[gui-talk] A glitch in the righteous posture? (wasReadingRightsCoalition Denounces Random House)

Fri May 22 16:55:18 UTC 2009

Since the introduction of the kindle II, they came out with a large
screen model, designed for reading newspapers and textbooks.  They are
charging $500 for this unit.  I would imagine that if they had to
redesign the interface to be accessed by persons with no vision or low
vision, that the price would be prohibitive. Remember that the people
who would purchase this enhanced device have a 70% unemployment rate.
Personally, I can already access more books through the currently
available sources to give me several lifetimes worth of reading
material.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 3:31 PM
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] A glitch in the righteous posture?
(wasReadingRightsCoalition Denounces Random House)

Don,

Okay, understood. But my question is why is Amazon being taken to task
only about the copyright issue and not about the inaccessibility of its
controls? 
I understand that the speech function seems to have been conceived
mostly as a nice novelty and convenience, not as an aid to the blind.
But so what. 
They really should have thought of the blind angle and designed the unit
so that a blind person could operate it. But it doesn't seem the NFB or
anyone else is making anything of that, just objecting to their waffling
over the copyright issue and whether or not books sold for Kindle will
have a speech option. I just find it odd that this is the sole focus,
not also the controls issue. I just wonderred if anyone was privy to the
NFB's long-term strategy about trying to influence the direction of the
Kindle's development.

Hope that's more clear.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Moore" <don.moore48 at comcast.net>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 12:29 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] A glitch in the righteous posture? (was
ReadingRightsCoalition Denounces Random House)

Not sure of all the legal ramifications, but as an internet ready device
you'd think it would fall under the FCC regs for accessibility, and
should have to meet such.  Since Amazon is trying to get it into the
education market there are regulations for accessibility there too.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Deutsch" <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 12:00 PM
Subject: [gui-talk] A glitch in the righteous posture? (was Reading
RightsCoalition Denounces Random House)

I have seen a lot of discussion on this issue about the Amazon Kindle
and
the juggling of copyright law in regard to speech output. I don't wish
to
address the legal issues, either from the copyright side or the ADA
side.
But what I do wonder, repeatedly, is what all this can matter,
practically
speaking, for someone like me lacking central (macular) vision or
totally
blind, as the controls that allow use of this device are said to be
inaccessible, I believe because they're touch-screen controls and not
mechanical buttons whose use can be memorized by an enterprising person
with
a little help from a sighted tutor, meaning a friend who will patiently
teach the skill.

For whose benefit is protest being made at this point? The partially
sighted
who can read visually given enough text size and contrast, but who for
some
reason can't locate and identify the control buttons? if so, I can say
fine,
no problem. But If the stated objection is without regard to the
possible
ironies and contradictions and, as such, is actually just a first step
in an
anticipated battle to inspire yet a further upgrade to the Kindle that
will,
this time, include blind-operable controls, that too I could understand.
Hassle them about the copyright thing first, then, while they're busy
fighting the NFB over that, hit them with the control inaccessibility
thing.
Never having been entirely serious about the copyright issue while it
was
still moot for practical reasons to do with nonoperability.

Personally, if I were to purchase a Kindle, I'd have to do all my
reading on
it aided by a sighted person who could change the page display for me,
like
the page turner who stands beside the bench of a concert pianist as the
pianist plays from his or her score. This isn't practical for me, as I
have
neither a slave or a paid assistant. So I continue to buy my commercial
recorded books from audible. com and play the files either on my
computer
with the Jaws-friendly Audible Manager software or on my .mp3 player,
which
required two people, one blind via email and a second sighted and here
with
me, to teach me how to use well enough despite the unit's reliance on a
menu
window.

I hope I've posed this seeming contradiction clearly enough.

thanks.

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