[Missouri-l] Fw: [acb-l] FW: [Acbny-l] Amazon's Kindle to get audible menus andlarger font

[Jeanne Fike]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
To: <acb-l at acb.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 10:44 AM
Subject: [acb-l] FW: [Acbny-l] Amazon's Kindle to get audible menus 
andlarger font


>
>
> Original Message:
> From: Sherry DeFrancesco <sdefrancesco at optonline.net>
> To: ACBNY-L <acbny-l at emissives.com>
> Subject: [Acbny-l] Amazon's Kindle to get audible menus and larger font
> Date:
> Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:47:52 -0500
>
> 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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