[nabs-l] URGENT: Bookshare Needs Your Help
Lucy Sirianni
lucysirianni at earthlink.net
Sat May 25 17:21:16 UTC 2013
Hi all,
I apologize if the below has been mentioned on the list
before; I glanced through the archives, but as a new member, I
may have missed previous posts. That said, I think the below is
tremendously important for all of us as blind students, so I
wanted to pass it along. Please take a moment to look at the
links and to consider signing both of the petitions. According
to these resources, it's currently the case that less than 1% of
the world's printed books (less than 5% in the US) are accessible
to blind readers; I'm sure we all agree that this is an appalling
statistic, and I hope many of us will be able to support the
people working to change it.
Thanks, everyone!
Lucy
---- Original Message ------
From: "Bookshare" <Bookshare at mail.vresp.com
Subject: URGENT: Bookshare Needs Your Help
Date sent: Fri, 24 May 2013 23:49:27 +0000
Dear Lucy,
It's not typical for us to send you an email like this, but we
felt
this situation was so important it was necessary.
You may already be aware, but for years negotiations have been
moving
forward on what many have come to call the "Treaty for the Blind
-
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/39440e0084/377977e221/8c6ac19ad5
" The goal of the international treaty is to make it possible
for
people who are blind, or have other print disabilities such as
dyslexia, to get access to the books they need for education,
employment and inclusion in society--no matter where they live.
It's
something we already do, with great success, in the United States
through Bookshare.
However, private interests are trying to alter the treaty in such
a
way that it would become useless--even harmful. For example,
they're
trying to get language adopted that basically says: "if you can
buy
it, you can't borrow it." This is not only an attack on people
around
the world with print disabilities--it's also an attack on
libraries,
like Bookshare, and could have a drastic effect on the number of
books you have access to.
Our biggest worry is this becoming a treaty that could stop
Bookshare
from serving our users in the United States the way we do today.
We
need our government negotiating for a treaty that supports a
library
like Bookshare.
That's why we're working with a coalition of disability and
library
groups, including the National Federation of the Blind and the
American Council of the Blind, to fight back against the proposed
changes by these private interests. We'll do everything we can
to
secure a treaty that both protects the access we have now and
that
will benefit people with print disabilities around the world--but
we
need your help.
We're asking you to take a moment to sign a petition on the White
House's website that urges the President to step up his support:
-
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/39440e0084/377977e221/4e4438ce56
If we can get to 100,000 signatures, the White House is
required to
respond to the petition and will, hopefully, take positive
action.
With your help we know we can reach that number. We also
recommend
the petition -
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/39440e0084/377977e221/f43c9aab46
/sid=2&reset=1 at the National Federation of the Blind's site,
which is
particularly accessible.
Thank you for your time and support. Together, we believe that
our
collective voice can make a real impact.
If you're interested in more background on the treaty, here are
some
articles and resources you can review:
Huffington Post piece by Jim on how the treaty is being poisoned
by
private interests:
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/39440e0084/377977e221/3f5de5c34d
WIRED Magazine article that gives some recent updates on the
treaty:
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/39440e0084/377977e221/7e58bb06a5
Sincerely,
Jim Fruchterman & Betsy Beaumon, Bookshare
P.S. Please post the link to the White House petition on your
social
media to help spread the word and get your friends involved!
Again,
here is the link: -
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?Benetech/39440e0084/377977e221/af6f03126e
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