[il-talk] Inaccessible E-Readers Please Write Letters!

[Syed Yousufuddin]

Rose, could you please contact me off-list?

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 30, 2013, at 4:02 PM, "Rose Sloan" <rosesloan920 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello NFBI,
> 
> I apologize for the late notice, but I just received this yesterday. I know
> you are all busy with lives, work, and school, but knowing you all as I do,
> I believe you could all write very persuasively on the topics outlined in
> the attached skeleton letter. In a nutshell, eReader manufacturers are
> petitioning to have all eReaders exempted from the accessibility
> requirements of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video
> Accessibility Act of 2010. They are making the absurd argument that
> eReaders shouldn't be characterized as having advanced communications
> services because they are just for reading, and that the internet features
> are just ancillary. They also claim it will be prohibitively expensive to
> make them accessible. They are also asking that their waiver for eReaders
> be perpetual, regardelss of how eReaders continue to progress as connected
> devices.
> 
> The email below includes a copy of the petition, a draft of the NFB's
> response to the petition, and a skeleton letter that I'm asking you to
> write and send to the NFB by Monday. As I said, I know you are all very
> busy, as am I, but if you can find the time to do this, it would be very
> helpful in our effort to stop a potential administrative thwarting of the
> will of Congress, and the needs of disabled people worldwide.
> 
> Once your letter is complete, please email it to  Valerie Yingling at
> vyingling at nfb.org.
> 
> Thank you all for your time and effort.
> 
> Rose
> 
> PS I have also attached the letter I wrote, just in case you wanted to see
> an example final product!  Thanks guys!!
> 
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> *From: *"McLarney, Lauren" <LMcLarney at nfb.org>
> *Subject: **URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS ACCESSIBLE BY LABOR
> DAY*
> *Date: *August 28, 2013 5:06:57 PM EDT
> 
> 
> 
> Hello Legislative Directors,
> 
> We need your help!  The Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers has
> submitted a Petition
> for Waiver to the FCC asking that e-readers be exempt from the Twenty First
> Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) accessibility
> requirements.  I have attached the Petition.  NFB has written comments
> opposing the request, and we are asking other groups to sign on. I have
> also attached those comments.  But the FCC needs to hear from our members –
> blind people who want access to e-readers – and the more people they hear
> from, the better.  We are asking all Legislative Directors to find people
> in their respective affiliates to edit the attached skeleton letter and
> return it to us.  The letter is already formatted and has an outline, but
> it is up to each person to make it personal and select which
> talking points they want to use.  Finished letters should be sent to
> Valerie Yingling atvyingling at nfb.org by *8pm on Monday, September 2*.
> Valerie will proofread each document to make sure there are no typos and
> the customized points are still on message, and then we will submit the
> letters all at once when they are due on September 3rd.  We are short on
> time but I trust that this issue is pressing to our membership and we will
> get a good amount of letters.
> 
> For some background:  The CVAA requires that all mobile devices with
> advanced communications services (ACS) be accessible to blind people, but the
> law allows manufacturers to request a waiver for equipment that is not intended
> for ACS.  The Coalition (comprised of Amazon, Sony and Kobo) claims that
> the primary purpose of e-readers is reading, and that the ACS found in
> e-readers is so incidental and ancillary that it is not an
> intended purpose of the device.  We know this is not true – e-readers are
> outfitted with built-in web browsers and designed for social media.  The
> Coalition also claims that to make e-readers accessible would require a
> fundamental overhaul that would render e-readers obsolete, harm the public
> interest, and not provide substantial benefit to blind people.  We know
> that this offensive claim is also not true.  It is critical that the FCC
> hear from all of us – it is the only thing that can defeat the petition.
> Regulation is legislation’s sister, so I know we can count on all of you to
> get a good amount of feedback to the FCC.  If you have any questions,
> don’t hesitate
> to email me or Valerie.   Looking forward to seeing everyone’s
> letters.
> 
> Cheers,
> Lauren
> 
> *Lauren McLarney*****
> Government Affairs Specialist****
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND****
> 200 East Wells St.****
> Baltimore, MD 21230****
> (410) 659 9314 ext. 2207****
> lmclarney at nfb.org****
> ****
> ****
> ** **
> <Petition for Waiver Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers.pdf>
> <Comments to E-Reader Waiver Petition FINAL.docx>
> <E-Reader Skeleton Letter.docx>
> <E-Reader Letter Rose Sloan.docx>
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