January 14, 2010 at 16:05Kindle suffers due to political correctness
On January 13, the US Department of Justice decided that three US universities - Case Western Reserve, Pace and Reed College - would stop using Amazon’s Kindle e-books for testing until they had special programs for the blind. Educational institutions are also forbidden to use e-books of other manufacturers, which do not provide options for people with vision problems.
This decision was made after public movements filed lawsuits against the exclusion of the blind from the e-book program. Support for text to speech in Kindle books is not at a very high level, there is no voice guide function on the book menu.
Changes in the program will not affect Amazon’s business much, because the contract only takes effect in late spring, when the probationary period for books at universities expires. The company has not yet received a formal response to the verdict of the Justice Ministry. However, in order for the test program for using Kindle books in schools to become a practice, Amazon must develop support for blind users in its devices until the fall.
via electronista.com
This decision was made after public movements filed lawsuits against the exclusion of the blind from the e-book program. Support for text to speech in Kindle books is not at a very high level, there is no voice guide function on the book menu.
Changes in the program will not affect Amazon’s business much, because the contract only takes effect in late spring, when the probationary period for books at universities expires. The company has not yet received a formal response to the verdict of the Justice Ministry. However, in order for the test program for using Kindle books in schools to become a practice, Amazon must develop support for blind users in its devices until the fall.
via electronista.com