[nabs-l] FW: Accessibility of Kindle books

[Yingling, Valerie]

Dear Students:



Kindle books have significant accessibility barriers, particularly for academic use. The National Federation of the Blind has advocated for accessible Kindle products since 2008 and last week successfully convinced the New York City Department of Education to cancel its vote on a proposed $30 million contract with Amazon because of concerns that blind students would not be able to use content distributed through Amazon's Whispercast system. For more information, see the NFB's Kindle ebooks webpage<https://nfb.org/kindle-books>.



Colleges and universities too are implementing Kindle products at an alarming rate and the NFB needs your help to expand our advocacy efforts. Primarily, we need you to find out whether your school is implementing or considering implementing an Amazon storefront, Whispercast, or Kindle ebooks. If you learn that your school uses or is planning to use Whispercast or Kindle content, we need you to educate your school and administrators about the importance of ebook accessibility. Be prepared to explain why accessibility is critical, why it is important to ensure during the procurement phase that technology is accessible, and that accessible technology is required under the law. Provide your school with copies of the NFB's August 26, 2015, letter to the New York City Department of Education<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/kindle-books/nfb_letter_to_ramirez_8.26.15.pdf>, ebook accessibility comparison chart<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/kindle-books/inaccessibility_of_kindle_books_chart_8.27.15.pdf>, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice's Joint Dear Colleague letter<http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20100629.html>, and the U.S. Department of Education's FAQ<http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-ebook-faq-201105.html> and May 6, 2013, letter from Seth Galanter<https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/kindle-books/letter_from_seth_galanter_5.6.13.pdf>. And, if you learn that your school uses or is planning to use Whispercast or Kindle content, contact Valerie Yingling, paralegal at the NFB, at vyingling at nfb.org<mailto:vyingling at nfb.org> or (410) 659-9314, extension 2440.


Valerie Yingling
Paralegal
National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2440
 vyingling at nfb.org<mailto:vyingling at nfb.org>

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Message: 1

Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2015 10:16:26 -0400Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2015 10:59:27 -0400

From: "Ashley R. Burke" <burke.ashley1 at gmail.com<mailto:burke.ashley1 at gmail.com>>

To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list

               <nabs-l at nfbnet.org<mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>>

Subject: Re: [nabs-l] accessibility of kindle books

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               <CAMuWA50Wj7gahBJ4OgqO_kBs6MPpd-HPtZjta7m6nOuVSDur8w at mail.gmail.com<mailto:CAMuWA50Wj7gahBJ4OgqO_kBs6MPpd-HPtZjta7m6nOuVSDur8w at mail.gmail.com>>

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Hi!!

i don't know about kindle books but go to www.coursesmart.com<http://www.coursesmart.com> and see if your textbook is there it is an e-textbook website that i have had a lot of success with.

Ashley



On 8/30/15, Danielle Cyclorama via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org<mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Hi all,



I recently received an email from the DSS office at my school saying

that one of my textbooks is available of a kindle book. I am sure

accessibility varies with each book, but I was wondering generally how

accessible kindle books are.



Danielle