Accessibility

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

12 May, 2016 // 15 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 other Kindle models eventually. [Read More ...]

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

11 May, 2016 // 3 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 the feature came bundled with a [Read More ...]

Kindle Audio Adapter Now Sold Separately

11 May, 2016 // 13 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 [Read More ...]

VoiceView for Kindle is Amazon’s Accessibility Solution

10 May, 2016 // 17 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 time (the Oasis doesn't have a headphone jack) but [Read More ...]

Scribd Settles NFB Lawsuit Over Inaccessible eBook Service

9 December, 2015 // 0 Comments

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 only just crossed my desk [Read More ...]

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

26 August, 2015 // 3 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 officials have postponed the contract in response [Read More ...]

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

8 May, 2015 // 1 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 was a relatively minor update, but it adds a [Read More ...]

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

2 April, 2015 // 4 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 the wrong side of the debate. I caught [Read More ...]

Scribd Faces Setback in Lawsuit Over Accessibility

20 March, 2015 // 11 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 offers a subscription ebook [Read More ...]

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

13 February, 2015 // 1 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 that shiny comes at a price. As [Read More ...]

FCC Extends Accessibility Waiver for Kindle, Kobo eBook Readers

1 February, 2015 // 29 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 FCC extended that waiver for [Read More ...]

The FingerReader Picks up Where Braille Leaves Off (video)

24 February, 2014 // 3 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 title might not be available at all. That's [Read More ...]

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

7 February, 2014 // 3 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 to stay that way for at least the next year. The FCC’s [Read More ...]