ZoomText ARISES to the occasion

March 06, 2008

Imagine going in for surgery after having been told that the operation would help you see better than before, and having it go so horribly wrong that you wind up blind.  Sadly, this was the case for Dave Mills.

Dave had dealt with diabetes since the age of 15, and the disease had always caused his eyes to bleed.  After years of taking oral medication, Dave was scheduled for routine outpatient surgery in March of 2006 to correct his vision loss from the vitreous hemorrhaging.  After surgery, one retina was sliced and the other had a hole poked through it.  Through his work with another physician, Dave recovered some of the eyesight in his right eye, and now has some upper peripheral vision.  Even though some of his eyesight was regained, Dave was forced to quit his job as a truck driver, and his wife Wanda carried the burden of being the sole breadwinner for the family of six.  Times were very tough for the Mills family; it frustrated Dave that he was unemployed and it pained him that his family was under such stress.  It was around this time that Dave contacted the vocational rehab agency in his home state of Arizona.

The agency was very proactive and connected Dave with the Foundation for Blind Children, who had an adult program where Dave learned the basics over again – how to cook, how to select clothing, how to recognize colors, and some new skills like Braille and mobility training.  It was here that Dave enrolled in a computer training program. 

“I had no concept of assistive technology,” says Dave.  “I thought I couldn’t do anything to earn a substantial income to support my family.”
Dave was introduced to a wide variety of assistive technology products but he quickly fell in love with one in particular:  ZoomText.  He especially loved the color enhancements and played around with the background color to improve contrast.  In combination with his monocular glasses, he was able to see the computer again.

Dave was offered several low tech jobs but they all were unappealing – not only did they pay poorly, but they were all so far from his home that transportation would be a hassle.  He soon came across the Florida-based company ARISE, that provides thousands of home based businesses with the freedom to answer calls, e-mail, and chat requests for prestigious U.S. and global companies.  The company had been around for years, heavily promoted hiring people with disabilities, and was already familiar with ZoomText.  Encouraged, Dave started up his own company from his home.  After completing the training program, he received his first client:  Home Depot.  Dave has a call center set up in his home and answers customer service calls and requests.  His setup includes two 24 inch monitors at 2x magnification with dual monitor enabled and the ZoomText black and white Large-Print Keyboard.

“Without ZoomText, I could absolutely not perform my job – it doesn’t slow me up when using the computer and I can manipulate it to do exactly what I want,” says Dave.  “I generally have at least 6 windows open at a time with my sales management tool, 2 Internet Explorer windows, the chat room, monitoring program for the phone, and my inbox, so any program that slows me down is just not an option.  My customers on the phone don’t even know that I am disabled; I really pride myself on this fact.”

At first, Wanda would help him out when she came home from work and since then, she has transitioned into joining Dave in working full time from home.  With their existing three clients, they are making more money than they did before Dave’s fateful surgery, and because they work from home, they are more involved with their children’s lives:  the Mills’ have two boys (15 and 16) and two girls (13 and 19).  In addition, Dave and his family are very involved in their church and are the leaders of a junior high program that aims to give kids a solid foundation in today’s world.

“Instead of dwelling on what I don’t have or can’t do, I chose to move forward,” says Dave.  “I really encourage people who are visually impaired to reach out to other people in the community.  There are some really great organizations out there that are there to help.”

Dave is one of ZoomText’s biggest fans – he said himself that he just can’t say enough about ZoomText.  All of us at Ai Squared would like to congratulate Dave for his achievements and are proud that our product has played such a large part in his success.