High ranking for life-changing assistive technology for any individual with blindness or low vision

Vista, CA (U.S.), Barendrecht (NL) (May 31, 2011) - Optelec, a world leader in innovative and life-changing assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired, received the prestigious “MKB (SME) Innovation Top 100” fourth place award in Utrecht, Netherlands on Thursday May 26, 2011. The competition was sponsored by Syntens, an organization that aims to stimulate innovation, along with German-manufacturer Mercedes Benz and NRC, the Netherlands daily evening newspaper. Optelec was honored for product design innovation with the ClearReader+ which is an intuitive reading and scanning device.

The jury evaluated 230 Netherlands-based company nominations on the following categories: Novelty, Impact, Safeguarding, Availability, and Volume of Business. All 100 innovative companies were recognized for their successful innovations in terms of product, service, process and organization.

The Optelec ClearReader+ allows a visually impaired or blind user to scan and read any kind of printed material within a matter of seconds by just the press of a button. Through speech output to read text aloud, reading has never been so easy. Users have access to printed documents such as magazines, newspapers, books or a letter from a friend. Portable and battery-operated, the Optelec ClearReader+ assistive technology device can be used anywhere. One can use it at home, at school or at work – making it ideal for visually impaired users reading a recipe in the kitchen, paper work at the office or scanning headlines in the daily newspaper.

“Optelec is very excited about winning this award and we feel very proud that the ‘MKB Innovation Top 100’ is acknowledging Optelec as one of the most innovative Dutch companies,” according to Maarten Bosch, Global Director of Marketing for Optelec.

On behalf of Optelec, Bosch accepted the award for the Optelec ClearReader+ from the jury, under the supervision of Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Economic Affairs and Prince Maurits, member of the Royal Dutch family.

About Optelec
Based in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, Optelec is the leading distributor, designer and manufacturer of life-changing assistive technologies for people who are visually impaired and dyslexic with a multi-tier distribution in more than 60 countries. In the United States, the Optelec ClearReader+ is available through the Authorized Optelec Dealer Distribution Network. Visit www.optelec.com or call (800) 826-4200 for more information on products and availability.