Two Universities Won't Take Kindles Over Lack of Easy Audio Features for Blind Students

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Syracuse University in New York will not use the Kindle as part of a mass roll out until Amazon makes the device friendlier to blind individuals.  The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting this along with a lawsuit filed by the National Federation of the Blind against various universities participating in a pilot program where these schools gave out large screen Kindles with electronic versions of textbooks.  The problem with the Kindle is that the feature to turn on audio reading requires someone with sight as the menu choices to do so are not easy for a sight impaired individual to locate.  Until Amazon remedies the problem, the NFB feels these devices discriminates against blind students.  Amazon says they are working on the problem.  The Chronicle story is here.  The NFB press release and comment on the school's announcement is here.  [MG]