zip

To download the Australian Topic Dictionary for Mac visit
ftp://161.58.151.152/Topic_Dictionaries/BE/Australia.sit

To download Iraqi War Topic Dictionary - visit the British English Downloads section of the Don Johnston website at http://www.donjohnston.com/downloads/breng/brengtopdic.htm

For instructions on installing and using them with your copy of Co:Writer 4000 see http://www.donjohnston.com/downloads/breng/brengreadme.htm

Once they are installed in the correct folders, start up the Co:Writer 4000 program on your computer. Choose Dictionaries Menu > Select Topic Dictionary > then select Australia or Iraq War from the available topic dictionaries list. Start typing in Co:Writer and up comes the Australian or Iraqi War vocabulary needed for speedy and successful writing!

If you have the Co:Writer SmartApplet installed on an AlphaSmart, you can also load these Topic Dictionaries into your AlphaSmart for topic specific writing away from the computer.

If it is too difficult for you to download the files and unzip them, we are happy to send them to you on floppy disk. Just email damian@spectronicsinoz.com to request a copy.

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It was such a buzz to see the reaction at the AGOSCI Conference in Sydney last month and around Australia to the wiseDX system. The wiseDX allows switch and joystick users to control their wheelchair movements - while at the same time controlling their computer, communication devices and household appliances! Colin Clayton, developer of the wiseDX from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London visited Australia for Spectronics last month - showing Australian Rehab Engineers, therapists, special ed teachers and powered mobility users just how the wiseDX system works.

Colin commented to us before he left that Australian therapy, engineering, technical and teaching teams were so "together" in their ability to cross professional boundaries and make things happen! Complex systems such as the wiseDX require input from many professional team members - along with critical input from the wiseDX system user. It was great to hear that Australian teams around the country were up to the challenge of making it happen!

It would be great to see papers presented at the next ARATA and AGOSCI conferences on successful applications of the wiseDX in Australia.

For more information on the wiseDX system, visit our website at www.spectronicsinoz.com/product.asp?product=14077 or check out Colin's wiseDX site at www.wisedx.com

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While many of our technologies definitely do not attract GST, because they are designed for people with disabilities, others fall into more of a "grey area". Programs such as Co:Writer 4000, Write:OutLoud and textHELP Read&Write for example, currently attract GST because they are not specifically and solely for use by people with disabilities. They are of great benefit to people who struggle with reading and writing - who are not considered "disabled" under the Australian Tax Office legislation - nor indeed by themselves!

While schools and government organisations can claim back this GST, of course, it imposes an extra financial burden on individuals buying these programs. For individuals, there is no avenue to claim the GST back from the Tax Office.

For this reason, Spectronics has submitted a request for an official ruling from the Tax Office - requesting that we be able to supply these, and other programs for people with learning difficulties, GST-free. However, the Tax Office has a history of returning odd rulings in this area. They recently dictated that very "disability specific" devices such as switch-activated environmental control systems should attract GST because they are not specifically customised to meet the needs of individuals. Even though many mainstream home automation systems exist for people without disabilities to purchase, the Tax Office would not be moved on this decision!

So ... we are not sure how we will go - but we have given the argument our best shot! We hope to have an answer for you in our next emailed update.

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Did you know that Writing with Symbols 2000 comes with over 4000 PCS symbols - the coloured symbols you see in Boardmaker?

We are always surprised to hear that people don't know they are there!

So, how do you find them and have them appear automatically within your Writing with Symbols documents and grids? It is simply a matter of turning on the right wordlist. The "default" wordlist at present for Writing with Symbols is the Rebus wordlist. This means that when you start up your program and start typing in Writing with Symbols, you see the black and white line drawing "Rebus" symbols (a bit like Compic style symbols). The wordlist running to make this happen is called "Australian Widgit.wus"

But if you want to see the coloured PCS symbols as well as the black and white Rebus symbols, you need to turn on the "Australian PCS Widgit.wus" wordlist. To do this, go to the Wordlists menu and click on "Replace Wordlist". Find the "Australian PCS Widgit.wus" and double click on it to bring it up as the wordlist running in Writing with Symbols.

Then, when you type words, PCS symbols will appear above the word. To see all of the symbols associated with a word, you just need to click on the word, press the F12 key and keep pressing until you find the most appropriate symbol for the word.

If you always want to see the PCS and Rebus symbols in your documents, you can keep this setup as your default by going to the Options Menu and choosing "Save Settings Now". This keeps all your font, size and wordlist selections and they will appear whenever you open Writing with Symbols 2000 again.

To learn more about wordlists and how clever they are, download the Help Sheet called "Wordlists Explained" from the Widgit Software website at www.widgit.com/html/downloads/helpsheets/helpsheets_index.htm

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You may have been hearing a few new voices over the phone in the past few months when you contact Spectronics. To fill you in on the changes ...

Terry Prescott has taken on the important role of Technical Support for you. She previously worked in adult disability services using many of our technologies. She is a super patient and dogged lady who is great at helping you work through any annoying technical hitches. We are really excited to have someone like Terry working with us!

Damian Trinder has moved into the role of Order Processing and is the one to chat to with enquiries about the progress of your order and expected delivery dates etc. Sueanne Hiscock, as our new receptionist, will often be the first person you speak with when you contact us.

Away from the phones, Yvonne Bryant has taken over from Flora in Accounts, James Kallis is working in packing and despatch, and we also have Heather Jones working on special projects like the Australian/New Zealand version of Clicker 4 which so many of you have requested.

Nothing stays still for long at Spectronics!

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Past copies of our email updates can also be found at http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/library.asp?library=email_updates