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

Fri Aug 30 16:16:09 UTC 2013

Thanks, Cheryl! I hope that you inspire some others. Remember that they are
not going to be reading our letters closely, and they will be proofed at the
Center to correct inaccuracies, so it is easy to help with this one. Anyone
can call me if in need of some clarification.

Thanks everybody,
Barbara 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cheryl
Fields
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2013 11:42 AM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS
ACCESSIBLE BY LABOR DAY

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

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