The Company
Friendly Productions of Texas Inc. was established in March of 1993. It was created to produce assistive products for businesses, organizations and institutions to use in providing equal access to the disabled, primarily the visually impaired. The decision to form Friendly Productions was motivated in part, by response anticipated from the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Even though this law was passed by Congress and signed by the President in 1990, many of its public accommodation regulations didn't go into effect until 1993. The main purpose of this new law was to ensure that the disabled would have equal access to the entire fabric of our rich culture - be it business, government, recreation or service. At the very heart of its many provisions, this federal act mandated the removal of visual and communication barriers.
Documents, labels and signs which could not be read by the visually impaired posed a critical communications barrier to the disabled. Following the enactment of these new regulations, restaurant operators were beginning to ask for Braille menus and hotel managers were looking for Braille room service directories.
We believed that with momentum from the ADA initiative and the liability businesses would incur by not providing equal access, a potentially lucrative and vast new market lay ahead. Existing Braille documents, which were almost non-existent, were embossed on only one side of the page usually on oversized paper making them bulky and difficult to use. We believed that by adding large print to a Braille document, it would become useful to all visually disabled people including those who could not read Braille. We also noted that sighted people were the ones searching for, selecting, ordering and managing the documents. We believed that visually attractive documents, those including logos and color would receive the most positive response.
Recognizing the phenomenal advancements in computer and digital imaging equipment, we looked at this technology for ways to assist us in developing cost effective, and easy to use Large Print / Braille products. Ultimately, we invested in revolutionary new Braille embossing technology and computerized the formatting and layout process. We incorporated scanners, and developed custom software to produce large print products with interpoint (embossed on both sides of the page) Braille. In addition, we developed new ink processes in printing Braille on documents instead of embossing for specific applications. We also developed processes and techniques to produce Large Print / Braille Tactile Maps and experimented with film technology to produce Braille labels efficiently and economically and our graphic design department developed products which were not only functional, but visually appealing.
H2 level heading
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam. Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis. Nam blandit quam ut lacus. Quisque ornare risus quis ligula. Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio. More...