Ai Squared and GW Micro recently announced that they would be merging. This could be a very good thing for everyone or it could spell disaster, depending on which way the people behind the scenes handle things.
I am hoping that this will result in a win for both totally blind people and those who are low vision. It could mean more low-vision features built directly into Window-Eyes, or maybe they will integrate better screenreader technology into ZoomText!
I for one would love to see the two products combined into one all-purpose tool that someone could use to get the best of both worlds.
According to Ai Squared’s FAQ, the merger will only affect the focus and commitment to products made by both companies in a positive way.
The FAQ says “Among the primary goals of this merger are: (1) to combine our strengths and expertise to deliver better versions of our existing product lines as well as to develop new products; and (2) to deliver a robust family of products covering the complete spectrum of vision loss—i.e. from slight vision loss to total blindness.”
The FAQ does say that Window-Eyes and ZoomText do work together just fine, but that ZoomText doesn’t always track the cursor of WindowEyes when using a web-browser. They are planning to fix this in the near future though.
Of course, the merger may not turn out well for loyal GW Micro fans. Certain products may be cut or drastically change from what they once were. I am particularly worried about things like GW Connect and GWSocialEyes, which may or may not fit the paradigm of the newly merged company. The FAQ doesn’t suggest such a change on the horizon so I don’t think we have much to worry about.
All we can do is cross our fingers and hope this is a good thing for everyone. Stay tuned for more information!
If you want to read the FAQ about the merger check out the link below.
