[nfbmi-talk] accessibility of e-readers

[laschuck at juno.com]

Hello list,  I received this announcement in a daily news digest from disability dot gov.  They mention text-to-spech accessibility, but not accessibility of the buttons and touch-functions.  Thought some of us might be interested in this.   Lydia
 Subject: Disability.gov Education Laws & Regulations: Joint DOJ-ED Letter to College & University Presidents on Electronic Book Readers 

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education have sent a letter to colleges and universities about the use of electronic book readers that are not accessible to students who are blind or have low vision. The letter points out a serious problem with some of these devices that do not have an accessible text-to-speech function. Requiring use of an emerging technology in a classroom environment when that technology is inaccessible to an entire population of individuals with disabilities--individuals with visual disabilities--may constitute discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).  For more information visit this link:  http://www.disability.gov/civil_rights/laws_&_regulations/education.