SwitchXS 2.2
Amsterdam – 20 December 2005 – AssistiveWare today announced the
release of SwitchXS(R) 2.2. SwitchXS is a switch access solution that
provides virtually complete access to Mac OS X and all standard Mac
applications for people who cannot use a mouse or keyboard. SwitchXS
provide the best access solution ever on the Mac (and beyond) for
people who are, for example, quadriplegic due to an accident, or
suffering from neuromotor diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS), Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) or Cerebral Palsy (CP)
with very limited limb movement. It offers full mouse and keyboard
emulation by means of a so-called scanning mode. With each click on
the switch the user selects an action, such as “move the cursor up”
or “type B”, from a “scanning” menu.
SwitchXS 2.2 is a major update with the following main new features:
– SwitchXS now speaks Japanese when the user has the Japanese DTalker
application (http://www.createsystem.co.jp/dtalkerMac OS X.html)
installed on their machine. This way, SwitchXS can provide voice
cueing during scanning in Japanese. What is more, when combined with
the PCS for LayoutKitchen communication symbol collection SwitchXS
can now be turned into a complete switch accessible communication
solution for Japanese Mac users who cannot speak. For English,
French, German, Spanish and other languages SwitchXS can be combined
with our Proloquo software
(http://www.assistiveware.com/proloquo.php) for the same purposes.
– To save efforts, SwitchXS now remembers which panel was last used
in each application and can (optionally) automatically load that
panel each time a particular application is used.
– For beginning switch users, a “simplified scanning” feature was
added that instantly scans any panel linearly instead of applying
traditional row-column scanning. This is great for beginning switch
users and at the same time saves parents and educators time, because
they do not have to make dedicated linear scan panels, but can turn
on linear scanning for all scan panels.
– The color of the rotating cursor beam can now be set by the user.
– Includes LayoutKitchen 1.0.4.
– An expanded user manual.
SwitchXS works with any HID compliant USB gamepad, joystick and
keyboard, and starting with Mac OS X 10.3 also with any HID compliant
USB mouse or trackball. SwitchXS also works with USB switch
interfaces emulating any of the above devices.
SwitchXS is currently available in English, French and Japanese but
works fine with most other languages. The suggested retail price is
US$ 299 or Euro 249 (excl. VAT). Version 2.2 is a free update for
current users. SwitchXS requires Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) or higher.
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higher is recommended. For more information
and a fully-functional downloadable demo please consult the product
page at http://www.assistiveware.com/switchaccess.php
PCS for LayoutKitchen contains a collection of over 8000 Picture
Communication Symbols licensed from Mayer-Johnson that can be
used with LayoutKitchen to design scanning panels for SwitchXS as
well as speech panels for Proloquo. It is available for a suggested
retail price of US$/Euro 199 (excl. VAT).
AssistiveWare (http://www.assistiveware.com/) is the worldwide leader
in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X that gives
people back their lives. This includes award-winning KeyStrokes(R)
and TouchStrokes(R) virtual keyboards, SwitchXS(R) scanning on-screen
keyboard, LayoutKitchen(R) panel editor, and Proloquo(R)
multi-purpose speech solution.