[Home-on-the-range] Feds: Classes that Use E-Books Must Serve Blind

Wed Jun 30 18:11:30 UTC 2010

In case you didn't see this piece from the Wichita Eagle for today, here it
is.  And good for them for printing it!

Susan

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Wednesday, June 30, 2010 

Posted on Wed, Jun. 30, 2010 

Feds: Classes that use e-books must serve blind

BY DORIE TURNER
Associated Press 

ATLANTA - Federal officials are requiring colleges that use electronic book
readers in the classroom to make sure the gadgets have accommodations for
blind and vision-impaired students.

The U.S. Departments of Justice and Education sent a letter to college and
university presidents Tuesday instructing them to find alternatives for
blind students if the devices are required in the classroom.

Not doing so would be a violation of federal law, said Russlynn Ali,
assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department.

"It is unacceptable for universities to use emerging technology without
insisting that this technology be accessible to all students," Ali wrote in
the joint letter with Thomas Perez, assistant U.S. attorney general.

The federal government began examining last year whether the use e-readers
violated the Americans with Disabilities Act after a blind Arizona State
University student sued the campus in June alleging that the Amazon Kindle's
inaccessibility to blind students constituted a violation of federal law.

The lawsuit was settled in January with the help of the National Federation
of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind.

Many e-readers have text-to-speech functions, but those don't apply to
menus, which means that a blind person would still need help using the
device, Ali said.

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