hi ginny. yes, the screenreader for the fire tablet is called
voice-view. and, since the fire tablet is a touch device, voice-view
responds to gestures that you make with your fingers on the glass.
as i said before, i would suggest the fire tablet and not the kindle
ereader, even though they have one now that has voice-view and tts
over bluetooth. if you went with that ereader, you would have to also
purchase a bluetooth speaker or headphones.
yes, there is a number for amazon accessibility, but, i also agree
that their knowledge is spotty. others, including myself, had not had
good results with them. the few times i have used them, i came away
thinking that i gave them more knowledge than they provided.
i have written a blog post about getting the fire tablet
up-and-running right out of the box. getting the fire tablet to voice
by screenreader can be done without sighted help. i go through the
complete procedure plus more including using alexa. that link follows.
http://www.williambrandes.com/blog/?BlindAccess___AmazonFireTablet._Out_of_the_Box_and_Alexa_Basics
yes, alexa is offered on the fire tablet! not just the echo. alot of
amazon types on either hotline get that wrong. and, a reminder, that
two gestures that are different on the fire tablet with voice-view are
opening a link, which is a double tap, and, opening a context menu on
a link (like a right mouse click) is a double tap and hold, then
swiping for the options.
personally, i would go into the store with this knowledge, and, if the
store personnel have limited knowledge you can ramp up their
understanding. most people willing to listen that i run into are
wide-eyed by what the amazon fire tablet can offer for the blind.
also, with voice-view running, it is more helpful if a sighted person
doesn't look at the screen or just close their eyes. looking visually
and listening can be very frustrating for the sighted person.
armed with this new knowledge, you might just do them a great favor!
then again, they might be up-to-speed and waiting for you to walk in
and show you around the fire tablet. i would hope that would be the
result! wishing you the best in this adventure. and, please, get back
and tell us how you were received.
by the way, the designation kindle is only used anymore for the
ereader. the tablet is just called the fire.
stay well ... william
