[access-uk] Re: Ethics of book sharing services
- From: "James O'Dell" <jamesodell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:53:40 +0100
Hi Damon
I kind of see what you mean, but how many times have we as visually impaired
people heard companies say 'yes, very nice idea, but there just isn't the
demand...'. They obviously have their own market research and for whatever
reason don't seem to think it's worth making their material accessible.
They probably just look at the current number of people receiving
braille/talking books and decide it's really not worth the 'bother'. I
guess there are many blind people in the UK who don't even receive the
services that *are* available due to lack of awareness or because they don't
think they deserve 'charity'. There isn't any evidence to suggest that
these people would be willing and able to adopt an accessible solution,
should it be developed. This, unfortunately, is why we need the DDA -
because commercial organisations with no sense of social responsibility will
always see disability and disabled people as a problem/no concern of theirs;
the medical model is alive and kicking. In the short-to-medium term, I
don't see how publishers could really benefit from providing their own
accessible solution once cost of security and implementation are taken into
account - the demographic of the blind community is hardly attractive to
them. If they were really going to make huge profits from disabled people,
don't you think they would have done something by now? Time for less
carrot, more stick?
And while we're here, does anyone know what the arrangements will be for
getting hold of the next Harry Potter book in an accessible format when it
comes out? Are the publishers still being as intransigent as ever, saying
'shan't!' and 'We'll thcream and thcream and thcream until We're thick!'?
Is the audio version coming out any soonner this time, or will it be a case
of ordering it from Scottish Braille Press and hanging on the phone for half
an hour while they try to locate your invoice in the huge pile?
James
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