GW Micro, Inc. Continues Training Collaboration with Microsoft, Inc.

Apr-25-2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GW Micro, Inc. Continues Training Collaboration with Microsoft, Inc.

Fort Wayne, Indiana (April 25, 2011) – GW Micro, Inc. (www.gwmicro.com) is proud to announce a continued training collaboration with Microsoft, Inc. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) at the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA this week.

Last September, GW Micro and Microsoft entered into a training collaboration in which GW Micro instructors provided training for Window-Eyes (www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes — a screen reading program that provides speech and Braille output to blind and visually impaired users) to Microsoft employees responsible for testing adaptive technologies with Microsoft products.

“This continues to be an important project for both GW Micro and Microsoft,” said Jeremy Curry, Director of Training for GW Micro. “Microsoft and GW Micro have had a very close relationship in the past, and this training collaboration continues to solidify that relationship, ultimately making more Microsoft software accessible to the blind.” The training collaboration brings together many different Microsoft engineers from many different Microsoft product groups, including the Windows Group, Office Group, and many more. Microsoft engineers will learn from Curry and the other GW Micro employees best practices for accessible design as well as the best way to implement new technologies that GW Micro is pioneering for the blind.

“This ongoing training collaboration allows us to educate Microsoft on our technology for the goal of creating better accessibility for the blind,” said Doug Geoffray, Vice President of Development for GW Micro. According to Geoffray, creating and maintaining a screen reader that must be able to read all software applications in all software environments is an extremely difficult task, and there are only a handful of people in the world who understand the underlying technology.

“This training collaboration with GW Micro continues to be extremely valuable,” said Dan Hubbell, Assistive Technology Evangelist for Microsoft. “Our development teams come away with more than just knowledge of how assistive technology works and how to make it work better but also insight as to how these products are used by our shared customers. Our hope is that better understanding of the customer will lead to the design of better user experiences.”

As technology continues to move at an extraordinary pace, both GW Micro and Microsoft develop software at an exhausting rate to keep up with all of the advancements. Both companies see this collaboration as an avenue to keep pace with the speed of technology, and ultimately improve the lives of the blind and visually impaired.

GW Micro has been a trusted pioneer in the adaptive technology industry since 1990, and continues to lead with innovative, customer driven solutions.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Contact:
Jeremy Curry, Director of Training

(260) 489-3671

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