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Date: | Fri, 9 Aug 2013 11:29:04 -0700 |
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To piggyback off of Steve Hoad's message, my university has started to
talk about switching over completely to e-textbooks and requiring
students to purchase tablets or e-readers. Suddenly what can be a boon
for our community, equal access to electronic textbooks and references,
becomes the ultimate barrier.
I'm not a programmer and have no knowledge of how hard or expensive it
is to make e-readers talk, but I can't imagine it's any harder or
costlier than snazzy animation and groovy visual effects. I think part
of the problem is that most developers don't know anything about
programming for accessibility, and I know from talking to people who
sell e-readers that they don't really understand how accessibility works
for end users, so they all imagine it's more complicated than it
probably is. Amazon has had a job posting off and on for an
accessibility architect, presumably for their Android based products,
on linked in since late spring. That suggests they're making an effort,
but I don't think their lack of success is an excuse for not complying
with the law.
I agree that we are nowhere near stretching ADA or CVAA outside of what
they were intended to do. These laws exist to give all citizens access
to work and social life, which helps the rest of the country in
lessening the public burden created by prejudice and lack of access. I
think it's also very important to continue to defend and strengthen this
type of legislation. Not doing so can produce a situation comparable to
Jim Crow: African-Americans were free and free to vote, but through
weakening of the laws that guaranteed these rights, they were relegated
to a very obvious second-class status. In my mid-forties, I'm sadly old
enough to have been kicked out of places that banned dogs, blacks, and
Hispanics. I don't want to go back to a world where just being blind is
excuse enough for my not being hired to do a job I'm well qualified to
do, especially if existing technology can be made to include me.
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
Archived on the World Wide Web at
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