[Tabs] Fwd: URGENT: WE NEED LETTERS TO MAKE E-READERS ACCESSIBLE BY LABOR DAY

Fri Aug 30 16:12:16 UTC 2013

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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