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<b>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br><br>
<br><br>
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>
<a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</a><br><br>
<br><br>
Mitch Pomerantz, President<br><br>
American Council of the Blind<br><br>
(626) 372-5150 (Cell)<br><br>
<a href="mailto:mitch.pomerantz@earthlink.net">
mitch.pomerantz@earthlink.net</a><br><br>
<br><br>
Department of Justice<br><br>
Office of Public Affairs<br><br>
(202) 514-2007<br><br>
<br><br>
Sharon Keeler<br><br>
Arizona State University<br><br>
(480) 965-4012 (Office)<br><br>
(602) 540-8453 (Cell)<br><br>
<a href="mailto:sharon.keeler@asu.edu">sharon.keeler@asu.edu</a><br><br>
<div align="center"><b> <br><br>
<br><br>
Blindness Organizations and Arizona State University<br><br>
Resolve Litigation Over Kindle<br><br>
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<br><br>
<b>Phoenix, Arizona (January 11, 2010): </b>The National Federation of
the Blind (NFB), the American Council of the Blind (ACB), and Arizona
State University (ASU), today announced a settlement agreement resolving
litigation filed by NFB and ACB against the Arizona Board of Regents
(ABOR) and ASU. The lawsuit arose from the university's
participation in a pilot program using the Kindle DX, a dedicated device
for reading electronic books, or e-books, developed by Amazon.com,
Inc. The NFB and ACB alleged that the Kindle DX was inaccessible to
blind students and thus violated federal law. ABOR and ASU denied
and continue to deny any violations of the law. <br><br>
<br><br>
The settlement agreement among the parties was reached in light of
several factors, including: (1) ASU's commitment to providing access to
all programs and facilities for students with disabilities, including
students who are blind or have low vision; (2) the fact that the pilot
program will end in the Spring of 2010; (3) Amazon and others are making
improvements to and progress in the accessibility of e-book readers; and
(4) the university's agreement that should ASU deploy e-book readers in
future classes over the next two years, it will strive to use devices
that are accessible to the blind.<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br><br>
</font><font face="Garamond">The United States Department of Justice is
also a party to the agreement, which does not involve the payment of any
damages or attorney’s fees or costs.<br><br>
<br><br>
Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The National Federation of the Blind is pleased with this
settlement, which we believe will help to ensure that new technologies
create new opportunities for blind students rather than new
barriers."<br><br>
<br><br>
Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind,
expressed support by commenting: "I believe this settlement between
Arizona State University and the two major national consumer-advocacy
organizations of blind and visually impaired persons will encourage the
industry to develop fully accessible e-book readers in the near
future.”<br><br>
<br><br>
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