[nfb-talk] [Bulk] Re: National Federation of the Blind andAmericanCouncil of the Blind File Discrimination Suit AgainstArizonaState University

Mon Jun 29 16:03:11 UTC 2009

You aren't really being fair to the ACB.  The lawsuit violates the NFB 
ethic. From the NFB home page: "The real problem of blindness is not
the loss of eyesight. The real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of
information that exist. If a blind person has proper training and 
opportunity,
blindness can be reduced to a physical nuisance." Can you blame this problem 
on lack of information or misunderstanding? Well, if so, why did the NFB 
find it necessary to file suit? Why not just explain the problem to the 
staff at ASU?  And couldn't the problem be reduced to a mere nuiscance  via 
better training?

This is the reason there are 2 organizations for the blind in the USA. It 
was a disagreement over this basic philosophy that caused the original 
split. But by partaking in the suit, the NFB is going against its own code.

From: "Wm. Ritchhart " <william.ritchhart at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [Bulk] Re: National Federation of the Blind 
andAmericanCouncil of the Blind File Discrimination Suit AgainstArizonaState 
University

> The one really good thing about this ugly deal, is that it isn't just us
> fighting this time.  It is nice to see that ACB can take a hard stand on 
> it
> too.  That makes our position even stronger.
>
>
> Thanks, William
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of John G. Heim
> Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 9:08 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [Bulk] Re: [nfb-talk] National Federation of the Blind and
> AmericanCouncil of the Blind File Discrimination Suit Against ArizonaState
> University
>
> Man, the injustice of this kindle thing makes my blood boil. That the NFB
> and ACB should even have to fight this is an outrage. Why can't these 
> people
>
> just do the right thing in the first place?
>
> It seems that the history of blind accomadations  consists of taking one
> step forward and two back. I don't think we should take it. Hit 'em hard
> NFB.  Sue their pants off.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Freeh,Jessica (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)"
> <JFreeh at nfb.org>
> To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 3:25 PM
> Subject: [nfb-talk] National Federation of the Blind and American Council 
> of
>
> the Blind File Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University
>
>
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
> CONTACT:
>
> Chris Danielsen
>
> Director of Public Relations
>
> National Federation of the Blind
>
> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>
> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>
> cdanielsen at nfb.org
>
>
>
>
>
> National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind
> File Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University
>
>
>
>
>
> University's Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program Discriminates Against the 
> Blind
>
> Baltimore, Maryland (June 25, 2009): The National
> Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the American
> Council of the Blind (ACB) filed suit today
> against Arizona State University (ASU) to prevent
> the university from deploying Amazon's Kindle DX
> electronic reading device as a means of
> distributing electronic textbooks to its students
> because the device cannot be used by blind
> students.  Darrell Shandrow, a blind ASU student,
> is also a named plaintiff in the action.  The
> Kindle DX features text-to-speech technology that
> can read textbooks aloud to blind students.  The
> menus of the device are not accessible to the
> blind, however, making it impossible for a blind
> user to purchase books from Amazon's Kindle
> store, select a book to read, activate the
> text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced
> reading functions available on the Kindle DX.  In
> addition to ASU, five other institutions of
> higher education are deploying the Kindle DX as
> part of a pilot project to assess the role of
> electronic textbooks and reading devices in the
> classroom.  The NFB and ACB have also filed
> complaints with the Office for Civil Rights of
> the U.S. Department of Education and the Civil
> Rights Division of the U.S. Department of
> Justice, asking for investigations of these five
> institutions, which are: Case Western Reserve
> University, the Darden School of Business at the
> University of Virginia, Pace University,
> Princeton University, and Reed College.  The
> lawsuit and complaints allege violations of the
> Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
>
>
>
> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
> Federation of the Blind, said: "Given the
> highly-advanced technology involved, there is no
> good reason that Amazon's Kindle DX device should
> be inaccessible to blind students.  Amazon could
> have used the same text-to-speech technology that
> reads e-books on the device aloud to make its
> menus accessible to the blind, but it chose not
> to do so.  Worse yet, six American higher
> education institutions that are subject to
> federal laws requiring that they not discriminate
> against students with disabilities plan to deploy
> this device, even though they know that it cannot
> be used by blind students.  The National
> Federation of the Blind will not tolerate this
> unconscionable discrimination against and callous
> indifference to the right of blind students to
> receive an equal education.  We hope that this
> situation can be rectified in a manner that
> allows this exciting new reading technology to be
> made available to blind and sighted students alike."
>
>
>
> Darrell Shandrow, a blind student pursuing a
> degree in journalism at ASU, said: "Not having
> access to the advanced reading features of the
> Kindle DX-including the ability to download books
> and course materials, add my own bookmarks and
> notes, and look up supplemental information
> instantly on the Internet when I encounter it in
> my reading-will lock me out of this new
> technology and put me and other blind students at
> a competitive disadvantage relative to our
> sighted peers.  While my peers will have instant
> access to their course materials in electronic
> form, I will still have to wait weeks or months
> for accessible texts to be prepared for me, and
> these texts will not provide the access and
> features available to other students.  That is
> why I am standing up for myself and with other
> blind Americans to end this blatant discrimination."
>
>
>
>
>
> ###
>
>
>
>
>
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