Hello,

An interesting development worth watching. I am unsure whether the Kindle
has gained any traction on Canadian college and university campuses.

Jennison

----------------------------------- Original Message
--------------------------- Subject: National Federation of the Blind and
American Council of the Blind File Discrimination Suit Against Arizona
State University
From:    "Lissner, Scott" <[log in to unmask]>
Date:    Fri, June 26, 2009 1:34 pm
To:      [log in to unmask]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind File
Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University
6/25/2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
[log in to unmask]
National Federation of the Blind and
American Council of the Blind
File Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University
University's Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program
Discriminates Against the Blind
Baltimore, Maryland (June 25, 2009): The National Federation of the Blind
(NFB) and the American Council of the Blind (ACB) filed suit today against
Arizona State University (ASU) to prevent the university from deploying
Amazon's Kindle DX electronic reading device as a means of distributing
electronic textbooks to its students because the device cannot be used by
blind students.  Darrell Shandrow, a blind ASU
student, is also a named plaintiff in the action.  The Kindle DX
features text-to-speech technology that can read textbooks aloud to blind
students.  The menus of the device are not accessible to the blind,
however, making it impossible for a blind user to purchase books from
Amazon's Kindle store, select a book to read, activate the
text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading functions available
on the Kindle DX.  In addition to ASU, five other institutions of higher
education are deploying the Kindle DX as part of a pilot project to assess
the role of electronic textbooks and reading devices in the classroom.
The NFB and ACB have also filed complaints with the Office for Civil
Rights of the U.S. Department of Education and the Civil Rights Division
of the U.S. Department of Justice, asking for
investigations of these five institutions, which are: Case Western Reserve
University, the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia,
Pace University, Princeton University, and Reed College.  The lawsuit and
complaints allege violations of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"Given the highly-advanced technology involved, there is no good reason
that Amazon's Kindle DX device should be inaccessible to blind students.
Amazon could have used the same text-to-speech technology that reads
e-books on the device aloud to make its menus accessible to the blind, but
it chose not to do so.  Worse yet, six American higher education
institutions that are subject to federal laws requiring that they not
discriminate against students with disabilities plan to deploy this
device, even though they know that it cannot be used by blind students.
The National Federation of the Blind will not tolerate this unconscionable
discrimination against and callous indifference to the right of blind
students to receive an equal education.  We hope that this situation can
be rectified in a manner that allows this exciting new reading technology
to be made available to blind and sighted
students alike."
Darrell Shandrow, a blind student pursuing a degree in journalism at ASU,
said: "Not having access to the advanced reading features of the Kindle
DX-including the ability to download books and course materials, add my
own bookmarks and notes, and look up supplemental information instantly on
the Internet when I encounter it in my reading-will lock me out of this
new technology and put me and other blind students at a competitive
disadvantage relative to our sighted peers.  While my peers will have
instant access to their course materials in electronic form, I will still
have to wait weeks or months for accessible texts to be prepared for me,
and these texts will not provide the access and
features available to other students.  That is why I am standing up for
myself and with other blind Americans to end this blatant
discrimination."

###

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