Bedford, MA - October 20, 2004

Kurzweil Educational Systems Introduces Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3

New Version Delivers Macintosh Network Edition and More Powerful Features to Help Struggling Students

Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc., innovator of reading technology for individuals with visual or learning disabilities, today introduced Kurzweil 3000 TM for Macintosh Version 3, reading, writing and learning software for struggling students, at the 22nd annual Closing the Gap conference. The release broadens the popular Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh product line by adding a new network edition that enables more students access to Kurzweil 3000 across a network. In addition, new writing, vocabulary-building and document preparation features have been added in Version 3 to both the network and standalone editions.

Whether in the classroom, library, resource room or computer lab, the Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh network version gives students the tools they need, where and when they need them. By using “floating” licenses, students using Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh have immediate access to reading, writing and reference tools from any computer on their school’s network. Students can also access their personal files and user settings, regardless of which Macintosh computer on the network they are using. For IT administrators, installation and administration of Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh is simple since the network edition tracks the number of licenses in use at any given time and limits concurrent use to the number of licenses purchased.

For a number of years, schools have been investing in technology infrastructure, including computer networks, in order to make computers an integral part of classroom activities throughout a school. Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3 is designed to take advantage of such an environment and allow schools to maximize their investment.

“The network edition of Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh empowers more struggling students to work independently by making the software accessible on any Macintosh computer on a school network,” said Michael Sokol, President and CEO, Kurzweil Educational Systems. “And teachers appreciate that network access to Kurzweil 3000 minimizes classroom disruptions. Their students with learning disabilities can now stay in the classroom for lessons; they don’t need to leave the classroom and go to a resource or computer lab to access assistive technology.”

As with previous releases of Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh, Version 3 includes support for the latest Mac OS X platform, taking advantage of the newest advanced features of that operating system. In addition, Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh provides users with a host of decoding, writing and study skills tools as well as unique test-taking capabilities that allow students to independently complete worksheets, quizzes, classroom exams or standardized tests with greater confidence and fewer mistakes. The new features offered by both the standalone and network editions of Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3 include:

• Word Prediction
  The timesaving Word Prediction feature gives students the tools to write independently, efficiently and effectively. Students who might otherwise have spelling, keyboarding or expressive writing challenges can type the beginning letters of a word, see a list of word choices and click on individual words in the list to hear possible choices before selecting the one they want. Students and teachers can add new words to Word Prediction and the Phonetic Prediction option offers the correct spelling alternatives to common phonetic spelling errors (e.g. typing “fon” will give the word “phone” among others as a choice).
• Vocabulary Lists
  The Vocabulary List feature is valuable for teaching or learning new words. New content- or curriculum-specific lists can be easily created to help individualize instruction and even be used in conjunction with the word predictor so students can quickly start using new vocabulary words in their writing assignments. In addition, students can also choose from included vocabulary lists such as homophones (e.g. “two” versus “to”) or confusables (e.g. “edition” versus “addition”) to assist in the writing process.
• Document Preparation
  After scanning documents or opening electronic files in Kurzweil 3000, defining the proper reading order of paragraphs and other items such as sidebars or photo captions is key to keeping students focused. The Zone Editing feature allows students or teachers to specify how Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh handles blocks of text (or zones) in an image document. Users can change the order in which portions of text are read or even skip reading selected portions altogether. For example, it may be helpful to students if photo captions, graphs, sidebars and page numbers are designated as secondary text, which Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh reads only when a reader clicks on it.

Kurzweil Educational Systems will be demonstrating Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3 in Booth# 208/209 at the Closing the Gap Conference, being held from October 20-23 at the Radisson South Hotel and the Hotel Sofitel in Minneapolis, MN. Visitors to the Kurzweil Educational Systems booth can enjoy one-on-one demonstrations, receive free trial copies of Kurzweil 3000 software, and register to win a free copy of Kurzweil 3000 or an Apple iPod. Kurzweil Educational Systems will also be hosting a User Group meeting on Thursday, October 21st from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Hotel Sofitel in the Bordeaux Room.

Pricing and Availability

Both the standalone and network editions of Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3 are scheduled to ship by the end of this year. The Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh 5-unit Color Learning Lab Pack (1 Professional and 4 LearnStations) is priced at $539 per standalone seat. Single unit and network pricing, along with volume discounts are also available. Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh Version 3 can be purchased directly from Kurzweil Educational Systems at 800-894-5374 (within the U.S. or Canada) or 781-276-0600 (outside the U.S. or Canada), or from the company’s worldwide network of resellers listed at www.kurzweiledu.com/resellers.asp. The standalone version can also be ordered online at www.kurzweiledu.com.

About Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc.

Kurzweil Educational Systems, founded in 1996, is the industry leader and innovator of reading, writing and learning solutions for people with learning disabilities, and people who are blind or visually impaired. Ray Kurzweil, a co-founder of the original company, invented computer-based reading machine technology 25 years ago to provide access to printed text for the blind. With a pioneering history in developing assistive technology, the company has received worldwide recognition for enabling people with disabilities to lead more independent lives through improved reading and writing abilities. Kurzweil Educational Systems and Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh have received several industry excellence awards over the past year such as Media & Methods 2004 Award for Best K-12 Special Educational Software; and ComputED Learning Center's Bessie Award for Best Educational Software Award in the Special Education (Secondary) Category. For more company or product information, visit www.kurzweiledu.com.

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