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US DOJ Says Kindle In Classroom Hurts Blind Students
angry tapir writes "Three US universities will stop promoting the use of Amazon.com's Kindle DX e-book reader in classrooms after complaints that the device doesn't give blind students equal access to information. Settlements with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Oregon, were announced Wednesday by the US Department of Justice. The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind had complained that use of the Kindle devices discriminates against students with vision problems."
Is it just me, or are stories like this one becoming all too common? It seems we are becoming a society of "if everyone can't have it, then nobody can!" Unless of course they are individually wealthy, in which case they will simply BUY the damn thing.
So, sighted (and poor) students are deprived because blind students can't have the same advantages. Suppose a device was invented that allowed only blind people to receive information. Do you think there would be an outcry from the sighted world that it wasn't "fair" and so should be kept out of their hands?
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You see none of the cars are designed to be driven by the blind. The blind do not get equal access to the roads from cars. So have they sued the car makers? Or the car makers have been grandfathered out of the ADA?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Some versions of the Kindle will READ TO YOU.
Why aren't the blind DEMANDING the kindle?
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.