[Nfbv-announce] Petition on Kindle 2

[Fredric Schroeder]

Friends,

If you have not already sign the petition on the Kindle 2 reader 
issue, below is information about how to sign up.

Thanks,

Fred Schroeder, President
National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

Dear Fellow Federationists:



As many of you know, we are engaged in a campaign to obtain 
access for
the blind and others with print disabilities to e-books available 
for
Amazon's new Kindle 2 e-book reader.  The new reader, which 
Amazon is
working to make fully accessible to the blind, has the ability to 
use
text-to-speech to read these e-books aloud; but under pressure 
from the
Authors Guild, Amazon has announced that authors and publishers 
will be
allowed to disable the text-to-speech function.  The National 
Federation
of the blind has joined with over twenty other organizations to 
create
the reading Rights Coalition, which has set up an on-line 
petition to
urge the Authors Guild and Amazon to reverse course.  Please read 
and
sign the petition here: 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read



Please note: If you are using screen access technology, the first 
three
fields on the form to sign the petition may not be announced.  
They are,
in order: (1) a drop-down menu from which to select your prefix 
(Mr.,
Mrs., etc.); (2) an edit field for your first name, and (3) an 
edit
field for your last name.  the rest of the fields should announce
themselves as you tab to them.  If you still have trouble filling 
out the
form, please send the following information to 
readingrights at nfb.org and
we will be happy to sign on your behalf.  You will need to send 
us your
name, address, e-mail address, and any personal comments you 
would like
to make about this issue.  Thank you so much for your 
participation in
this critically important effort.



Sincerely:



Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind



P.S.  Once you have signed the petition, please be sure to 
forward the
link to all of the contacts in your address book that you believe 
will
support us in this cause.





JF


-----Original Message-----
From: Pare, John
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 5:28 AM
To: Fredric Schroeder
Cc: Freeh, Jessica
Subject: RE: Petition on Kindle 2

Fred:
Yes, we do want people to sign the petition.
Jessica:
Please send Fred the link along with Chris's instructions on
accessibility tips.
John

-----Original Message-----
From: Fredric Schroeder [mailto:fschroeder at sks.com]
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 3:16 AM
To: Pare, John
Subject: Petition on Kindle 2

John,

Two questions: do we still want people to sign onto the petition
regarding the Kindle 2, and, if so, would you be able to resend 
the
information about how to sign up.  I cannot seem to find the 
original
notice.

Thanks,

FKS