[vi-kindle] Re: Amazon, Why Do You Keep Burning Blind Readers?

  • From: "Meka White, LMP" <meka@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <vi-kindle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 09:42:38 -0800

Hello Gene,

I don't care how amazon makes its product line accessible.  Whether they use 
something proprietary, work with the features of android, or pull a rabbit 
out of a hat, it doesn't matter, as long as they *do* it.  I know there are 
some who would disagree with me, but I paid good money for my kindle and 
want to be able to use every feature, not just the ones that amazon 
haphazardly implements without springboarding in to improving it.

I also should point out that not everyone has an apple product.

And, this probably is stating the obvious, but the demonstration was not 
about just making something accessible.  It was about the fact that kindles 
are being deployed in to the classroom.  Students are using them in lieu of 
hardcopy textbooks, which makes sense fiscally.  I would never suggest a 
kindle in its current form to be used for educational purposes.  Reading 
navigation is the main reason.  There is no *simple* way of tracking word by 
word, or line by line, and to some extent, page by page.  If Amazon wants to 
put that product in the classroom, then they have a responsibility to make 
certain that it is delivering as accessible a product as possible.

We really haven't heard much about improvements in three or so years.  Even 
the newest improvements for the Fire don't work very well and cannot be 
turned on independently.

I would hope that all of us, whether we would use certain features or not, 
could come together and agree that improvements need to be made.

I am not in the NFB, but this is a very important issue to me and while I 
think that the protest may have been a little premature, it showed that 
people did care about the issue at hand and some people need to wake up and 
take notice.

As for your original question, there was a campaign on Applevis to write to 
amazon regarding the inaccessibility of their ap.  I would hope that with an 
accessible iBooks ap and now the Nook, that Amazon would wake up and really 
take notice.  I'm tired of the 'well, it isn't a good decision for them 
economically' excuse that we get from other blind people, and I'm really 
tired of the attitude that if we push, then amazon will take what little 
accessibility out of their products because of the mean, pushy blind people.

The Washington Council of the Blind wrote a letter to Amazon as well, and 
while we were polite, our letter was firm.  So here is to a hopeful 
expectancy of accessibility improvements for next year, but if it doesn't 
work, or it is half-baked, then here is to pushing them a little harder.

Warmly,
Meka


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