[Missouri-l] Fw: [announce] Arizona State suit

[Terrie Arnold]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "slovering" 
<slovering at acb.org>
To: <leadership at acb.org>
Cc: <announce at acb.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 3:03 
PM
Subject: [announce] Arizona State 
suit


For further information, contact:

Mitch Pomerantz, President

(626) 372-5150

mitch.pomerantz at earthlink.net



The American Council of the Blind 
Joins with the National Federation 
of the
Blind In Suit Against Arizona 
State University

Suit Seeks to Prohibit the 
University from Using Inaccessible 
e-Book Readers
like the Kindle DX


The American Council of the Blind 
(ACB) joined with the National 
Federation
of the Blind (NFB) in filing suit 
today in federal court against 
Arizona
State University. The suit seeks 
an injunction to prohibit the 
university
from using the new Kindle DX 
e-book reader produced by 
Amazon.com, Inc.,
because it is not accessible to 
blind students.  This suit is 
brought on
behalf of blind students at 
Arizona State University who will 
be prevented
from independently accessing their 
own textbooks on the Kindle DX if 
this
program takes effect in the fall 
as planned.


Complainants allege that this is 
blatant discrimination against 
students who
are blind, as well as a violation 
of Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act
of 1973, as amended, along with 
the Americans with Disabilities 
Act.


Reading books on the Kindle DX is 
not an option for students who are 
blind.
Operation of this device requires 
vision, since the menus are only 
displayed
visually.  When Arizona State 
University announced its intent to 
require
students to use this device to 
access class materials, it 
essentially barred
blind students from their 
programs.



Darrell Shandrow, a blind student 
pursuing a degree in journalism at 
ASU,
said: "Not having access to the 
advanced reading features of the 
Kindle DX -
including the ability to download 
books and course materials, add my 
own
bookmarks and notes, and look up 
supplemental information instantly 
on the
Internet when I encounter it in my 
reading -will lock me out of this 
new
technology and put me and other 
blind students at a competitive 
disadvantage
relative to our sighted peers. 
While my peers will have instant 
access to
their course materials in 
electronic form, I will still have 
to wait weeks
or months for accessible texts to 
be prepared for me, and these 
texts will
not provide the access and 
features available to other 
students.  That is
why I am standing up for myself 
and with other blind Americans to 
end this
blatant discrimination."



Rebecca Bridges, president of the 
National Alliance of Blind 
Students
(NABS), a special-interest 
affiliate of ACB, said: "NABS is 
disappointed in
Arizona State University's 
decision to endorse a solution 
that is not
accessible to all of their 
students.  By requiring that 
textbooks be
accessed on the Kindle DX book 
reader, this public institution 
has placed a
barrier in front of its blind and 
visually impaired students that 
does not
exist for their sighted 
colleagues."



Mitch Pomerantz, president of the 
American Council of the Blind, 
commented:
"ACB's involvement in this 
litigation is based upon our 
concern that to
permit, unchallenged, colleges and 
universities to require students 
to
purchase the Kindle in order to 
access all materials for a 
particular class
is blatantly discriminatory toward 
blind and visually impaired 
students, and
sets a dangerous precedent which 
other institutions of higher 
learning could
choose to follow.  We must 
vigorously oppose any such 
initiative until such
time as Amazon, Inc. begins 
manufacturing Kindle products with 
full
accessibility.  To do anything 
less would be to turn our backs on 
the
thousands of young blind and 
visually impaired men and women 
who are seeking
to be productive, contributing 
members of society by obtaining a 
college
education."



About the American Council of the 
Blind

The American Council of the Blind 
is a national membership 
organization. Its
members are blind, visually 
impaired, and fully sighted 
individuals who are
concerned about the dignity and 
well-being of blind people 
throughout the
nation.  Formed in 1961, ACB is 
one of the largest organizations 
of blind
people in the world, with more 
than 70 state and special-interest 
affiliates
and a nationwide network of 
chapters and members spanning the 
globe.



For more information about the 
American Council of the Blind, 
contact:
Melanie Brunson, Executive 
Director, American Council of the 
Blind, 2200
Wilson Blvd., Suite 650, 
Arlington, VA 22201; phone (202) 
467-5081 or
toll-free, 1-800-424-8666; or 
visit the web site, www.acb.org.