ATC: Vision in a sightless world

By JESON INGRAHAM

Essex County Newspapers

SALISBURY _ As a onetime hippie frustrated by life in the corporate world, Gayle Yarnall wanted to start her own business and put a friendlier face on competition.

Only her blindness was in the way. Or so she thought.

With an extensive contact list of company executives and a number of pleased customers, Yarnall gained the confidence she needed to take a worthwhile risk. That was six years ago.

Today, she heads Adaptive Technology Consulting, Inc., a company that specializes in products, training and consultation for individuals who are blind, visually impaired and learning disabled.

ATC sells a wide range of technology products designed to, among other things, help low-vision people read and blind people surf the `net. The company hit $1 million in sales last year and serves hundreds of customers around New England.

"It was a scary thing to be a blind person starting your own business," said Yarnall. "All things considered, it's pretty wonderful."

Yarnall, who was living in Newburyport at the time, started the business out of her home before moving into a spacious office on Bridge Road in Salisbury.

She attributes her success to the way she treats the people she works with and for. Her blindness does not change the way she deals with her customers, she said; instead,it's part of her personality.

Yarnall seems to thrive under the assumption that pity would get her nowhere. Yarnall said the parents of blind children need to grant them the same freedoms as children who can see.

Whether that means riding bikes or climbing trees, Yarnall said bumps and bruises along the way only serve to give a child the courage needed to persevere in a world full of risks.

Yarnall said she tries to apply that idea to her work.

Call it risky, but she believes her bottom line is tied to the happiness of her customers _ she seems more interested in the happiness part. And that's been easier to do as an independent businesswoman.

"We try to compete by out-nicing the other guys," said Yarnall. At previous jobs, she said, she got into trouble when putting the customers over the corporate heads.

"In my mind the manufacturers are the nasty big capitalists," she said, pausing to grin. "We move a lot of product so the manufacturers still like us."

At former jobs with big manufacturers, such as Telesensory in California, Yarnall said she was always up front with her customers. When she believed one of the products she was selling didn't measure up, Yarnall would point them elsewhere.

Her straight talking seems to be a virtue, at least for customers and those she works with.

"The bottom line is she's just one heck of a business woman," said Sharon Spencer, vice president of sales and marketing at Freedom Scientific in Florida. "She's very caring about customers and employees and is passionate about quality and level of service."

Spencer has worked with Yarnall for almost two years and said she is a model example of how technological innovations can benefit the blind.

"Losing your sight does not have to mean that any door is closed to you, and I think that's what she has shown," said Spencer. "Gayle should be an inspiration."

And she is. Just ask her husband.

Neal Kuniansky met his bride-to-be nine years ago in Florida, where he was living at the time. The two immediately hit it off.

"To use an antiquated term, I was totally smitten," said Kuniansky. "Maybe it was first sight. Maybe it was second sight."

Four days after their first encounter, Yarnall traveled home to New England and Kuniansky dreamed up a way to stay in touch.

"She was not a person I wanted to see disappear out of my life," said Kuniansky. He then got the idea of sending her a letter in Braille.

But following through with the idea came much harder than he thought.

Kuniansky had to visit four places before stumbling upon an elderly man able to help him. The man was just learning how to type Braille, and Kuniansky would dictate "love letters" to him. He said the process was a bit frustrating, and later found out that the older man had been injecting some personal commentary into the letters.

"It just shouldn't have been that damn hard to get a love letter to someone," he said.

Nine years later, Kuniansky is working for a company that produces software that allows blind people to create Braille documents on the computer.

Kuniansky used to be a tax accountant. But he finds his new work much more fulfilling, especially as it's used to bring down barriers of communication.

"I had seen tears with my previous work, but it was never tears of joy," he said. "It's an amazing and wonderful thing to do."

Yarnall's passion to help the blind through the use of technology has also rubbed of on her co-workers.

"We all got to know Gail and got pulled in," said Doug Vesely, her right-hand man. "I think it's true for all of us."

ATC employees four people in all.

In addition to Vesely, Michelle Kamberalis is responsible for a lot of the training sessions and Nicole Malenfant is the office manager.

Yarnall often looks to find free solutions to her customers' problems.

She said low-vision people usually only need to adjust the font size or color contrast on their computer to be able to read better. Dark screens with a bright font, for example, can also help because eyes are drawn towards the light.

If there isn't a free solution, Yarnall said she tries to find the cheapest alternative. And with a broad range of products, that philosophy has helped her capture a large market, she said.

Product manufacturers tend to be exclusive in their marketing, so Yarnall has been able to attract many customers with her wide selection and quality customer service. "It was just easy to grab it up really fast," she said.

The business has grown steadily since selling $200,000 worth of products in 1996 and hitting $1 million last October.

Sitting at her desk, Yarnall is surrounded by "technology heaven." Most of the products she uses are sold downstairs in her showroom.

Voice Mate, a kind of Palm Pilot for the blind, and a computer program called JAWS, which makes computers talk, represent some of the cutting-edge technologies helping empower the blind to work.