[infoshare] Amazon's Kindle To Get Audible Menus and Larger Font
- From: "Maria" <malyn87@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Info" <infoshare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 22:07:09 -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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