[Electronics-talk] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind Commends Amazon on Unveiling of New Accessible Kindle

[Bob Hicks]

Hi David.  Thanks for the responses.  I guess we should thank God that the 
blind and visually impaired are a minority.  take care

Best regards,

Bob Hicks
Access Technology Specialist
Seeing Hand Association, Inc.
304-232-4810
<bob at seeinghandassociation.com>
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
To: "Discussion of accessible electronics andappliances" 
<electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 11:07 PM
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind 
Commends Amazon on Unveiling of New Accessible Kindle


> Well, blind persons are a small minority, so they only do what they have 
> to, and don't make a big deal about it.  Also, somewhere I read that the 
> accessibility stuff was listed somewhere under experimental features -- so 
> they may be gradually introducing it.
>
> They are making a big deal about changing and enlarging the font.
>
> Dave
>
> At 07:50 AM 7/30/2010, you wrote:
>>Good morning David.  I got an email from Amazon this morning about all 
>>their new models of the Kindle, but it doesn't mention anything about 
>>increased accessibility.  Any idea why that would be?  thanks
>>
>>Best regards,
>>
>>Bob Hicks
>>Access Technology Specialist
>>Seeing Hand Association, Inc.
>>304-232-4810
>><bob at seeinghandassociation.com>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
>>To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2010 1:28 PM
>>Subject: [Electronics-talk] Fwd: National Federation of the Blind Commends 
>>Amazon on Unveiling of New Accessible Kindle
>>
>>
>>>
>>>>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>CONTACT:
>>>>
>>>>Chris Danielsen
>>>>
>>>>Director of Public Relations
>>>>
>>>>National Federation of the Blind
>>>>
>>>>(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>>>>
>>>>(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>>>>
>>>><mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>National Federation of the Blind Commends Amazon
>>>>  on Unveiling of New Accessible Kindle
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Baltimore, Maryland (July 29, 2010): The National Federation of the 
>>>>Blind (NFB) today commended Amazon on the unveiling of a new, accessible 
>>>>Kindle. Amazon announced Wednesday that the new Kindle will come 
>>>>equipped with a voice guide that reads all menu options aloud so blind 
>>>>and other print-disabled people can navigate the device menus.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, 
>>>>said: "We commend Amazon on the unveiling of a new Kindle that blind and 
>>>>print-disabled people can use.  In order to compete in today's digital 
>>>>society, blind and print-disabled people must be able to access the same 
>>>>reading technologies as the sighted.  The National Federation of the 
>>>>Blind has long been urging Amazon to make its reading device accessible, 
>>>>and we are pleased that our efforts have come to fruition."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>In June 2009 the National Federation of the Blind and the American 
>>>>Council of the Blind (ACB) filed suit against Arizona State University 
>>>>(ASU) to prevent the university from deploying Amazon's Kindle DX 
>>>>electronic reading device as a means of distributing electronic 
>>>>textbooks to its students because the device cannot be used by blind 
>>>>students.  The Kindle DX featured text-to-speech technology that can 
>>>>read textbooks aloud to blind students.  The menus of the device were 
>>>>not accessible to the blind, however, making it impossible for a blind 
>>>>user to purchase books from Amazon's Kindle store, select a book to 
>>>>read, activate the text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading 
>>>>functions available on the Kindle DX.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>For more information on the National Federation of the Blind, please 
>>>>visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>###
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>About the National Federation of the Blind
>>>>
>>>>With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is 
>>>>the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people 
>>>>in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people's lives through 
>>>>advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging 
>>>>independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the 
>>>>blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.  In January 
>>>>2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan 
>>>>Institute, the first research and training center in the United States 
>>>>for the blind led by the blind.
>
>                         David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
> Follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920
>
>
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