[Nfb-seniors] Free Kindle App for Windows with Accessibility Plug-in from Amazon

[Dave Mack]

 Fellow seniors:

This is an invitation only, so please only reply on the newly created email list described below, if interested.

I wish to invite members to a new and specific discussion list regarding the relatively new and free Amazon Kindle Book-Reader application for Windows with Accessibility Plug-in for blind and vision-impaired customers.  I should add that this list is for users and interested paarties and is not affiliated with Amazon nor am I personally affiliated with Amazon except as a vision-impaired customer in the United States..

Let me begin by saying that In spite of some deficiencies described below, I applaud Amazon for their efforts thus far in finally making this free app available to blind and low-vision Amazon customers which makes a number of books accessible which were otherwise not available in other formats and venues.  For those unfamiliar with the free Windows Kindle text-to-speech book-reader application, it is available to JAWS and NVDA screenreader users at the following location:
www.amazon.com/kindle/accessibility.   It is also available to users in the United Kingdom, Austrailia and Canada in addition to the United States.

In addition to reading books aloud whith TTS enabled, it also reads text aloud in books with the TTS turned off in standard Kindle versions since it is an assistive technology and may legally do so in the aforementioned countries.

I have created a special group email discussion list (as described in more detail  below) entitled "Accessible Kindle App" to discuss the current status and limitations of the reader for blind and low-vision users.

You may join the list at:
accessible-kindle-app-request at freelists.org with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by visiting the list page at http://www.freelists.org/list/accessible-kindle-app  

The purpose of our group  for blind and vision-impaired users (and potential users) is to share experiences with this book reader and especially to discuss any features or conveniences people would like to have added to the free Accessible Windows PC version of the Kindle reader in future upgrades.

Since there is strength in numbers, I hope we can get a sufficient number of members in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia so that when we contact Amazon and its Kindle development team we can initiate upgrades more quickly than when trying to contact Amazon alone. 

Please encourage your friends and acquaintances in the blind and loe-vision community to join our list as either users of the Kindle App or as potential users in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Australia where the Accessible Kindle Application is currently available.  Again, there is strength in numbers.

Some limitations I have noted since the app became available early this year are as follows . . . 

Presently, the free Accessibility Version of Kindle App for Windows PC lacks the following capabilities of the Standard Version: There is no dictionary word look-up and there is no copy & paste feature for adding text from books to  one's notes.  Hence, blind students are at a disadvantage to their sighted counterparts when using the app for textbooks, etc.

There is also no library feature implemented at this time nor has page numbering been implemented as in the Standard Windows Version.

Currently, the Accessibility Version does not support Braille, nor is there an option to use other text-to-speech voices other than the two Nuance voices provided with the application, but the TTS issue is minor, in my opinion, and the Braille issue more pressing for many, I presume.

Also, there is presently no pronunciation modification available for the two bundled Nuance voices - but, again,  this is only an occasionally minor annoyance for me personally.

More surprisingly, there is no keystroke combination available to read one's current book location expressed as a percentage of book read and the only way to access that locator is by using a physical mouse at the very bottom-center  of the application where a tiny box is situated and may only be accessed by low-vision users with a mmouse, as pressing the tab key will not get one there either.

There is also presently a bug in the software in "continuous reading mode" whereby the reader automatically turns pages in many book titles from some publishers and keeps announcing "There is no text on this page" and keeps turning pages and incorrectly making the same announcement all the way to the end of the book.

Lastly, the highlight feature for loe-vision users should have the option for bright yellow orbright  orange highlighting when using a black background for white text as blue highlighting against a black backgground is hard to discern by many low-vision persons.

This is just a list of my own observations and I encourage comments from others in the Accessible Kindle App group  so we can address these and other issues collectively since Amazon - like some others - may drag its feet when making changes to the accessible version without our collective voices being heard as customers and potential users.

Again, for info on the Accessible Version of Kindle App for PC, click this link"
www.amazon.com/kindle/accessibility.  

If alternate links are available in the U.K. and Australia, please post them in the new group.

Best regards to all and I welcome all comments at the group list I have created exclusively for that purpose.  Again, you may join the list at 
accessible-kindle-app-request at freelists.org with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by visiting the list page at http://www.freelists.org/list/accessible-kindle-app  

Since I have just started this list, please excuse any problems you may encounter and send problems to me personally at dcmack2 at comcast.net.

I have only posted this here with the best of intentions.  Thanks to all subscribers  who have helped in my transition as I have lost vision in my later years! 

Please forward to others who may be interested.

Grandpa Dave in California - a low-vision user of the Kindle Windows App with Accessibility Plug-in