Join Jamie, Ricky and Joe for this week’s edition of the podcast where they sip Apple juice and talk about all things iOS 8. If you’re tired of hearing about Apple, never fear; there are other stories in this week’s show as well. After the news, Buddy Brannan visits with Jim Gashel about the new release of the KNFB Reader app for iOS. Stories covered in this week’s podcast include:

National Federation of the Blind Applauds Release of KNFB Reader iPhone App

iOS 8 Adoption Lags Behind Past Upgrades — So Far

What’s New in iOS 8 Accessibility for Blind, Low-Vision, and Deaf-Blind Users

The Accessibility Bugs in iOS 8: From Serious To Minor

Apple Confirms HealthKit Bug, Promises Fix by End of September

BlindSquare: Acapela Voices Temporarily Not Available in iOS 8

Braille Moves Forward in iOS 8

Apple TV updated w/ Beats Music channel, refreshed design, Family Sharing, & iCloud Photos

new Victor Reader 2 Update now live

New audio channel makes fashion accessible for people with disabilities

Fred Gissoni

Code Factory becomes global! Check our new website

New TalkBack for Android released. Check the release notes to see what’s new

New Kindle Voyager docking soon

New Amazon Fire Kids Edition

The 3MT Reader Android app is a simple, intuitive way for blind users to read epub and txt books

Microsoft confirms Windows 9 event for September 30, Technical Preview to follow soon after

The new Ken Burns PBS series, The Roosevelts available on the Web with Audio description

Roundabout

Intel Unveils Connected Wheelchair

The 12-y.o. Hero Behind the Lego-Braille Printer: A Not Impossible Original

Here is a link to SeroTalk Podcast 188 featuring Buddy Brannan’s interview with Shubham Banerjee

The Tough MudderExperience

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again–our podcasts would not be what they are without feedback from our listeners. Once again, we take the time to feature some iReports that didn’t make it into our podcasts. It’s just our way of saying thanks for being you!

Welcome to this week’s edition of the SeroTalk Podcast. After Jamie, Ricky and Joe discuss the top news stories of the week, Joe interviews Justin of Solo-DX about their new MovieReading app for iOS that will allow you to listen to audio descriptions of movies from any theater or even from home. In addition to visiting their Web site, you can follow them on Twitter or send them an email.

News in A T

Listen to the NVAccess podcast for info about NVDA 2013.3 & exciting news about Open Office

RIP Winamp: iconic media player to be discontinued December 20th, 2013

AOL reportedly wants to sell Winamp to Microsoft

Accessing Spotify on the PC using the new app Blindspot

Experience Descriptive Audio at the Theater with a New iOS App MovieReading

An Immersion into Excel 2013 with Jaws for Windows

Help make Bookshare better, take the survey:

DoItWrite

Learn about DoItWrite from The Blind Educator

Mainstream Matters

Kindle Fire OS 3.1 Integrates Goodreads, Introduces Chromecast-like Second Screen

What “devices and services” really means to Microsoft

Why I may never install Office for Mac again

Hi again: Apple’s ‘lost’ iWork features find their way back

Samsung owes Apple $290M more in damages, jury says

30 days with OS X 10.9 ‘Mavericks’

FCC to consider proposal allowing airline passengers to make cell phone calls above 10,000 feet on some planes.

Is Voice the Key to Wearable Technology?

Mailbag

Blog Comment from Terry Miller

Not related to any present discussion, however “Tiz the Season”, I’m perplexed by the extremely loud Music played at each establishment within a Mall, or such place; when a Blind person chooses to investigate a place of Business. This is of course to draw in, “sighted Customers”. What results is a cacophony of mixed “loud” Music that doesn’t allow an independent Blind person to navigate or (for that matter) to interact with the Proprietor of an individual Store. The Lighting is another matter; because, many “pop-culture” establishments like to hi lite their individual articles for sale, with neon, or black lighting. All this constitutes non-verbal transactions. Both of these issues are on the rise. What say you?

Roundabout

How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain

Toddler knows the name of all U.S. presidents, in order

Someone Recorded Crickets then Slowed Down the Track, And It Sounds Like Humans Singing

Do you enjoy our SPN Podcasts? You can help us out a whole lot by taking this very short survey.

Join Jamie, Ricky and Joe as they discuss the top stories of the week. Topics included in this episode include:

News in A T

National Federation of the Blind Applauds Landmark Ruling in Authors Guild v. Google

2013 Holiday Gift Ideas for Children and Adults with Vision Loss

NVDA 2013.3rc1 released for testing!

The new release of the Voice Dream app is out! Now supporting DAISY 2.02 audiobooks, zipped mp3 files, better PDF text extraction and large library

Sendero GPS LookAround for iOS gets a nice update and goes free:

iTunes Store Now Accepting Donations for Philippine Typhoon Relief

Mainstream Matters

BlackBerry interim CEO: It’s time to reclaim our success, not dwelling on the past

Internet Explorer chief is stepping aside for ‘something new.’ IE will now be run by Windows Phone lead Joe Belfiore

Best Buy halts all HP Chromebook 11 sales, other retailers ‘out of stock’

Facebook Pushes Password Resets After Adobe Hack

Apple releases iOS 7.0.4 with fix for FaceTime call drops

Amazon to Offer Sunday Delivery Via USPS for Prime Members

Nexus 5 Review: The Best Android Can Offer Especially For the Price

Android 4.4 KitKat review: designed by Google, for Google

An iPhone user’s guide to experimenting with a Nexus 5

Mailbag

Blog comment from Dave (

I for one wasn’t surprised by the clamour about Taptapsee going subscription. Many of the common accusations are right on. Yes, it should have been subscription from the start. Simply saying no one knew how popular it would become doesn’t wash. No one knew how popular Jaws would become, and it’s always been a commercial product. I’ll grant that this trick is somewhat new to the tech world, but it isn’t new especially to the blind world. I’ve lost count of the various small startup phone access solutions that have been popularised over the years simply because they were free. All of them have followed the free gaging popularity model before going subscription, after which, of course, popularity dropped precipitously to nonexistence. No, sighted people don’t have to pay, but then again, they wouldn’t even bother with it in the first place because they have no need for it. Yes, disabilities are expensive, so it’s equally true there ain’t no free lunch. I can remember my first experience
downloading Jaws. It was 15 Megs in size and took two hours to download with a dialup connection. I will eventually subscribe to taptapsee both because I need it and because it’s the right thing to do. But would be entreprenewers should take notice also, that simply using the free model to promote a product will only work until people feel they’ve been burned too many times by effectively falling into a trap that they made. For me, it is easier and more justifiable to afford taptapsee than it is a Netflix subscription that offers no audio description.

From Pam Francis

Hi folks,
I would like to take issue with Ricky & her statement of being blind is more expensive.
Serotek as a company has championed accessibility on all levels.
You have your own subscription service that has been subscription based from its inception. I have no issue with it being subscription based. You had the foresight of what it would cost to maintain servers etc. I only wish I could use it. As a mac user, to my knowledge, you don’t support Macs. However, back to my initial comments.
Philanthropy is nice, yet, for a company to develop a service that could be very essential to a blind person’s independence, making it free, then per there own lack of foresight having to charge a subscription is truly disingenuous to those who have grown to depend on the service.
I can’t imagine there isn’t some sort of grant available for this service’s maintenance in order to maintain the service as a free service for the sake of equality.
We all make choices as to what we pay for per month for our given lifestyle. However, with the advent of technology, we are able to buy or subscribe to most anything our sighted counterparts have access to. By the grace of God, I don’t need it for general pictures per the little vision I have. However, I can see a use for reading appliance screens etc.
It hasn’t been that long ago we as blind people were dependent on state agencies to fork over thousands of dollars for equipment related solely to employment. For those who chose to stay home & raise a family, for the most part, mainline accessibility was a dream.
I continue to support your podcasts & appreciate all of your hard work.

Sincerely,
Pam Francis

From Mike Arrigo

Well, I am glad I have found favor with the mail bag and that my messages do appear regularly on the show, smile.
I have actually purchased the swype keyboard, it’s well worth the $3.99. For the android users on the show, I guess that would be Ricky and Joe, I’m curious if you have experienced the issue with the default google keyboard where you find a letter, you lift your finger and that letter is not typed. The google keyboard is very picky about having your finger in exactly the right spot. The swype keyboard is much better about that, I have set it as my default keyboard and have not looked back. The speech recognition also works very well. Find the option to switch to voice input and lift your finger to dictate, then double tap the bottom part of the screen when you are done. It also announces when the keyboard is opening and closing. Also, if you have the suggestion feature enabled, you can slide your finger above the letters and move in a circle to read the suggestions, when you lift your finger, that word is inserted. It’s well worth the purchase in my opinion, I really cannot think of anything bad to say about it.
I was also disappointed at some of the comments on the email lists about tap tap see becoming subscription based. Come on people, it’s not like they are charging several hundred dollars, what they are charging is very reasonable, it drives me nuts when people expect to have everything handed to them for free. I agree with being treated like everyone else, and I don’t think we should have to pay extra to make a product accessible. But this is a bit different, Tap Tap See is providing a service, it’s not required to use the device, but something extra. The people that develop and make the service work need to make a living too. I think these people who are making a big deal out of this need to step back and look at the big picture for what it is.

Roundabout

Driverless Cars Are Further Away Than You Think

Why It’s So Hard To Crack Down On Distracted Driving

Terminally ill boy, whose hometown celebrated an early Christmas to fulfill his last wish, has died

San Francisco to call on ‘Batkid’ to fight crime

Batkid saves the day in San Francisco

In this podcast, Jamie pauls, Ricky Enger and Joe Steinkamp discuss the top news stories of the week including Apple’s WWDC keynote.

Reddit, Mozilla Join Coalition Demanding End to NSA Snooping

Chirpify Goes Beyond PayPal To Bring Direct, In-Stream Payments To Facebook, Twitter And Instagram

Bing’s U.S. search market share continues to climb

Amazon’s New Grocery Service: For $299, You Never Have to Leave the House Again

What I learned about the Xbox One from E3 | E3

Microsoft exec on Xbox One: No Internet? Get an Xbox 360

Download Chicken Nugget twitter client

Qube update available, works with new Twitter API. Start The Qube and auto update, alternatively, have an installer

iOS 7 looks great, but can it lure this Android user?

Editorial: The subtexts of Apple’s WWDC keynote

iFixit finds a plethora of minor tweaks inside the 2013 MacBook Air

Why the MacBook Air didn’t get a Retina display

Apple’s Rising Star: Craig Federighi

Report: Apple Ads Not Working Very Well

As Apple reorients its Maps, Google forges ahead

Our Position on the Posting on AppleVis of Information about Beta Versions of Apple Software

Roundabout

The OrCam: A Portable, Wearable Visual System for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons

Hands-free texting still distracting for drivers

Blind cyclists take to the track in Bristol »

Do you enjoy our SPN Podcasts? You can help us out a whole lot by taking this very short survey.

Welcome to another SeroTalk Guycast. This time around, Jamie Pauls is joined by Rodney Edgar, Peter Bossley and Mike Calvo. Can anyone guess what story Mike wanted to talk about? Here’s a hint. Mike doesn’t appear until we begin talking about news in the world of assistive technology. As much as you might want to, don’t skip ahead because you won’t want to miss any of our stories this week.

Internet advertisers kill text-based CAPTCHA

Find the McDonald’s/Burger King hack funny? Just imagine full-blown corporate cyberwar

Google warns of an increase in attempted account hijackings

Google Stock Hits $800 For First Time Ever

Google Stores: Google to open retail stores in 2013

Surface won’t dominate but it’s a ‘real business,’ says Ballmer

Bill Gates ‘not satisfied’ with Microsoft’s innovations

Wozniak warns Apple must stay ‘cool’ — or else

Samsung struggles to block iPhone function for the blind

After his Samsung rant, Jamie urges Mike to relax, have an Espresso and listen to some calming music on his Bose SoundLink mobile wireless speaker.

State of Touch Typing – Fleksy goes free

 Window-Eyes 8.1 is now available!

Sendero CSUN Sessions are posted – Seeing Eye GPS demos, product releases and more.

Sacred Texts: Where to Get Them in Alternate Media

Microsoft now has a support desk for people with disabilities

New Database Helps Employers Find Employees with Disabilities

QCast: Easy accessible podcasts

Low Vision Shopping Woes – Can You Relate?

Roundabout

A sensational breakthrough: the first bionic hand that can feel

LivesOn: Twitter ghost keeps tweeting when you’re dead

Do you enjoy our SPN Podcasts? You can help us out a whole lot by taking this very short survey.

an audio discussion of my Disney experience, which first aired on SeroTalk podcast 94. My original written post is below.

 This past Sunday my family and I accompanied some friends to Disney World. Living in Orlando, I guess it’s not as big of a deal as it would be for the common tourist. I myself have always found it more or less enjoyable, something to do with the kids anyway. Last weekend I decided to satisfy  my curiosity about a new audio description device that I had heard about somewhere, and while looking over the Disney website I was reminded of its existence once again. WOW! At the risk of sounding totally cliché, it’s like I stepped into a whole new realm.

I have always known Disney to take a special approach to all its guests. I mean, they’re in the business of making dreams come true, right? I have never encountered issues with accessing any of the attractions. My guide dog has always been welcomed. In fact, Hurley was riding  around with my Son and me in one of their go karts on this trip, with no one batting an eye, but I have to confess this past weekend totally rocked my view of Disney’s effort to make their park a universal experience.

The device with no real name is offered free for the duration of your visit with a refundable $25 deposit. It is a 7.2-ounce handheld computer with over the ear headphones. It provides an interactive audio and visual menu that allows you to choose the type of information you would like to receive about outdoor areas – from a description of your surroundings to information about nearby attractions, restaurants, and entertainment. It gives audio descriptions for key visual elements like action and scenery. I’ve never experienced the Carousel of Progress in quite that level of vivid detail before. The device features assistive listening for persons with mild to moderate hearing loss. The unit even features captions for various audio and dialog. While we were only able to visit the Magic Kingdom this time, the system is available for all four Disney parks in Orlando. One of the things I’m looking forward to in a future visit is going to the Animal Kingdom and using the handheld captioning feature to learn more about the animals my family and I are visiting. I think it will be great to offer my children information about the animals with the same ease as any tour guide. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of joy I experienced being able to talk to my children about the amazing workmanship and attention to detail on attractions like “It’s A Small World” and others, and how I was able to connect with them and share my own experiences as a child at Disney. I can’t express how great it was to be able to use this technology to “see” the park like they did.

The technology is so sophisticated that at any point it would have been possible for me to venture out on my own and never feel at a loss as to where I was headed. Now, before you ask, no, the user does not get directions as to whether the facility is to your left, right, ahead or behind, but I attribute this to the early stages of any product development and the lack of pinpoint GPS accuracy that is absent in all mainstream orientation tools. Perhaps Google’s local map technology may help with this in the future?

As you may know, Disney does not believe in wasted real estate. Their idea of roller coasters consists of packed adventures that are just as capable of being heart-pounding as they are visually enthralling. Before, it was enough for me to bask in the delighted screams of my children and feel good that they were having fun. With my handheld device, however, I was plugged into an instant feed of information that allowed me to perceive the rides from a more highly involved angle. We’re not just talking front row seat here. We’re talking front and center detailed audio descriptions of costumes, props, settings and background scenery. The closest comparison to the experience I can think of is descriptive video. In 2001 I was brought to tears while experiencing “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” on DVD with my family without anyone having to tell me what was going on. As unforgetable as that day was, the problem is that video description is still quite two-dimensional. There is something completely different about a multisensory experience being aided by a voice telling you exactly what you are passing. You’ll hear details about the attraction that will in all likelihood escape the notice of even those who can see. There’s just too much competing for visual attention that the average guest will not be able to take it all in.

Like Serotek’s System Access to Go in 2008, Disney’s handheld device received the American Foundation for the Blind’s prestigious Access Award in 2011. I now know firsthand that the recognition was well-deserved. As AFB’s President and CEO Carl R. Augusto noted, ““Too often, swift advances in technology bring the rewards of convenience and entertainment to an eager world while inadvertently leaving those who are visually impaired behind.” I can testify that as far as I can tell, Disney has made people with disabilities a fully integrated part of their customer base.

Visiting the Disney World Resort prompted me to think about a couple things:

First, it occurs to me that as blind consumers, we spend so much time fighting for equal access that we too often forget to really praise the innovations of those companies that are doing it right. Apple may have needed the threat of litigation to make accessibility a higher priority, but unlike most companies, Apple rose to the challenge in such a way as to make accessibility one more selling point of their core functionality and blind people just one more highlight of their TV commercials. Olympus is another company that continues to make something as simple as voice guidance a key feature of their products to make them enjoyable for a wider segment of their customer base. So I wonder, why is it that our social networks buzz when there are critiques and gripes about the lack of accessibility in this or that product or service, but no one says a thing about achievements that are better than anything we could have hoped for? I mean, I expect to be treated as an equal by product and service providers but, as we all know, that isn’t true for the most part. So, when a company does do something right for us, shouldn’t we really let them and others in our community know?

Don’t get me wrong. I would never suggest we lay down our arms and stop asking for equal access. In fact, I am a big promoter of using Yelp, Twitter, Facebook and other mainstream channels to express our opinions of restaurants that do not have Braille menus, retailers that do not produce eReaders that speak out of the box and facilities that think adding a wheelchair ramp is enough to make a place accessible. Just this morning one of my reviews on Yelp was blasted via email throughout Orlando. People will now be able to read the opinions of a fellow foody who just happens to be blind. Perhaps other restaurant owners will see my reviews that not only talk about the quality of food and customer service but also cover things like, did they freak out about my guide dog or did they have Braille menus. What I am saying is that whether we are praising a product or damning it, we need to break out of our blindness bubble of list-serves, forums, and chatroom communities and take our comments to the general public where their impacts are more likely to be felt by the parties responsible. We need to write product reviews. We need to send e-mails, and far be it from me to suggest we do something so outdated as picking up the phone to talk to a company about our experience with their product or service. And don’t tell me that you’re just one person and your voice doesn’t matter. That’s simply not true. When you combine individual voices they become a crowd.

Every voice counts, and if we are going to gripe loudly then we need to selibrate just as loudly when a company gets it right. Our feedback should not be limited to those aspects of life that have a direct bearing on our blindness either. We need to participate as consumers to be taken seriously as consumers. If you think about it, Apple and Disney must have spent millions of dollars on research and development and implementation to make their experience more than just accessible. Universal design is creating an experience that is simultaneously enjoyable to all, as opposed to creating a hierarchy of access to the same encounter. The least we could do is say “thank you” with our wallets, our reviews, and continued encouragement to make it better. I have a feeling that such encouragement would prompt more companies to use the secret sauce of their success to create some accommodations that are out of this world.

Second, taking a little of my own advice, I call upon all companies to rise to Disney’s standard. My dollars as a blind consumer are every bit as important as the dollars of my sighted neighbor. It is not enough to add a layer of accessibility to your products and services because a law directs you to. I am using my hard-earned money to pay for the same privileges as my sighted peers, and those privileges include my walking into your restaurants and ordering from Braille menus just like all your other customers. Asking your wait staff to read the menus to me is not being hospitable. It is being patronizing. We deserve better. Just as Apple now depicts blind people actively using their mobile technology, Disney ought to consider showing blind people enjoying the same facilities as anyone else, because the same marketing strategies that feed the bottom line can go a long way toward changing public misconceptions.

The landscape for blind people has not changed all that much in the ten years I’ve been involved with Serotek. What has changed is my attitude and my approach to these types of consumer challenges. I’ve decided I can either choose to look forlornly at the world I wish I could enjoy and get angry, or I can shatter the dividing line and be an active participant in that world. I hope for the sake of our collective progress that you will join me. So, when are you going to right a review? When are you going to call that company that has gone the extra mile and thank them or express your frustration with the lack of accessibility in a product or service? In short, are you going to have a little faith? Even though every time you ask for accessibility you may not get it, you have to continue to believe that there will be companies, like  those I have covered in this post, who will heed your cry for equal access and amaze us all with the outcome.

Kindle Fire: Down in Flames

By Ricky Enger

With Contributions from SeroTalk Staff

The SeroTalk team had a recorded discussion about our thoughts on Amazon and its newest Kindle devices. This post is not an exact transcript of that session, but it is an attempt to collect the views expressed in that conversation and capture them in written form. There are points covered in that discussion that aren’t covered here and vice versa, so if you like, you can listen to the audio in addition to reading this post.

It was just over a year ago when we posted an accessibility review of the Amazon Kindle 3. The accessibility features on the unit were added primarily as a result of legal action by the NFB and ACB against Arizona State University, who used the Kindle DX in a pilot project to test the viability of ebook readers in the classroom. While we weren’t happy that it required legal action for Amazon to sit up and take notice of the importance of accessibility, we were excited that Amazon had at least taken a step in the right direction.. Our review concluded that the Kindle 3 was certainly usable as a reading device, but still needed some work in order to be considered a viable solution for students and professionals. In the review, we gave specific issues for Amazon to improve upon to make the unit truly accessible. At that time, we had very high hopes. We encouraged the community to applaud Amazon’s accessibility efforts and to  support the initiative through any means possible, including purchasing Kindle units and providing constructive feedback to the design team. We were optimistic that by showing our appreciation for Amazon’s efforts and giving useful advice regarding enhancements,we were taking the first step toward a bright, shiny, accessible future. It’s a year later, so where are we now? What improvements has Amazon made to further its initial attempt at accessibility?

A rundown of the New Kindle Devices

On September 28, Amazon announced 4 basic Kindle devices. There are a few different configurations for each device, such as 3g, ad-supported and so on, but we’ll concentrate on the base models. The first model, simply called The Kindle, retails for $79, and the unit appears to have no accessibility features. With that said, there is no speaker on the unit so implementing text-to-speech would be impossible. The next device, the $99 Kindle Touch, does have read-aloud capability but there is no mention of the voice guide system which makes navigating menus on the device possible for a blind person. Still, it may be usable by those with other print disabilities. The Kindle Keyboard, also $99, is a rebranded version of the Kindle 3. To our knowledge, there have been no accessibility improvements on this unit. Last, there is the Kindle Fire. This is an Android-based tablet device retailing for $199. Though no one will have hands-on experience with the unit until its release on November 21, there has been no mention of accessibility on the unit so it’s pretty safe to assume there is none. This is despite the fact that the Android platform does have some accessibility, and a large number of blind people use it productively on mobile devices.

Discontent with Content

For some of us, being denied the opportunity to use the Kindle hardware is a big disappointment. We like the process of getting a brand-new gadget in hand and exploring its capabilities. However, it seems that for the majority of us, the content is what we truly care about. We want the chance to buy an ebook the day of its release, and read it accessibly on the device of our choosing. We want the ability to make notes on a passage in a book and later review those notes while studying for an exam. And it’s not just about books. Amazon offers its Prime members access to streaming music, movies and television shows on demand, and this service is growing at an impressive rate. So what’s the problem? Not only is the content unavailable to a blind person on the Kindle Fire, but it it can’t be consumed accessibly on any device. Amazon made a patronizing attempt at accessibility for Kindle books on the PC by providing a piece of software with read-aloud capability. However, it failed to take in to account that blind and print-disabled people already have assistive technology which does far more than reading a book aloud. No consideration was given to the deaf/blind population and the need to use Braille to access material. No consideration was given to the student who needs to be able to review the spelling of complex words or proper names, neither of which can be done by simply listening to the words spoken aloud. And when it comes to other content, no consideration was given to the thousands of blind Amazon prime members who want to be able to enjoy streaming music and video on demand, just like everyone else.

The “Why?” of Accessibility

We believe that sometimes businesses don’t build  accessibility in to their products for the simple reason that they don’t know how to do so. With these businesses, all they need is to be educated about what accessibility means, and  to be given some guidance on how to implement it. With Amazon, the decision not to implement accessibility has absolutely nothing to do with a lack of information. The company has consistently received feedback from blind users about what could be improved on their reading devices to make them fully accessible. They have received feedback from iOS users requesting that the Kindle app be made accessible, and Apple provides very detailed development guidelines and information on how this can be accomplished. They have received feedback from users who want accessible content on their Android devices, and while the guidelines for accessibility on this platform aren’t as straightforward, they do still exist. They have received feedback about the inability to use their streaming video services or cloud player with a screen reader, along with pointers on how to make the services more accessible.

Still, though they have been made aware of the problem and they have access to the tools needed to solve it, they have not taken any steps to do so. Ok, that’s not entirely accurate. Amazon has made a small  stab  at becoming more accessibility-minded. The company posted a job opening for a program manager with experience in accessibility. Nice move, or at least it would’ve been a year ago when the new product designs were just getting under way. Instead, the job was posted just 6 days before the release of the new devices. Was the decision to advertise for the position made because of a genuine concern about accessibility? We doubt it. We think it’s far more likely that Amazon didn’t want to be called on the carpet publicly for its behavior, and so decided to make a preemptive move to try and convince the gullible among us that it truly has our interests at heart. If Amazon cared a thing about accessibility, the company would understand the importance of incorporating it from the ground up, not bolting on half-baked solutions after the fact in order to appease the legal beagles.

And why should Amazon care about accessibility? Is it because it’s the right thing to do? Is it because blind and print-disabled people deserve access, just like everyone else? Is it because universal accessibility ultimately benefits everyone? Sorry, but no. All those things are true, of course, but they aren’t compelling reasons for Amazon. While individuals who work for the company may be empathetic, the corporation itself is an unfeeling entity whose primary goal is to make money. Anything that furthers that goal is good, and anything which appears to take time and energy away from that pursuit is considered a bad thing. From Amazon’s perspective, the blind community is not seen as a significant market share. At best, we’re considered a time-consuming and expensive legal liability. This has to change. Until it does, lawsuits will continue to be filed against Amazon, and the corporation will continue to do the bare minimum to settle the dispute and satisfy the legal requirements. That, in our minds, is not progress.

The Bottom Line

That’s what it’s all about … the bottom line. Amazon can safely continue to ignore us, unless the company sees a direct effect on revenue that can clearly be traced to its failure to implement accessibility. So how do we make that happen? The first step is to stop believing those who make statements like: “only legal action can solve this problem.” Or how about this one? “The blind community isn’t big enough, or significant enough to matter.” Where has this attitude come from anyway, considering that there are an estimated 180 million legally blind people worldwide, 35 million of whom are totally blind? Granted, all these people don’t have Amazon but a significant percentage of them do. Why have we become convinced that we are a tiny population who cannot effect change? It just isn’t true. Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that the blind community is only as large as the number of people who follow us on social networking sites. Let’s not make the mistake of believing that accessibility is only a blindness-related concern, and that no one else is affected. And let’s not assume just because we advocated for accessibility and were rejected by an unfeeling corporate entity, that the same thing will happen when we bring our cause to empathetic individuals. Corporations may not care, but people do. And they don’t have to be members of the blind community to understand the situation. Amazon can safely ignore one, or two, or three customers who boycott their services, but what happens when thousands, or millions  do? You may be only one person, but you’re a person with a voice. So how can you use it? Here are just a few suggestions, and we would welcome yours as well.

You can read the blog describing the concept of the Kindle fire sale, and visit the web site later created for the purpose of organizing it. You can approach your local newspaper and let the public know how Amazon’s business decisions affect an entire community of paying consumers. You can cancel your Amazon prime membership, citing lack of accessibility as your reason. You can approach content creators and explain that you can’t make use of their content when it is provided through Amazon. You can approach your school system or university and explain how Amazon’s lack of accessibility continues to affect disabled students. You can contact your favorite tech enthusiasts like members of the TWiT Network, CNET Podcast Network, or In To Tomorrow just to name a few, and broadcast your views on mainstream podcasts. You can share this post, and others like it, with people who will make a business case for accessibility right alongside you. You can share your comments on this blog so that anyone who reads it, including Amazon themselves, will understand that it isn’t just a small group of people who care about the issue.  Oh, and let’s not forget, you can contact Amazon directly. You can do so by phone at (800) 201-7575, or by email at kindle-feedback@amazon.com

Or, you can always sit back and wait for someone else to make your world accessible, in which case you’ll be waiting a very long time. In the initial Kindle review, we closed with a statement that is still particularly apt. Don’t just wait for accessibility to happen. Be an active participant in making it happen.

If you’ve read this article in AFB Accessworld, you’ll know I have firsthand experience with a ghetto. When my parents came to Miami from Cuba looking for new opportunities, they joined a community of other Cubans who were here for the same reasons. Our community was a place where we proudly celebrated our Cuban heritage and where the Cuban culture remained alive and well. But it was also a place that trapped us in poverty; a place where expectations were low; and ultimately a place which isolated us from the rest of society. It was a type of ghetto.

Did we prefer being poor, stereotyped, isolated and hopeless? Of course not! But there was an unspoken sentiment that leaving the ghetto would also mean leaving an important part of yourself behind, and that you would sacrifice the culture that made you who you were if you tried to blend seamlessly with mainstream society.

Over time, I came to realize that my cultural differences didn’t need to isolate me from those outside my community. In fact, those differences are a part of what make me interesting. I learned that there was a whole world full of people who had their own interesting differences to celebrate, and that despite all our differences, we were exactly the same in many ways.

This is a truth I had to learn not only as a Cuban American, but as a blind person as well. I spent much of my life listening to the stereotypes about blind people. We were socially inept. We were unemployable. We were to be pitied. We had to be provided with basic necessities to make our insular world habitable, but we were too different from the rest of society to ever be a part of it in any meaningful way.

I knew that I didn’t fit any of these stereotypes. I was sociable, I had talents, and I certainly didn’t want any pity. I didn’t need anyone to take the liberty of creating a world for me which contained only the things they thought I might need. I was perfectly capable of thinking for myself, and I wanted the freedom to choose what I would and would not do. I needed to bridge the gap between the blind ghetto the world thought I should live in and the place I really wanted to be.

Early on I understood that technology would play a huge role in bridging that gap, not just for me, but for the millions of other blind people like me. It isn’t just about bridging the gap to employment, which is certainly important. It’s about providing a way for blind people to have fun, to be entertained, and to communicate with the rest of the world without any geographical, social or economic barriers.

Over the years, I have watched mainstream technology evolve from something available to only an elite few to something completely ubiquitous. I have seen technology emerge from complex, bulky gadgetry comprehensible only to geeka to user-friendly, pocket-sized and smaller devices which can be enjoyed easily by those who have no tech savvy whatsoever. And during this time the price of mainstream technology has plummeted so that even the most budget-conscious consumer can pick up a state-of-the-art computer for $400 or less.

But has this trend carried over in to the assistive technology arena? Is there a push to provide compelling access to off-the-shelf products? Are AT companies designing easy and affordable products that don’t require hours of training to operate? The answer is a resounding no!

But why not? Is it because blind people are content to remain in the blind ghetto? Are we content to continue paying thousands of dollars for access to proprietary products which provide only a fraction of the functionality of mainstream products? Is it because we are content to remain a niche market rather than insisting on being seen as viable consumers who share the interests of our sighted counterparts? Is it because blind people simply don’t want access to entertainment or social networking? The answer to these questions is also a resounding no!

Ghettos, you see, not only keep insiders in, they keep outsiders out. The blind ghetto discourages mainstream technology companies from making their products accessible. A select group controls the sales to the ghetto and like it that way. The ghetto barriers protect their market share even though those walls can deny their customers access to the riches available to everyone outside the walls. It takes gutsy companies to build and market products that tear down the walls and it is these “disruptive” technologies that excite me.

Finally, in the past couple of years we have begun to see products that break down the ghetto walls. And each time a “ghetto-busting” product is introduced, its success enriches us all. Look at some of these products: Packmate from Freedom Scientific, runs on the Windows Mobile platform, and allows users to install their own software rather than depending on a specific group of preinstalled proprietary applications—exactly like mainstream PDAs.. Mobilespeak from Codefactory, puts blind cell phone users on a par with their sighted friends; and maybe the most fun “ghetto-buster” is the exciting Apple 4th generation Nano which, for the first time, gave blind folks the same accessibility to their “tunes” that every sighted teenager has enjoyed for years..

My company, Serotek, is a big participant in “ghetto-busting.” Today, Serotek introduced the Socializer, an application which provides access to instant messaging services such as MSN and AIM, as well as easy access to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The response has been overwhelming and runs the gamut from tech savvy users clamoring for MySpace to be added to the application, to technical neophytes who have no idea what Facebook and Twitter are, but are anxious to find out. In a world that is becoming ever smaller with instant and ubiquitous one to one communications, Serotek tore down the ghetto wall and invited blind folks everywhere to be full twittering members.

The response shows clearly that blind people do want to live the accessible digital lifestyle. We do want to share photos on Facebook and Flicker and keep in touch through Twitter and MSN. We do want to chat with friends and family about how cool the iPod is, instead of waiting for an AT company to produce something half as good for twice the price. So let’s be loud about it! Let’s make our voices heard. Whether you create a petition, write an email, twitter to your new social network, create a group on Facebook, or just pick up the phone, let it be known that you want to tear down the walls to the blind ghetto and proudly live the accessible digital lifestyle.