Accessibility Archives | The Digital Reader

Voiceview for Kindle Works on the Kindle Oasis and Voyage, and Other Things Amazon Didn’t Tell You

12 May, 201614 June, 2016e-Reading Hardware, Kindle, Tips and Tricks15 Comments

When Amazon launched Voiceview for Kindle on Tuesday, they announced it with a $140 Kindle Paperwhite bundle and the promise that the feature would be coming to...

Blast From the Past: Hands On With Amazon’s First Accessible eReader, the Kindle Keyboard (video)

11 May, 201617 May, 2016Blast from the Past, e-Reading Hardware, Kindle3 Comments

Yesterday’s news about the new Voiceview for Kindle accessibility feature has lead many news sites to proclaim that it is Amazon’s first accessible ereader. Given that...

Kindle Audio Adapter Now Sold Separately

11 May, 201617 May, 2016e-Reading Hardware, Kindle13 Comments

When Amazon announced Voiceview for Kindle yesterday, many current Kindle owners were frustrated that the new accessibility feature required a hardware accessory which could only be bought with a...

VoiceView for Kindle is Amazon’s Accessibility Solution

10 May, 201614 June, 2016e-Reading Hardware, Kindle17 Comments

When the Kindle Oasis went through the FCC last month, one of the test reports inexplicably mentioned an “iPod Earphone”. This made no sense at the...

Scribd Settles NFB Lawsuit Over Inaccessible eBook Service

9 December, 20159 December, 2015Lawsuit, Streaming eBooksLeave a comment

Scribd’s headline news today is the new content they’re adding to their catalog, but that’s just press release fluff. The important story happened several weeks ago, and...

NYC Public Schools Delay Amazon eBook Contract Amidst Complaints of Accessibility Issues

26 August, 201528 August, 2015Amazon3 Comments

Amazon’s $65 million contract to supply ebooks to schools in New York City has been put on hold this week. According to NY Daily News, NYC DoE...

Chrome Gains Extension for Color-Blind Users, Adds New Download Option

8 May, 201528 August, 2015Web BrowserOne Comment

Google’s web browser gained a couple new features this week in a couple different updates. First up is the latest update to Chrome for Android. This...

9th Circuit Gets it Wrong, Rules Netflix Isn’t Subject to the ADA

2 April, 201523 August, 2016Uncategorized4 Comments

US courts have long disagreed on whether the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to websites, and this week the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came down on...

Scribd Faces Setback in Lawsuit Over Accessibility

20 March, 201524 March, 2015Lawsuit11 Comments

District Court Judge William Sessions ruled on Thursday that the ADA lawsuit filed against Scribd will be moving forward. As regular readers of this blog know, Scribd...

Flipboard’s New Web Design Favors Speed at the Expense of Accessibility

13 February, 201512 May, 2017Aggregators, Web BrowserOne Comment

When Flipboard launched its web version earlier this week, it was universally praised (including by this blogger) for the clean design and fast responsiveness, but all...

FCC Extends Accessibility Waiver for Kindle, Kobo eBook Readers

1 February, 201516 November, 2019Amazon, e-Reading Hardware29 Comments

Just over a year ago the FCC granted US makers of ereader devices a limited exemption from complying with certain accessibility regulations, and this past week...

The FingerReader Picks up Where Braille Leaves Off (video)

24 February, 201411 May, 2017Uncategorized3 Comments

Here’s a new use for an old lab project. While many books have already been digitized, sometimes the visually disabled can’t access them and sometimes a...

FCC Grants Limited, Temporary Accessibility Waiver for Kindle, Kobo eBook Readers

7 February, 201416 November, 2019Amazon, e-Reading Hardware3 Comments

Most ebook ereaders sold in the US are not accessible to the visually impaired, and thanks to a recent decision from the FCC things are going...