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.


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