[stylist] [nabs-l] Fwd: URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS ACCESSIBLEBY LABOR DAY

[Sophie Trist]

 ---- Original Message ------
From: "Stephanie H. DeLuca" <sjhhirst at gmail.com
Subject: [nabs-l] Fwd: URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS 
ACCESSIBLEBY LABOR DAY
Date sent: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 11:12:16 -0500

Hello my friends,

I apologize for the late notice, but I just received this 
yesterday. I know
you are all busy with lives, work, and school, but knowing you 
all as I do,
I believe you could all write very persuasively on the topics 
outlined in
the attached skeleton letter. In a nutshell, eReader 
manufacturers are
petitioning to have all eReaders exempted from the accessibility
requirements of the   )
Twenty-First Century Communications and Video )
Accessibility Act of 2010. They are making the absurd argument 
that
eReaders shouldn't be characterized as having advanced 
communications
services because they are just for reading, and that the internet 
features
are just ancillary. They also claim it will be prohibitively 
expensive to
make them accessible. They are also asking that their waiver for 
eReaders
be perpetual, regardelss of how eReaders continue to progress as 
connected
devices.

The email below includes a copy of the petition, a draft of the 
NFB's
response to the petition, and a skeleton letter that I'm asking 
you to
write and send to the NFB by Monday. As I said, I know you are 
all very
busy, as am I, but if you can find the time to do this, it would 
be very
helpful in our effort to stop a potential administrative 
thwarting of the
will of Congress, and the needs of disabled people worldwide.

Once your letter is complete, please email it to  Valerie 
Yingling at
vyingling at nfb.org.

Thank you all for your time and effort.

Best,

--Al Elia




Begin forwarded message:

*From: *"McLarney, Lauren" <LMcLarney at nfb.org
*Subject: **URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS ACCESSIBLE 
BY LABOR
DAY*
*Date: *August 28, 2013 5:06:57 PM EDT



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 atvyingling 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****
 ****
 ****
** **

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