My two cents:

There had already been two inaccessible versions of the Kindle.

Intervening when the Feds did, where a comparatively small amount of 
legal action could make a very big different in a large-scale process / 
industry was VERY efficient and appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and 
serves notice to lots of other entities that they should take the 
possibility seriously and design accessibility in from the get-go.

DoreneC
Seattle WA

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Pietruk <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tue, Aug 3, 2010 11:53 am
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Why Did Feds Claim Kindle Violated Civil Rights?

Ana

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the journalist and Redenbaug in 
this
instance.  As much as access is nice, this was a waste of tax dollars 
as
this was an experimental project at best.  Iff you demand access at 
every
point, you are just adding cost to test projects and inhibiting their
experimentation.
This country, given the mass waste of money by our politicians in
Washington, can no longer afford law suits and federal actions each 
time
someone somewhere seeks to test out something.
All that was needed, in this instance, was a memorandum that the 
schools,
if this would be a universally established program for textbooks, be
required to use accessible equipment.  That would have served warning 
to
Amazon, the Kindel developers, and the schools that ultimately the 
device
would have to incorporate accessibility features.

My stance may, on the surface appear blind unfriendly.  As a blind
taxpayer, I like seeing my tax dollars used wisely and with discretion. 

There is a time and place for federal intervention; on the other hand,
there is a time and place for the market forces to respond.  In this
instance, the marketplace was not given that opportunity; and a warning
would have more than sufficed and probably accomplisshed the same end
without government waste and bureaucratic red tape interfering.

There is far too much interference in the lives of the population by
government as it is.




God's answers are wiser than our prayerss.

--unknown


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