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

[Joel Deutsch]

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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