[rehab] Amazon's Kindle to get audible menus, bigger font

[Gabe Vega]

of course they wouldn't let the case go, not with out a big settlement check.

On 12/8/09, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:
>
>
> Amazon's Kindle to get audible menus, bigger font
>
> By Jessica Mintz
>
> Associated Press
> Posted: 12/07/2009 01:55:11 PM PST
> Updated: 12/07/2009 03:47:24 PM PST
>
>
> SEATTLE ­ <http://Amazon.com>Amazon.com will add
> two features to the Kindle e-book reader to make
> the gadget more accessible to blind and vision-impaired users.
>
> Monday's announcement comes a month after
> Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., and the
> University of Wisconsin-Madison said they would
> not consider widely deploying the device as an
> alternative to paper textbooks until Amazon makes
> it easier for blind students to use. Both
> universities bought some Kindles to test this fall.
>
> The Kindle has a read-aloud feature that could be
> a boon to blind students and those with other
> disabilities including dyslexia, but turning it
> on requires navigating through screens of text menus.
>
> Amazon said Monday it is working on audible
> menus, which would let the Kindle speak menu
> options out loud. It's also working on an
> extra-large font for people with impaired vision.
> The additions should reach the Kindle next summer, Amazon said.
>
> Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National
> Federation of the Blind, said Monday that the
> organization doesn't know enough about the new
> features to say whether they adequately address
> concerns of the blind community. But, he said,
> it's a good sign Amazon is expressing commitment to improve the Kindle.
>
> Amazon released this year the $489 Kindle DX, a
> large-screen model aimed at textbook and
> newspaper readers. Several colleges including
> Arizona State University are testing the gadget
> this academic year and sending feedback to the company.
>
> The federation for the blind, which is based in
> Baltimore, teamed up with another advocacy group,
> the American Council of the Blind, to sue Arizona
> State in an attempt to block it from using the
> Kindle as a way to distribute electronic
> textbooks because the devices can't be used by      blind students.
>
> It also filed complaints with the Justice
> Department against five other schools
> participating in the Kindle trial with Amazon:
> Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, the
> Darden School of Business at the University of
> Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., Pace University
> in New York, Princeton University in Princeton,
> N.J., and Reed College in Portland, Ore.
>
> Syracuse University and the University of
> Wisconsin were not among the pilot-test schools.
>
> Danielsen declined to comment when asked if
> Amazon's proposed changes would lead the federation to abandon its
> complaints.
>
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-- 
Gabe Vega A+, Net+, ATACP
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