Finland Adopts US Web Browser For Blind

Productivity Works, an Internet-based company that specializes in providing universal Internet access for people with disabilities, has completed a Finnish-language version of its pwWebSpeak browser for the visually impaired, the Trenton-based firm announced. Finland will distribute the program through the Federation of the Visually Impaired, or NKL as it is called in the country, free to visually impaired citizens. The agreement includes the firm_s pwTelephone software, which NKL will use to build various services around Internet-based information and make them accessible by telephone. J. Sylberg, development manager, IT systems and services for NKL, stated, "The licensing and distribution agreement allows us for the first time to provide all visually impaired persons and supporting organizations in Finland with Internet accessibility..." R. Ingram, the firm_s executive vice president, told Newsbytes the Finnish language version was developed after the NKL "bought the product to give all the visually impaired people in Finland." "We are translating the product into other languages too." Last year, the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD) requested a customized Japanese version of pwWebSpeak so it could provide the product to all visually impaired people in Japan and to the non-profit organizations, and government organizations that provide support for them. Ingram told that the talking browser will eventually be available in English, Japanese, Finnish, French, German and, as an update, Spanish versions. An evaluation ersion of the product is available for download from the firm_s World Wide Web site at http://www.prodworks.com.