Kurzweil Educational Systems Presents Scholarship Awards and Hosts First Semi-Annual Kurzweil 1000 User Group Meeting at National Federation of the Blind 2002 Convention

Also announced recently, Kurzweil 1000 Version 7 offers the most comprehensive solution for leisure, educational and office purposes.

Kurzweil Educational Systems^®, Inc., innovator of reading technology solutions for individuals with learning and visual disabilities, announced today its annual scholarship presentation at the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Scholarship awards will be presented on July 8, at 7 p.m. by Ray Kurzweil, inventor of the original Kurzweil Reading Machine, who is also being inducted on September 21st in Akron, Ohio into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, founded by the U.S. Patent Office.

Kurzweil Educational continues to excel on all fronts whether it is in developing innovative products or responding to its customers. Support for scholarship programs and user groups are among many examples of the company enthusiastic commitment to serving a community of individuals who rely on its products said Ray Kurzweil, Chairman Emeritus of Kurzweil Educational Systems. I am delighted to be closely involved with Kurzweil Educational and the company legacy of enabling individuals with severe visual impairments to continue to strive for excellence.

The scholarship awards will be presented at a ceremony to 30 individuals who have been chosen by the NFB in recognition of their scholastic excellence, financial need and community service. In addition to the recognition recipients receive from NFB, and a cash award from Ray Kurzweilï Kurzweil Foundation, Kurzweil Educational Systems will supply awardees a copy of Kurzweil 1000TM software.

Separately, in keeping with its long-time commitment to serving its customers, Kurzweil Educational will hold a Kurzweil 1000 User Group Meeting on July 3rd, from 4 - 6 p.m. in the Wilson Room of the Galt House. By bringing together users of the product in this kind of forum, Kurzweil Educational furthers its mission to provide best-in-class technology by fostering an honest exchange of information. Kurzweil 1000 User Group Meetings will be held on a semi-annual basis. The user community will also receive free product updates, technical alerts, company news and other relevant information via a unique online retrieval feature within Version 7 of Kurzweil 1000.

Kurzweil 1000 Version Comprehensive solution for leisure, educational and office purposes

In a separate release, Kurzweil 1000 Version 7 was announced earlier this week. Kurzweil 1000 helps people with severe visual impairments to access virtually any printed or electronic publication by making text audible. Kurzweil 1000 also provides an array of accessible tools for searching, indexing, outlining, annotating, embossing, creating documents or audio files. With Version 7, Kurzweil Educational has added functionality in three areas: online access to books, educational tools that promote more active reading and home office productivity. The product also includes the new FineReader's version 6.0 OCR Engine from ABBYY Software House as well as Via Voice text to speech from IBM to further enhance scanning and reading. Kurzweil 1000 has been designed so that it is easy to use for beginners, yet powerful and flexible enough for advanced users.

About Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc.

Kurzweil Educational Systems, founded in 1996, is the industry leader and innovator of scanning, reading and writing 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 3000TM, the company's flagship product for individuals with reading and writing disabilities, recently won the "District's Choice Top 100 Product" 2002 Award published by the District Administration magazine. For more company or product information, visit www.kurzweiledu.com.

Kurzweil 3000 and Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc., are trademarks of the Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc.  Other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies