National Federation for the Blind Convention

Convention Information

ViewPlus attending- Starts on Sunday!!

Creating Braille Sticky Labels and Setting Braille Paper Size

Join our braille expert Mike Sivill for this FREE webinar!
This 1-hour session will cover the following topics:

• Create Avery braille labels within MS Word
• Effective ways to use multiple media sizes
• Create custom paper sizes
• Inital paper size setup

May 25, 2011
12:00pm-1:00pm
Pacific Time

This webinar is limited to the first 100 people who sign up. Register Now!

Wine Tasting!

A couple weekends ago a number of us did a group wine tasting at Willamette Valley Vineyards just outside of Salem, Oregon. The group was made up of ViewPlus staff, family members, and friends.

The day began with a tour of the vineyard. During the tour we got to taste a number of different white wines, learned interesting facts and stories about the vineyard, and even some of the techniques used to make wine.

After the tour we all proceeded to the tasting room where we enjoyed wine, cheese, crackers, and even some fresh fruit. One of the most interesting facts we learned during the tasting was how different wine can actually taste depending upon the kind of glass it is in. That whole concept blew the minds of many of us non-wine-connoisseurs. To see more of the pictures from the event visit our Facebook Page

The EmFuse is Shipping!

Last week our very first EmFuse was shipped to Europe! The EmFuse release has been a culmination of a couple years of intense planning, interdepartmental teamwork, industry release parties, and overall hard work. The EmFuse being such a unique printer to the accessible technology industry will greatly change the way accessible documentation can be made for all. To find more information about the braille capabilities and other features of the EmFuse check out the ViewPlus website.

Here are some photos of the first unit:

EmFuse Braille Piece

Oki Data Printer Pieces

EmFuse Logo Sticker

Both Pallets

Intern Raising Money for Those in Need

ViewPlus not only gives back to the community as a company, but they also have individual employees giving back to the community. One of our Interns, Caitlin Hilton, is raising funds for Kids for Kids through Zonta International.


Kids for Kids is a non-profit organization that helps children in Darfur, Sudan who have never seen a toy, who have no books, no bed, little chance of education, (and worst of all) walk miles for every drop of water.

The funds raised will go toward purchasing ten goats and twenty blankets for a villlage in Dafur. Caitlin is a part of Zonta International whose main purpose is to encourage leadership in young women. As a company we are proud to support our employees efforts to help make the world a better place. To find out more about Zonta International visit www.zonta.org.

ViewPlus Volunteers at Benton County Food Share

This last Friday we all had the opportunity to volunteer at the Benton County Food share. The Food Share collects and provides approximately 5 million pounds of food each year. With this kind of volume they need all the volunteers they can get. While we were volunteering we were able to package approximately 5,810lbs of food within 3 hours!



We are proud to participate in at least two annual philanthropies a year. This last year we participated in the United Way Day of Caring in addition to sponsoring a giving tree during the holiday season.


To see more pictures of the event, check out our Facebook page.

ViewPlus Technologies Inc. Recognized for Exceptional Innovation

Corvallis, OR—ViewPlus Technologies Inc. today announced that it has received a Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for its accessible printing and graphics technologies. SBA presents the awards to companies and individuals that have advanced technological innovation and economic growth.

“This award represents the culmination of efforts we began after submitting for a number of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposals,” said ViewPlus Founder, Dr. John Gardner. “We have since won 15 of these grants and continue to include the SBIR Program as an important piece of our business innovation."

ViewPlus’ Tibbetts Award recognizes the company’s work for a series of tactile graphic embossers which print both ink and braille, several software applications based on the ViewPlus IVEO® Hands-on Learning System, and for collaborating with the American Physical Society (the world’s leading publisher of Physics literature), to make its journals fully accessible to all people, including those who are blind.

“ViewPlus has grown from approximately 15 to over 40 people since 2003 when it received it first SBIR award,” continued Gardner. “Today, thanks to the SBIR grants, ViewPlus has been able to develop really innovative products for the market, increase our sales revenue, and allowed us to grow.”

Dr. John and Carolyn Gardner, Founders of ViewPlus, accepted the award at a ceremony this morning in Washington, DC. Afterward, they met with SBA Administrator, Karen Mills, and attended a reception at the White House.

“This is a proud day not only for ViewPlus but also for the city of Corvallis,” said Sean Greene, SBA’s Associate Administrator for Investment and Senior Adviser for Innovation. “Companies like ViewPlus represent the best in American ingenuity.”

Founded in 1996, Corvallis-based ViewPlus Technologies is an international leader in tactile graphics and braille technologies. Current ViewPlus products include the Tiger® Braille printers, IVEO Hands-on Learning System, Tiger Software Suite braille translation software, and the Audio Graphing Calculator.

AT Needs Exposed During ATIA Orlando BLV Town Hall Meeting

This year's Town Hall Meeting at ATIA Orlando 2011 exposed many needs that still exist in the Accessible Technology field. Not only were the needs expressed but the concept of self-advocacy was an important topic.

The meeting began with important discussion surrounding job accessibility for visually impaired job seekers. Many were under the impression that with today's advances in computer technology the need to fill out a form by hand was no longer an issue. The group was quick to learn that while often this is the case, there are still many times when employers will intentionally not hire a visually impaired candidate because of this issue.

After discussing the need that still exists for certain kinds of accessible technologies in the workplace, the idea was put on the table that manufactures should be working together when developing these new technologies. Attendees expressed how important it is to visually impaired users that there is consistency across products. This is in regards to implementing similar hot-keys and compatibility between different, noncompeting, devices.

In addition to advocating for increased workplace technologies, STEM was also brought forward. STEM, an abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is an educational coalition with many different goals relating to students, especially those with disabilities. Many commented that by working with STEM to create policies that provide for the advanced technologies in the classroom, the ability for disabled students to enter the workforce in the above mentioned career fields will be greatly enhanced.

Lastly, the meeting ended with a simple yet very important topic; the idea of self-advocacy. It was mentioned that students will have a much greater opportunity to acquire their needed resources if they ask for it themselves. Not only ask, but demand these technologies. If put in the context "I need 'X' to succeed" the student will have much more power versus a company or other advocate saying what is needed.

Overall, the Town Hall Meeting was a great success. It brought awareness of these important issues directly to the general public, consumers, teachers, and vendor executives. ViewPlus always looks forward to the ATIA Town Hall Meeting and is proud to be part of the events facilitation.

The "Father of Tiger" Retires

A few weeks ago we celebrated Art's last day here in the office. Art has been part of the ViewPlus family since the founding of the company in 1996, and actually the first employee hired. He is known around the company as the "Father of Tiger" because he was the individual who put together already invented components of "Tiger Technology" into the first commercialized printer. Art will be missed dearly!


During the party Art was presented with a gold platen as a token of our appreciation. Check it out!