[Ohio-talk] FW: URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS ACCESSIBLE BY LABOR DAY

[Cheryl Fields]

Thanks Barb, I will do my best to participate, This is too important
of a issue not to take time to send the letter.
I recently signed up for u-verse and one of the promotional items is a
Kendall Fire, and I will not be able to use it fully. What a waste!
Have a great weekend, stay safe.
Cheryl Fields

On 8/29/13, Barbara Pierce <bbpierce at pobox.com> wrote:
> I received this email with attachments this morning. I hope that people can
> get to the attachments to read them. The third one is the bare bones of a
> letter that people can use as a guide to write their own letter. The
> message
> below explains that the letters must be sent to the National Center by
> Monday, Labor Day. They will be gone over and fixed up if necessary so that
> they can be handed in on Tuesday. College students and school kids need our
> help. Those of us who would like to be able to use the book readers will
> also benefit. I am dropping into this message the letter that I have
> written
> so that you can get an idea of what is needed. Even if you can't read the
> attachments, you can use my letter as your model and make changes as you
> see
> fit. Please help.
>
> Thanks,
> Barbara
>
> Barbara Pierce
> President Emerita, National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
> 237 Oak Street
> Oberlin, Ohio 44074
> bpierce at oberlin.net
> September 3, 2013
>
> Kris Monteith
> Acting Bureau Chief
> Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
> Federal Communications Commission
> 445 12th Street SW
> Washington, DC 20554
>
> Re: Reply to the Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers' Petition for Waiver
> from CVAA Accessibility Requirements, CG Docket No. 10-213
>
> Dear Mr. Monteith:
>
> I am a blind woman, a volunteer advocate for blind people and parents of
> blind children, an active member of my community, and a retired magazine
> editor. In every way you can imagine, reading is vitally important to me. I
> strongly oppose the Petition for Waiver submitted by the Coalition of
> E-Reader Manufacturers, requesting that e-readers be exempt from the Twenty
> First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA).
>
> The spirit of the CVAA is to increase the accessibility of mobile advanced
> communications services (ACS), and e-readers are built with ACS
> functionality.  Most e-reader users I know use them to post to Facebook and
> exchange books with friends.  It would not make sense to grant a waiver for
> a class of products that are clearly intended to be covered by the CVAA.
>
> The Coalition claims that the primary purpose of e-readers is reading, not
> ACS, but clearly the ACS found in e-readers is part of the intended
> purpose.
> The ability to connect with friends, share content, and access the internet
> are the very features that set e-readers apart from print books.  ACS
> facilitates the reading experience and is, therefore, a co-primary purpose
> of e-readers. My sighted children and friends use these features all the
> time, and I would like to join them.
>
> E-readers can easily be made accessible.  All digital content can be made
> accessible to a blind person if the content is programmed to be read
> audibly, audio output like speakers or a phone jack is added, and
> accessibility is considered during the design phase.  The Coalition's claim
> that to make e-readers accessible would require a fundamental overhaul of
> the equipment is absurd.
>
> As it stands now, If I want to read a Kindle book, I have to buy an
> expensive Apple iPad.  Then I can download the free Kindle app, but even
> then that application is not fully accessible.  I want to be a mainstream
> user and would happily buy an e-reader if one was accessible, but the
> manufacturers continue to exclude me from their customer pool.  I reject
> the
> Coalition's contention that making their product accessible would not
> provide me with any substantial benefits.  In reality, doing so would give
> me options as a consumer and equal access with my sighted peers.
>
> The Department of Justice and the Department of Education prohibit K-12
> school districts and institutions of higher education from using
> inaccessible e-readers, yet the Coalition continues knowingly to sell
> inaccessible equipment to schools.  The CVAA is consistent with preexisting
> legal requirements, and the FCC should not give the Coalition incentive to
> continue resisting accessibility.
>
> My family has now converted to e-readers, but I am still limited to the
> Library Of Congress offerings. I can't discuss recent books with my
> friends,
> and I generally feel like a second-class citizen.
>
> I strongly urge the FCC to reject the Coalition's petition and uphold the
> spirit of the CVAA.  E-readers and the ACS features found in that equipment
> must be made accessible, and granting a waiver would perpetuate the digital
> divide and the discrimination in the marketplace that I face every day.
>
> Sincerely,
> Barbara Pierce
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: McLarney, Lauren [mailto:LMcLarney at nfb.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 5:07 PM
> Subject: URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS ACCESSIBLE BY LABOR DAY
> Importance: High
>
> Hello Legislative Directors,
>
> We need your help!  The Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers has submitted a
> Petition for Waiver to the FCC asking that e-readers be exempt from the
> Twenty First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)
> accessibility requirements.  I have attached the Petition.  NFB has written
> comments opposing the request, and we are asking other groups to sign on.
> I
> have also attached those comments.  But the FCC needs to hear from our
> members - blind people who want access to e-readers - and the more people
> they hear from, the better.  We are asking all Legislative Directors to
> find
> people in their respective affiliates to edit the attached skeleton letter
> and return it to us.  The letter is already formatted and has an outline,
> but it is up to each person to make it personal and select which talking
> points they want to use.  Finished letters should be sent to Valerie
> Yingling at vyingling at nfb.org<mailto:vyingling at nfb.org> by 8pm on Monday,
> September 2.  Valerie will proofread each document to make sure there are
> no
> typos and the customized points are still on message, and then we will
> submit the letters all at once when they are due on September 3rd.  We are
> short on time, but I trust that this issue is pressing to our membership
> and
> we will get a good amount of letters.
>
> For some background:  The CVAA requires that all mobile devices with
> advanced communications services (ACS) be accessible to blind people, but
> the law allows manufacturers to request a waiver for equipment that is not
> intended for ACS.  The Coalition (comprised of Amazon, Sony and Kobo)
> claims
> that the primary purpose of e-readers is reading, and that the ACS found in
> e-readers is so incidental and ancillary that it is not an intended purpose
> of the device.  We know this is not true - e-readers are outfitted with
> built-in web browsers and designed for social media.  The Coalition also
> claims that to make e-readers accessible would require a fundamental
> overhaul that would render e-readers obsolete, harm the public interest,
> and
> not provide substantial benefit to blind people.  We know that this
> offensive claim is also not true.  It is critical that the FCC hear from
> all
> of us - it is the only thing that can defeat the petition.  Regulation is
> legislation's sister, so I know we can count on all of you to get a good
> amount of feedback to the FCC.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate
> to
> email me or Valerie.   Looking forward to seeing everyone's letters.
>
> Cheers,
> Lauren
>
> Lauren McLarney
> Government Affairs Specialist
> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
> 200 East Wells St.
> Baltimore, MD 21230
> (410) 659 9314 ext. 2207
> lmclarney at nfb.org<mailto:lmclarney at nfb.org>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Peace