Hello everyone, Venkatesh from Orbit Research just shared some more exciting news with me today. We are always looking for more accessible apps for our deaf-blind students. Please check this out, and let me know if it works well for your students or not. If not but you see potential for improvement, or if you want more, you now have a connection to Orbit Research. Hey, it’s free!! J Best wishes, Susan *From:* v.chari@orbitresearch.com [mailto:v.chari@orbitresearch.com <v.chari@orbitresearch.com>] *Sent:* Tuesday, November 05, 2019 12:22 PM *To:* 'Susan Osterhaus' <osterhauss@tsbvi.edu> *Subject:* Introducing Orbit Chat - a face-to-face communication tool for people who are deaf-blind Hi Susan, We have some more exciting news to share – we just announced the launch of the Orbit Chat™ Communication system today. The system provides a free solution that enables a deafblind person to use their Orbit Reader 20 braille display and an app running on a smartphone or tablet to communicate with a sighted, blind or deaf person. The system can be used in any situation – in public settings such as markets, restaurants and classrooms or in private conversations. The system allows a blind, deaf or sighted person to use a familiar chat or messaging user-interface to type messages using the phone or tablet’s on-screen keyboard, which are immediately translated and displayed on the deafblind user’s Orbit Reader 20 device in braille. The deafblind user types her messages in braille using the braille keypad on the Orbit Reader 20 and these are translated to plain text and instantly displayed on the phone or tablet. The app is self-voicing, which allows a blind person to use it to communicate with a deafblind person without needing any special screen-reading software. The system also includes other innovative features such as a broadcast mode which allows the deafblind user to send messages to multiple people who have the app installed, the ability to save conversations on the Orbit Reader 20 as well as on the app for later review, a file transfer feature to exchange files between the Orbit Reader 20 and the phone or tablet. It allows the use of contracted and uncontracted braille in English and offers support for other languages through localization. The app is available now for free download at www.orbitresearch.com/product/orbit-chat. I am attaching the full text of the press release. I would be grateful if you could please share this through your network. With warm regards, Venkatesh