<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Hi PAD friends,<br>
<br>
The following is from NFB's Chris Danielson, and is about an online
petition about making the new Kindle 2 reader from Amazon accessible to
non-print readers. They originally designed it to be accessible, but
under pressure from the authors union have agreed to disable Kindle's
ability to use its text to speech function. I did it and also took
advantage of the form to send a personalized form letter to people in
my address book. Chris is right, it's just the first couple of fields
-- title, first and last name -- that my Jaws 9 didn't read right.<br>
Donna Hill<br>
<br>
***<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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<br>
function. The National Federation of the blind has joined with over
twenty other organizations to create the reading Rights Coalition,
which has set<br>
up an on-line petition to urge the Authors Guild and Amazon to reverse
course. Please read and sign the petition here:
<<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read">http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read</a><br>
><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thepetitionsite">http://www.thepetitionsite</a><br>
.com/1/We-Want-To-Read<br>
<br>
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:<br>
(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.<br>
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<br>
to <mailto:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:readingrights@nfb.org">readingrights@nfb.org</a> ><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:readingrights@nfb.org">readingrights@nfb.org</a><br>
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<br>
make about this issue. Thank you so much for your participation in
this critically important effort.<br>
<br>
Sincerely:<br>
<br>
Chris Danielsen Director of Public Relations National Federation of
the Blind<br>
<br>
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<br>
us in this cause.<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Read my articles on American Chronicle:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885">http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885</a>
For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill">http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill</a>
Apple I-Tunes
phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.padnfb.org">www.padnfb.org</a>
</pre>
<br/><br/><FONT face="Tahoma" size="2"><STRONG><br><br>E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.0.386)<br>Database version: 5.12110<br><a href="http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/">http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor-antivirus/</a><br></STRONG></FONT>
</body>
</html>