HorizonLive v.3.0 Deployed To The 108 Campus California Community Colleges System

From: Internet Wire (press release)
Oct. 24, 2002

Web’s 1st Conferencing Solution Fully Accessible To People With Disabilities

NEW YORK, NY -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 10/24/2002 -- HorizonLive, the leading virtual classroom and web conferencing software provider today announced the deployment of HorizonLive v3.0, the web’s first conferencing solution accessible to people with disabilities, to all 108 campuses in the California Community College (CCC) System. The system wide deployment of HorizonLive v.3.0 will enable 85,000 faculty and administrators of the CCC System, the largest system of higher education in the world, to conduct their multi-campus committee meetings virtually with the use of a browser and the telephone. The ability to conduct virtual meetings, deliver presentations, share software programs and collaborate on a whiteboard will make faculty and administrators more efficient and effective. Branded and deployed as "CCC Confer," the HorizonLive solution will initially power virtual CCC committee meetings, with use expected to expand to instructor-led online distance education

HorizonLive also announced its version 3.0, the web’s first virtual classroom and web conferencing solution fully accessible to people with disabilities, including people who are visually and hearing impaired. The 3.0 version of the HorizonLive software has many new accessibility features including support for screen readers and close captioning which will enable people with such disabilities to teach, learn and work in a live online environment. Now all people regardless of their disability will be able to participate in virtual classes, live online training, web conferences and interactive meetings by licensing HorizonLive v3.0 - an accessible productivity and learning environment.

"CCC Confer addresses the needs of all employees in the California Community Colleges system. In this environment of tight budget constraints, CCC Confer's affordable technology ensures the continued delivery of an excellent education without the need to stretch already tight budgets," says Sherilyn Hargraves, Project Director. "Because of the work of HorizonLive in adding accessibility features to their v3.0 release, CCC Confer becomes a particularly important technology that provides continued accessibility for all educational demands."

"We are pleased to have partnered with CCC Confer as we together deploy a solution that will not only meet their challenges of reduced budget and their objectives of increasing productivity across the 108 campuses but is also accessible to all employees, including people with disabilities," said Walter Barandiaran, Chairman and Acting CEO of HorizonLive. "The California Community College system is very progressive in both their use of technology and belief in accessibility and thus is paving the way for other educational systems, government entities and corporations to emulate."

The HorizonLive product was founded on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in virtual events, regardless of their operating system, browser, or Internet connection. HorizonLive has taken the first big step toward expanding its vision to include all people regardless of disabilities. In order to continue this mission, HorizonLive will continue to leverage the participation and guidance of its customers, partners and the software and computing industry at large, as standards and technologies continue to evolve making the use of sophisticated multimedia products more accessible, easier to use and more instructionally sound.

About the CCC e-Conferencing Grant and CCC Confer

Palomar College received an $11.5 million dollar grant from the Chancellor's Office of the CCC system to implement the five-year e-Conferencing grant. The purpose of the grant is to interconnect all California community colleges with web conferencing, data conferencing and meeting management for real-time, collaborative communication. The CCC Confer brand was developed as a result of the grant. In Spring 2002, HorizonLive signed a one-year agreement to develop the ADA and Section 508 accessible platform in support of the CCC Confer brand.

About HorizonLive

HorizonLive provides the leading software platform for live Web-based teaching, learning, and interactive communications over the Internet. HorizonLive's solutions - which work on PC, Macintosh, and Unix computers using minimal bandwidth - function completely within a web browser. HorizonLive offers synchronous products for a variety of academic and organizational functions, including teaching live seminars, delivering interactive web casts, holding office hours, training personnel, collaborating on student or group projects and providing live reference desk support. With live audio and video, a suite of e-Learning content templates, instant polling, whiteboard, application sharing and a one-touch archive that captures all session activity, HorizonLive's products are the leading choice of educational institutions, government agencies, and corporations for live learning and interactive communications on the web. For more information, visit www.horizonlive.com or call Mark Bernstein at 212-813-3896.

Contact: Mark Bernstein
Company: HorizonLive
Phone: 212-813-3896
Email: mark@horizonlive.com

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