[Nfb-science] Blindness Organizations and Arizona State University Resolve Litigation Over Kindle
Freeh, Jessica
JFreeh at nfb.org
Tue Jan 12 02:49:04 UTC 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
Mitch Pomerantz, President
American Council of the Blind
(626) 372-5150 (Cell)
<mailto:mitch.pomerantz at earthlink.net>mitch.pomerantz at earthlink.net
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 514-2007
Sharon Keeler
Arizona State University
(480) 965-4012 (Office)
(602) 540-8453 (Cell)
<mailto:sharon.keeler at asu.edu>sharon.keeler at asu.edu
Blindness Organizations and Arizona State University
Resolve Litigation Over Kindle
Phoenix, Arizona (January 11, 2010): The National Federation of the
Blind (NFB), the American Council of the Blind (ACB), and Arizona
State University (ASU), today announced a settlement agreement
resolving litigation filed by NFB and ACB against the Arizona Board
of Regents (ABOR) and ASU. The lawsuit arose from the university's
participation in a pilot program using the Kindle DX, a dedicated
device for reading electronic books, or e-books, developed by
Amazon.com, Inc. The NFB and ACB alleged that the Kindle DX was
inaccessible to blind students and thus violated federal law. ABOR
and ASU denied and continue to deny any violations of the law.
The settlement agreement among the parties was reached in light of
several factors, including: (1) ASU's commitment to providing access
to all programs and facilities for students with disabilities,
including students who are blind or have low vision; (2) the fact
that the pilot program will end in the Spring of 2010; (3) Amazon and
others are making improvements to and progress in the accessibility
of e-book readers; and (4) the university's agreement that should ASU
deploy e-book readers in future classes over the next two years, it
will strive to use devices that are accessible to the blind.
The United States Department of Justice is also a party to the
agreement, which does not involve the payment of any damages or
attorney's fees or costs.
Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The National Federation of the Blind is pleased with this
settlement, which we believe will help to ensure that new
technologies create new opportunities for blind students rather than
new barriers."
Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind,
expressed support by commenting: "I believe this settlement between
Arizona State University and the two major national consumer-advocacy
organizations of blind and visually impaired persons will encourage
the industry to develop fully accessible e-book readers in the near future."
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