SeroTalk

Major advocacy groups for the visually impaired applaud Staples’ new initiatives designed to improve service to its customers with visual impairments. Staples will be improving its payment service terminals

at the in-store point-of-sale with tactile keypads to protect the privacy

and security of shoppers with visual impairments. The company will also

make improvements to Staples.com that will benefit customers with visual

impairments and other disabilities.

Today’s announcement is the result of collaboration between Staples and

major blindness organizations including the Bay State Council of the Blind,

the American Foundation for the Blind, the American Council of the Blind,

and the California Council of the Blind. These organizations praised

Staples’ initiative and urged other retailers to follow the company’s

example.

Web Site Access

Today’s initiative includes Staples’ commitment to design www.staples.com in

accordance with guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (www.w3.org/wai). The guidelines,

which do not affect the content or look and feel of a Web site, ensure that

Web sites are accessible to persons with a wide range of disabilities. The

guidelines are of particular benefit to blind computer users who use screen

reader or magnification technology on their computers and who rely on a

keyboard instead of a mouse.

“Web site accessibility is of critical importance to both the blind

community and to people with disabilities generally,” said Paul Schroeder,

Vice President Programs and Policy Group, American Foundation for the Blind.

“We applaud Staples’ commitment to address the accessibility of its Web

site, thereby improving the browsing and shopping experience for a broad

range of on-line shoppers.”

Point-of-Sale Improvements

Staples will be adding tactile keypads to payment services devices

throughout the chain. The new units will allow Staples shoppers who have

difficulty reading information on a touch screen to privately and

independently enter their PIN and other confidential information. Staples

stores in Massachusetts will have the new devices by September of this year.

All stores in the country are scheduled to have the devices by the middle of

next year.

The new devices are designed to protect the financial privacy of shoppers

who are blind or visually impaired. The devices have tactile keys arranged

like a standard telephone keypad and work in conjunction with Staples’

existing point-of-sale terminals.

Blind community representatives praised Staples’ plan to enhance its payment

services devices. “Point-of-sale devices need to have keys with tactile

markings so people who are blind do not have to ask for assistance or share

their PIN with strangers,” explained Kim Charlson of the Bay State Council

of the Blind. “This settlement, and the collaboration that led up to it,

demonstrate Staples’ understanding of this fact and its strong commitment to accessibility for blind and visually impaired customers.”

Now through April 30, Serotek is offering $200 off System Access Mobile™ for anyone whose software maintenance agreement has lapsed, or who is not entitled to any additional upgrades with their SMA for Jaws® for Windows® or Window-Eyes™. Break away from the tyranny of price gouging for trivial updates. For just $299, purchase System Access for two computers that you can change at any time, plus one license for a U3 Smart Drive that you can use to make any computer come alive with speech, Braille, and screen magnification. And with free upgrades for life, this will be the last money you will need to spend for regularly-updated and innovative screen reading and magnification.
Are you wondering just how cost effective this decision would be for you? Let’s take a look at cases where an individual owns the latest software version of their screen reader, noting that an upgrade path would be even more expensive for those who are behind on their upgrades. You could choose to purchase a software maintenance agreement for JAWS 10.0 standard edition
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for $180, entitling you to two software upgrades, at which point another SMA purchase would be necessary. You could choose to purchase a software maintenance agreement for WindowEyes 7.1 standard edition
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for $299, entitling you to three software upgrades at which point another software maintenance agreement purchase would be necessary. Or, you could just provide your serial number as proof that your SMA is past due, and System Access for two computers and one U3-enabled USB license is yours for only $299, that’s $200 off the regular price of $499.
To get started, simply visit the “my account” section of an existing SAMNet account. You can do this by opening the System Access menu with modifier+f and choosing the “My account” option, or by choosing option 16 from the SA Mobile Network Home screen. If you do not yet have an account with Serotek, you may create one by visiting
www.satogo.com

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Once you have logged in and accessed the “my account” option, choose “buy more products and services” and follow the prompts in the buy wizard.
You can also receive assistance from a Serotek sales representative by calling (612) 246-4818.
The Serotek Team

Many are engaged in a campaign to obtain access for the blind and others with print disabilities to e-books available for Amazon’s new Kindle 2 e-book reader. The new reader, which Amazon is working to make fully accessible to the blind, has the ability to
use text-to-speech to read these e-books aloud; but under pressure
from the Authors Guild, Amazon has announced that authors and
publishers will be allowed to disable the text-to-speech function.
The National Federation of the blind has joined with over twenty
other organizations to create the reading Rights Coalition, which has
set up an on-line petition to urge the Authors Guild and Amazon to
reverse course.
petition overview | letter
Allow Everyone Access to E-books
Target: The Authors Guild
Sponsored by: The Reading Rights Coalition
When Amazon released the Kindle 2 electronic book reader on February 9, 2009, the
company announced that the device would read e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology.
Under pressure from the Authors Guild, Amazon has announced that it will give authors
and publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech function on any or all of
their e-books available for the Kindle 2.
The Reading Rights Coalition, which represents people who cannot read print,
will protest the threatened removal of the text-to-speech function from e-books for
the Amazon Kindle 2 outside the Authors Guild headquarters in New York City at 31
East 32nd Street on April 7, 2009, from noon to 2:00 p.m.  The coalition includes
the organizations that represent the blind, people with dyslexia, people with learning
or processing issues, seniors losing vision, people with spinal cord injuries, people
recovering from strokes, and many others for whom the addition of text-to-speech
on the Kindle 2 promised for the first time easy, mainstream access to over 245,000
books. We the undersigned insist that the Authors Guild and Amazon not disable the text-to-speech capability for the Kindle 2.
There are 15 million Americans who are blind, dyslexic, and have spinal cord injuries
or other disabilities that impede their ability to read visually. The print-disabled
have for years utilized text-to-speech technology to read and access information.
As technology advances and more books move from hard-copy print to electronic formats,
people with print disabilities have for the first time in history the opportunity
to enjoy access to books on an equal basis with those who can read print.
Authors and publishers who elect to disallow text-to-speech for their e-books on
the Kindle 2 prevent the print-disabled from enjoying these e-books.
Denying universal access will result in more and more people with disabilities being
left out of education, employment, and the societal conversation.  We will all suffer
from the absence of diverse participation and contribution to the debates that occupy
us as a society.
Furthermore, we oppose the Authors Guild demands that this capability should be turned
off because many more books would be sold if text-to-speech remained available.
Not only does this feature benefit persons with disabilities, but it also helps persons
for whom English is not their native language.  In an increasingly mobile society,
flexible access to content improves the quality of life for everyone.
There can be no doubt that access to the written word is the cornerstone of education
and democracy.  New technologies must serve individuals with disabilities, not impede
them.  Our homes, schools, and ultimately our economy rely on support for the future,
not discriminating practices and beliefs from the past.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this important matter.

Please REad and Consider Signing the Petition to the Authors Guild