An avid reader all my life, I've used every format available to the blind. Reading by way of Assistive Media is great! It's like getting an audio magazine anthology but not having to send it back or throw away the tape and clutter the environment. And it's such a friendly way to read, too. Being able to E-mail comments and get answers about them gives the whole process a wonderful family mood.”

“The development of the personal computer with adaptive software and/or hardware has been one of the most liberating innovations for handicapped persons in modern times. Before acquiring access to this technology, I had to rely on a reader and do readings at a scheduled working time. EASI congratulates Assistive Media for making this service available. People with disabilities have the same right to access information as everyone else!”

“One afternoon, I happened to be listening to Talk of the Nation on National Public Radio as I was doing chores around the house. A man named David Erdody spoke of his website, assistivemedia.org. I stopped what I was doing and listened attentively as I heard that, through the internet, various volunteer readers could be heard reading articles from various publications including of all miraculous things, THE NEW YORKER!!!. A magazine I love and had been scanning ...which is a long and involved process. After visiting and using his site, I was so excited. I contacted him and thanked him and even went to Ann Arbor to have a nice hour in the afternoon with him talking about his creative project, assistivemedia.org. A website for ALL who love good reading and quality reading material.

I earned my bachelor's degree in English and music from Detroit's Wayne State University, and first gained a measure of national attention in the late 1950s when Argo Records released my first album Theme for the Tall One. Now long out of print, Theme for the Tall One is considered a collector's item by jazz aficionados. My musical career hit many high notes over the years including performances at the 1982 Kool Jazz Festival, several Montreux Detroit Jazz Festivals and as a featured pianist with Barry Harris, Sir Roland Hanna and Tommy Flanigan for the Detroit Piano Summit in New York. I continue to appear in concert and am featured in artist-in-residence programs; I am also the founder of the Grosse Pointe Academy of Music. Suite William is my fifth recording. For lots more info...drop by www.BessBonnier.com”

“I am not visually impaired but have health problems that keep me at home most of the time. I use the internet and the web to collect information and to communicate with people who have become my colleagues and friends, even though I've never met them in person.

Even people who ordinarily read with their eyes sometimes find it useful or enjoyable to read with their ears. Assistive Media offers an excellent selection of magazine articles, read out loud in a pleasant fashion. I find myself listening with enjoyment to entire articles that I have already read from beginning to end in a magazine!

The internet made it possible for me, a homebound writer, to write the 1999 Pulitzer Prize finalist for general non-fiction "The Nurture Assumption." After the book was published, my husband Charles Harris created a website for it. The website provides additional information about "The Nurture Assumption" for interested readers.”

“Assistive Media's online readings expand the blind person's choices to print materials better than ever. They offer a great source to learn and enjoy contemporary culture immediately, 24 hours a day. With so many blind persons now using Windows, the opportunity is rapidly expanding to nearly all blind computer users.”

“I am a 55 year old married mother of two, (I am pictured with my good friend Brian McKnight). I spent the 20 years prior to retiring on disability, supporting the development, implementation and testing of hospital information systems. I retired on disability in February of 1997 due to multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is an incurable disabling disease. There are many different symptoms which can include sensory and/or motor problems...I am chronic progressive and almost all my symptoms are motor. I am close to a quad, but still have partial use of the left hand/arm.”

I am interested in family, children, computers, Internet, TV, reading, wild birds, flowers, mountains, music, animated images and chat friends. Life is full, I smell the flowers daily, and I LOVE Assistive Media.

“Tom and I both enjoy Assistive Media: it has been one of the most innovative and enjoyable resources for material in alternate format that we have found. Putting things online which are read with REAL voices and are immediately accessible is so useful and has great possibilities. Many advances have been made in technology, such as electronic braille books and computerized voices for text, but the human voice is so delightful in comparison. I now envision instant access to drama, poetry, information brochures...anything!!

I was born blind, and Tom lost his partial vision at age twelve. Tom has a Masters in Psychology and was raised in an American military family. He came to Canada following his education, and is now working as a probation parole officer for the Ontario government. I grew up on a dairy farm and attended a school for the blind. Tom and I have been married 15 years, and our daughters, Heather and Bonnie-Lee were born in 1987 and 1989. I have an honour's Bachelor of Music, have taught voice and piano, enjoy coaching voice students, and have recorded 3 cassettes. I sing gospel, broadway, and folk music at churches, weddings, and other functions.

David says "Go Red Wings!"... I say "Go Maple Leafs!!"”