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<h1><b>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE</b></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br><br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><b>CONTACT:<br><br>
</b>Chris Danielsen<br><br>
Director of Public Relations<br><br>
National Federation of the Blind<br><br>
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330<br><br>
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<br><br>
cdanielsen@nfb.org<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br><br>
<br>
</font><div align="center"><h1><b>National Federation of the Blind <br>
Comments on Release of Large-screen Kindle<br><br>
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<h2><b>Urges Accessibility of New E-book Reader for
Students</b></h2><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br><br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><b>Baltimore, Maryland (May 6, 2009):</b>
The National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s oldest and largest
organization of blind Americans, commented today on the release by
Amazon, Inc. of a new version of its Kindle electronic reading
device. The new Kindle has a larger screen than previous versions
and is being marketed by Amazon as a potential platform for the display
of textbooks for college and graduate students.<br><br>
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Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
“We are appalled that Amazon is releasing a new Kindle device ostensibly
for the use of students that does not contain features that make it
accessible to the blind. While this new device has the ability to
read text aloud, its controls and user interface are not accessible to
blind people; therefore, blind students will not have access to
electronic textbooks available for the device. If the controls on
the Kindle are made accessible to the blind, however, blind students will
have equal access to textbooks at the same time as their sighted peers
for the first time in history. We therefore urge Amazon to
introduce a user interface for the Kindle that is accessible to the blind
as soon as possible. Until such an accessible interface is
introduced by Amazon, no college or university should deploy this device
for use by its students, since doing so will place blind students at an
unfair disadvantage compared to their sighted peers and will violate
state and federal laws requiring equal access to textbooks and course
materials for students with disabilities.”<br><br>
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