FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Access Success
1400 East-West Highway, #427
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone:  (301) 589-8899
Email:  74444.1076@compuserve.com

Contact:  Jamal Mazrui


  POWERFUL TOOL FOR BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED COMPUTER USERS
                         RELEASED TODAY


     January 4, 1997-- Access Success today announced release of 
an entirely new version of Talking Directory, one of the most 
powerful tools for blind and visually impaired computer users 
since the screen reader.  "The new 2.0 RELEASE of TD is a major 
reworking of the original software and is loaded with new 
features," said Jamal Mazrui, the product's developer.
     "It's difficult to classify Talking Directory into a single 
product category," said Mazrui, "it's so versatile."  The basic 
product is a DOS-based shell for file, directory, and program 
management that is fully accessible to a blind or visually 
impaired user.  Mazrui noted that "Virtually all other DOS shells 
are highly visually oriented and are awkward, if not impractical, 
to use when you can't see the computer screen or control a 
mouse."  Talking Directory solves this problem and enables anyone 
who uses speech synthesis or refreshable Braille for screen 
access to take full charge of her/his computer's disk contents.

     With Talking Directory, the user is able to cursor through 
automatically sorted directories, file name by file name, 
examining, manipulating, or descriptively labeling each file.  
All standard DOS commands, such as COPY, DEL, REN, MOVE, and MD, 
are accessible from TD with single keystrokes, allowing users to 
copy, delete, rename, and move files and manipulate directories 
effortlessly.  Beginning with only a single keystroke, files in 
ASCII text, Corel WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, Lotus Ami, HTML, 
or ZIP formats can be viewed, searched, bookmarked for future 
reference, or blocked and copied.  TD will also convert the 
content of almost any DOS or Windows word-processing file into 
ASCII text.
     Talking Directory's many other easily used features include:  
searching a directory or an entire disk for a designated "key" 
word or phrase, describing file contents automatically, 
formatting floppy disks, archiving and unarchiving files, 
stamping file times and dates, and determining both file size (in 
bytes) and maximum line length (in characters).  TD provides 
single-key launching of ten user-designated "favorite" 
applications; and it gives direct access to the DOS prompt for 
single commands or command sequences.  Moreover, TD, which will 
run in protected mode or on a network, may be used easily and 
effectively from within either Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 as a DOS 
application.

     Don Barrett, an experienced user of Talking Directory's many 
features, says "One of the problems I run into as a speech writer 
is that I collect a lot of information in little bits and pieces, 
scattered throughout numerous little files.  TD's 
file-description capability has made a huge difference in helping 
me to manage this material, and to put it into some cohesive 
order."  Barrett adds that "The wonderful thing about a program 
like TD is that it was written to manipulate information 
according to the way your mind wants to process it, the way we 
need it and can best utilize it, one orderly piece of information 
at a time."
     Jim Ansley, a psychologist and management consultant, 
reports that his favorite new feature in Talking Directory is the 
four-in-one calculator.  The calculator feature does four 
distinct types of calculations--arithmetic, calendar, financial, 
and phone.  "The financial calculator is incredibly useful for 
computing interest payments and investment returns," Ansley said, 
"and the phone feature should really appeal to anyone who has 
ever attempted to convert a 'vanity' phone number into dialable 
digits in a hurry."
     Bonnie O'Day, a disability-policy researcher who describes 
herself as "non techy," especially likes the easy-to-use 
calendar-calculator feature.  This utility enables the user to 
determine the date of any day and the day and week of any date, 
even into the 21st century.  "This is very helpful for scheduling 
appointments and quickly locating holidays and anniversaries," 
O'Day said.

     Trial copies of the new Talking Directory can be downloaded 
from the Empowerment Zone web site 
(http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jamal), and registered 
copies can be purchased via credit card through 
Ferguson Enterprises (phone 605/546-2366, 
fax 605/546-2212, or email fergent@fergusonenterprises.com).  
Registered copies are $70, and an upgrade for registered users of 
earlier TD releases is $20.  Introductory prices of $55 and $15, 
respectively, are available until January 31, 1997.  Both new and 
upgrade purchasers will receive a complimentary copy of PERFECTO, 
a sophisticated macro that corrects common formatting errors in 
documents prepared with the WordPerfect 5.1 word processor.

"Access Success," as Mazrui describes it, "embodies a commitment 
to developing technology that empowers people with disabilities 
in their lives and work."  Mazrui, who himself is blind, founded 
Access Success in 1988 when he placed his first accessible 
product, the Contact Tracking System, on the market.  He 
subsequently developed Zip, Faxit, and the initial version of 
Talking Directory.  Mazrui is a graduate of Princeton and Harvard 
Universities and currently works as a legislative analyst for the 
federal government.
