2013 is shaping up as a great year for Ai-Media. In a significant and important development for the company, educators and the community, Ai-Media will expand its services beyond deafness-related markets in Australia and overseas through three key business developments involving the company's "Ai-Live" internet-based, real-time captioning and transcription service.
The developments include:
· The Federal Government’s Commercialisation Australia program has agreed to support Ai-Live’s expansion into non-deaf markets, including students and adults with autism and other disabilities, with a further grant of $264,000.
· Ai-Media has won a competitive tender under the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s More Support for Students with Disabilities National Partnership. Under the leadership of the Victorian Deaf Education Institute (VDEI), and Ai-Live service will provide real-time captioning to students in schools across Victoria.
· Pilots of Ai-Live will be launched internationally in 2013.
These developments expand on Ai-Media’s existing support services for the deaf and hard of hearing in schools, tertiary education institutions, workplaces and conferences. In announcing the programs, Ai-Media’s Chief Executive, Tony Abrahams, said, "We are delighted to be working with the Victorian Deaf Education Institute to bring real-time captioning to Victorian schools. The next step is to apply our technology more widely to assist more people, both in our home market in Australia and overseas".
The expansion of Ai-Live services into non-deaf markets will help with learning, connectivity and participation for a wide variety of students and adults. This expansion is coupled with new and innovative developments like improved on-screen graphics, Web Content Accessibility Guideline-compliant features designed for people with disability, text that is optimised for colour blindness and new displays optimised for iPad and tablets. A further major release is also scheduled for the first half of 2013.
The expansion of Ai-Media’s services will continue to drive innovation for the benefit of all members of the community both in Australia and overseas.
