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BlindShell Classic 2 Integrates Sero: A Leap Forward in Assistive Technology

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Blindshell logo, Blindshell Classic 2 phone image, and Sero logo

Over the last few years, we have witnessed incredible advancements in technology designed to aid those with visual impairments. Two companies, in particular, have stood out: BlindShell, a pioneer in assistive technology communication, and Pneuma Solutions, the current developers of Sero, the world’s most comprehensive and easy-to-navigate social network and multimedia repository for the blind.

Now, in an exciting development, the Blindshell Classic 2 Collection of accessible cell phones will integrate the Sero platform, creating an even better, user-friendly experience specifically for the visually impaired.

… Read the rest “BlindShell Classic 2 Integrates Sero: A Leap Forward in Assistive Technology”

Sero for Android Gets a Face Lift!

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The Sero logo is a white stylized R inside of a red circle.

The Android app for our award winning Sero community has now been updated to version 3.2.0. This version brings with it support for newer current versions of Android, including the current Android 14 Upside Down Cake beta builds.

Modernization of the app comes with the added benefit of a reduced impact on your device’s battery life.

We also have support for Android’s native media controls, so Talkback’s two-finger double tap will work for playing/pausing all Sero media throughout all of Android including the lock screen, and media controls will be present in the notifications shade and lock screen as is usual with most other media apps.

… Read the rest “Sero for Android Gets a Face Lift!”

System Access, Not the Last Choice

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From time to time we like to share feedback directly from our customers. If we may, we would like to share a little of that feedback now. We don’t like to boast. We prefer to quietly work hard for you, to bring you what you need, but yes, we admit notes like the one below helps us remember why the work is always worth it.

The note follows:

Hello Friends,

Just thought I’d take a quick moment to mention just how much I was recently very pleasantly surprised by the versatility and accessibility you’ve built in to System Access.

A few days ago, I needed to access and use the “My Choice” portion of the UPS website (www.ups.com

… Read the rest “System Access, Not the Last Choice”

Alexa, Start Sero!

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As we teased in our last entry, Sero was coming to another popular platform. Well, guess what? It’s here!

“Alexa is Amazon’s voice service and the brain behind millions of devices including Amazon Echo. Alexa provides capabilities, or skills, that enable customers to create a more personalized experience. There are now more than 10,000 skills from companies like Starbucks, Uber, and Capital One as well as innovative designers and developers.”

And now Serotek Corp is proud to announce it too is a part of the growing base of Alexa skills developers, because why swipe this way and that when you could just tell your device to play your favorite Sero audio content?

… Read the rest “Alexa, Start Sero!”

A Tax Break You Can’t Beat!

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There are two certainties we tend to agree with, death and taxes. Actually, there is a third certainty we can add to the list, and that is competitive prices for your hard-earned money.

That’s really no shocker though, right? Look around the access technology industry and identify just one company who charges less for comparable products.

At the end of this tax season, we want to continue the tradition. We understand Uncle Sam took his bite out of your checkbook, so let’s explore a new means of saving money for the entertainment you love and enjoy on the mobile device of your choosing.

Starting today, we’re going to release new single-platform subscription packages for Sero.

… Read the rest “A Tax Break You Can’t Beat!”

A DocuScan Plus Endorsement

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We regularly receive positive feedback from satisfied customers. Every now and then we pick out some of these unsolicited testimonials to share with you since their words will mean a lot more than our own biased opinions. In that spirit, here is one noteworthy message from one of our DocuScan Plus users, reprinted with permission:

Greetings From Your New Biggest Fan;

My name is Ryan Eversole and I have been using accessibility software since 1997 or so. I have been a beta tester for Dolphin SuperNova for nearly a decade now, I have done beta testing for ZoomText from the time they rolled out a 64-bit solution until present and I have even done beta testing for JAWS.

… Read the rest “A DocuScan Plus Endorsement”

Liked It? Disliked It? Review It!

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Sero has always been about connecting you to your favorite content and your community. Now, we’re bringing these two aspects of Sero together. When you listen to a piece of content, now you can tell the Sero community what you think, by giving us your rating and writing a review.

Giving us your rating is as easy as pressing one button. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have the option to write a review as well. And don’t forget that you can share your favorite content on social networks, by email, or even in a text message if you’re running Sero on your smartphone.

Ratings and reviews are available now on Windows, Mac, iOS, Apple TV, and Android.

… Read the rest “Liked It? Disliked It? Review It!”

Double Your Spending Power on Black Friday!

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How many times have you come across those gift certificate opportunities where you have to spend a good chunk of money to earn just a little money? You know the ones we’re talking about. Spend twenty-five to get thirty or some such. Well, we know there’s a place for those opportunities, but in typical Serotek fashion, we want to break tradition.

How about this: Spend whatever quantity you want on a Serotek gift certificate, and we will fully match your amount. If you want a one hundred-dollar gift certificate, Serotek will give you another gift certificate of equal value. That would mean two hundred dollars toward the purchase of our popular document scanning app, our intuitive screen reading solution, a subscription to our growing feature set of the Sero app, or a combination of all three!

… Read the rest “Double Your Spending Power on Black Friday!”

Why You Should Upgrade from Windows 7: Sometimes the Little Things Make All the Difference

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It happens from time to time to all of us who rely on a screen reader. You go to a website, and with no prompting on your part, the website starts playing some music, a video, or something else that drowns out your screen reader. How do you turn the sound down, or just make it stop, short of closing the web page altogether? You try to find your way to the stop button or the volume control, but the sound from the web page is making it hard to hear what your screen reader is telling you. Wouldn’t it be nice if your computer could automatically turn down the other sound while it’s talking? Your iPhone can do that, after all.

… Read the rest “Why You Should Upgrade from Windows 7: Sometimes the Little Things Make All the Difference”

DocuScan Plus Will not be Fooled!

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You might remember Brad Dunse from his contributions over on the SeroTalk blog. He’s got a knack with the words, and when we received the following email from him, we thought it worth asking for permission to reprint it here. He agreed, and so here you are, proof positive that DSP really is everything it’s cracked up to be, from the words of one satisfied customer.

Here’s Brad:

Even a cell pic of an old photo copy can’t fool DocuScan Plus

I run two businesses, three when I’m doing my musician thing. And, I like being independent.

On top of that, I volunteer for a state committee.

Recently, one committee member forwarded a PDF to some of us blind folk to look at before a meeting.

… Read the rest “DocuScan Plus Will not be Fooled!”

Blindfold Racer Championship 2016: A National Audio Gaming Tournament for The Blind and Visually Impaired

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From time to time we like to bring you items of interest outside of the Serotek community. This is one such opportunity we thought you might find worth looking into:

Project Starfish, a not for profit organization that provides persons with disabilities an opportunity to launch their careers, and Blindfold Games, a company founded by iOS developer Marty Schultz with a mission of providing a wide variety of audio games for the Blind and visually impaired, have come together to launch the first ever national gaming tournament for those who love audio games.

Why have a national Blindfold Racer Championship?

Project Starfish and Blindfold Games believe that visually impaired people who enjoy playing games deserve the same opportunity as their sighted counterparts.

… Read the rest “Blindfold Racer Championship 2016: A National Audio Gaming Tournament for The Blind and Visually Impaired”

The Beta Program is Winding Down but the Savings are Ramping Up!

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To show our appreciation for everyone’s participation in the Sero beta program, from now through Labor Day, we’re offering a one-year subscription to our network service, plus a free month, for just $99. We haven’t made this service available for such a low price in years, so don’t miss out. Make sure you take advantage of this special offer before the end of Labor Day!

Haven’t signed up yet? What are you waiting for? Get sign up now!

The move to Sero means entertainment and information from the convenience of a single app across multiple platforms. It means faster updates across the board.

… Read the rest “The Beta Program is Winding Down but the Savings are Ramping Up!”

From the Staff Files: Cinderella and her Grand Adventure

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The following comes from our newest member in the Serotek family, Rhonda Partain. By all accounts she is exactly the primary company voice we needed on the other end of the main telephone line. We have heard great things, and here are her observations as both a staff member and user of our technology:

By now I am sure most of the people who call Serotek know my voice. I’m Rhonda Partain the customer service-sort of tech person you talk to when you forget your user name or want to change your password. I had almost given up hope of finding a job. I had come to the sad realization that fairy Godmothers are only make believe.

… Read the rest “From the Staff Files: Cinderella and her Grand Adventure”

Serotek’s Position on Microsoft Edge

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Summer months are typically a great time for relaxing and unwinding. We here at Serotek recognize the value of rest and recreation, but as you know, the technology landscape is in a constant shift, requiring us to work overtime in the lab so that your favorite applications work the way they’re supposed to when you’re ready to come back from vacation. We have a number of short-term and long-term goals on the drawing board, some of which we’ll share in upcoming posts, some of which we’ll explore in a soon to be announced series of podcasts.

In the meantime, we bring you the first in a series of articles exploring recent developments in mainstream technology.

… Read the rest “Serotek’s Position on Microsoft Edge”

A Pulse Check on the Sero Beta

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Since we launched the beta of Sero, our “mother of all updates” on Mother’s Day, we’ve been busy making further improvements to the product based on your extremely helpful feedback. At Serotek we’ve always been all about community, and we are heartened to note the community has not failed us in collaborating to make this a product we can all be proud of.

Here are a few highlights to date and some notes on future plans:

Thanks to your helpful feedback, we have improved the voice chat user experience, especially on iOS. Sero now announces when people enter or leave a chat room, and automatically reads new text chat messages.

… Read the rest “A Pulse Check on the Sero Beta”

Sero: The Mother of All Updates

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What the heck has the Serotek team been up to? Working hard in the basement for you of course! And what has all that resulted in? Well, one of our most comprehensive updates. In fact, you might call it the mother of all updates!

We’re calling it Sero. On the surface, it’s going to be a universal experience that will bring together our software services under a single app. “Sero,” after all, means “connected,” so it only made sense to develop an interface that will keep you connected across different platforms. It’s the first time in assistive technology history that users can enjoy a consistent user experience regardless of whether you’re on Android, iOS, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

… Read the rest “Sero: The Mother of All Updates”

Customer Service Makes a Comeback!

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In this day of automated voice response systems there is still one place where there is a real person. Serotek is bringing back the personal touch. We tried the automated system thinking it might be more efficient but we’ve come back to where we started. We think our customers deserve the kind of personal attention our customers had gotten used to.

I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. My name is Rhonda Partain. I am the voice you’ll hear if you call with customer service issues, tech support problems, or any other concerns.

I live in Georgia with my husband of thirty one years and my guide dog Caesar.

… Read the rest “Customer Service Makes a Comeback!”

What’s New at Serotek?

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You guys may’ve heard the Tek Talk broadcast the other night where Mike Calvo and Matt Campbell covered some changes at Serotek. Didn’t catch it? Click here and listen at your leisure.

Or, if you’d rather read about some of our changes, here’s a breakdown:

Windows 10

It’s clear by now that although Windows 10 attempts to make Windows 7 users feel at ease with the return of the Start menu, the new operating system unapologetically builds on the foundation that Microsoft laid with Windows 8. The cornerstone of this foundation is an application platform and user interface style that has gone by many names.

… Read the rest “What’s New at Serotek?”

Back to School Means Back to Discounts!

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In light of the excellent response to our Keys to K12 reminder, we’ve decided to revive a promotion we ran during the month of July.

DocuScan Plus V3.0 for Windows and Mac are being sold at a discount now through Labor Day!

Yeah yeah. We’ve heard about the update. Okay, but have you tried it? Remember our products now come with a free 14-day trial.

Check out these new features for DSP:

  • You can count on clearer text results with the help of an updated OCR engine.
  • With the new DSP, it’s possible to grab your favorite bestseller from Bookshare right from within the DSP application.
  • Rely on nimble navigation of large files with better heading detection and place marking.
… Read the rest “Back to School Means Back to Discounts!”

Grab Your Keys to K-12

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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires children and youth ages 3-21 with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate public school education. Unfortunately, there are too many cases of schools unable to provide the necessary resources to provide and maintain a quality level of education. Serotek is playing a small part in putting a dent in these disparities.

It’s disheartening to think that in this age of technological proliferation, there are still blind and visually impaired students who come home from school without the means to jump on a computer and complete their own homework.

… Read the rest “Grab Your Keys to K-12”