Optelec Places Fourth in the Dutch "Innovation Top 100" Technology Product Competition

VISTA, California and BARENDRECHT, the Netherlands, May 31, 2011 -

- High Ranking for Life-Changing Assistive Technology

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 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, you
have access to magazines, newspapers, books or a letter from a friend.
Reading has never been so easy. Portable and battery-operated, the Optelec
ClearReader+ assistive technology device can be used anywhere. You 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.

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. Visit www.optelec.com/ for more information on products and
distributors.

Photo upload: optelec.com/en/AudioTextReaders/ClearReader+

Note for editors: Optelec North America, Courtney Berg, Marketing Communications Manager, +1-800-826-4200 (ext. 227), cberg at optelec.com . Optelec Europe, Danielle Nieuwland, Press Officer, +31(0)88-678-3418, dni at optelec.nl .