Kimber,
You may need help getting it set up for text to speech and Voice Guide
the first time.. but I am totally sure it will work for you. I just
worship mine. I'm an old literature major, a voracious reader, and my
Kindle Keyboard is tike a security blanket.. it is never more than a few
feet away. I'm a novelist, also, and the books I have found for
historical research have been mind boggling. It's not perfect, but it
may as well be. I swear, if someone made me choose between my Kindle and
my husband.. it would take me a minute to decide, and I would be sad to
lost my kindle.
The criticisms I have heard of it are:
1. The Shop in Kindle Store tool is not accessible. That doesn't strike
me as a problem since I would use the web site anyway.
2. The dictionary for the text to speech is far from perfect. Frankly,
it's downright funny at times.. I read a lot of historical fiction and
history and where it say '54, for example, it always reads it as 1954...
which can be a chuckle when you're reading about Queen Elizabeth I or
something. I don't mind it. The voice is as good as any I have heard.
3. You need sighted help to get it set up. I say not necessarily. I know
there are step by step instructions that totally blind people can use..
I bet Tim Emmonds has those.
Given that there are literally hundreds of thousands of books and you
don't have to wait for the book to go through the time and labor
intensive process of recording the book that is the case with NLS books
... the Kindle book generally comes out the same day as the print
book... the down sides are irrelevant as far as I am concerned. Another
plus is that if you have very specific tastes in books, as do I, you
will find Kindle books that simply NEVER will be on NLS because they
have too small a readership. Now one more plus.. you can read any
Microsoft .doc file on a Kindle.. and many many ebook sites make
versions that work on Kindle.
Go buy one.. you will never be the same again. I used to be a voice in
the wilderness with so many people saying it has to be totally
accessible or nothing.. in that time I can't tell you how many books I
have read.. dozens at least.
Nan Hawthorne, Historical Novelist
www.nanhawthorne.com
IndieBRAG Medallion Honoree for AN INVOLUNTARY KING: A TALE OF ANGLO
SAXON ENGLAND
http://www.bragmedallion.com/medallion-honorees/2012/an-involuntary-king-a-tale-of-anglo-saxon-england
"If we are to become friends I must laugh the way I really do."
Gabbo de la Parra
On 6/8/2012 6:02 AM, Kimber Gardner wrote:
Hi All,
I've been longing for a Kindle for ... well, forever, I suppose. But
I'm hesitant. Is the Kindle really usable for totally blind people?
I use the kindle for pc application on my laptop and it's better than
nothing, but if I am going to buy an actual Kindle I want more than
better than nothing. So would you tell me about your experiences?
Replying off-list is fine as this topic may not be relevant to anyone
but me. Send to kimbersinbox1963@xxxxxxxxx
Thanks,
Kimber
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