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Dear Friends:<br><br>
Amazon.com is undertaking a massive effort to deploy its Kindle e-readers
and Kindle books to K-12 schools across the United States. In some
cases Kindle devices have been donated directly to schools, including
schools that serve children who are blind or have other
disabilities. Amazon has also built a system called Whispercast
that allows teachers and school administrators to distribute Kindle
content to devices other than Kindles. The problem with all of
these plans is that neither the Kindle devices nor the book files used in
conjunction with them are accessible to students who are blind or who
have other print disabilities. Since school districts have an
obligation under federal law to purchase or deploy only accessible
technology and content, Amazon must either make Kindle books accessible
or cease and desist from its efforts to have them used in the
classroom. <br><br>
We are asking each of you, and/or your blind children, to write a letter
to Amazon’s founder and chief executive officer, Mr. Jeff Bezos,
explaining the harmful impact that the use of this inaccessible
technology in the classroom will have on blind students. You may
write your letter in print or Braille; if convenient, submit it in both
formats. Also, if you can, submit a video of you or your child
reading the letter that we can post on our Web site, Facebook page,
and/or YouTube channel. You may send videos to
<a href="mailto:jfreeh@nfb.org">jfreeh@nfb.org</a>. Children who
appear in or submit videos must also have their parents sign a media
release giving the National Federation of the Blind permission to use the
video. A copy of our standard media release is attached. It
can be mailed back to us at the address below, or faxed to 410-685-5653,
attention Jessica Freeh.<br><br>
We plan to deliver the hard copy letters directly to Jeff Bezos at an
informational protest, so please send the letters to us at National
Federation of the Blind, 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place,
Baltimore, MD 21230, Attention Chris Danielsen, Director of Public
Relations. To be included in our delivery to Mr. Bezos, we must
receive your letter no later than December 1, 2012.<br><br>
If you have any questions about this effort, please don’t hesitate to
contact me. You can call me at 410-659-9314, extension 2330, or
e-mail me at cdanielsen@nfb.org. Thank you for your assistance in
this critically important matter.<br><br>
Sincerely:<br><br>
Chris Danielsen, Director of Public Relations<br>
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND<br><br>
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