RantWoman presents the good, the bad, and the ugly of building or not building accessibility into product design. Here to start is an item about the whole cascade of problems which arise when accessibility is not explicitly included in product purchase criteria. This item is the sad reality of the federal government; RantWoman wishes she had any expectation that things are any less automatic in the private sector.
https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm13/bm1305/bm130502.htm
Now tidings of approaches that work! Remember awhile ago when RantWoman opined that her alma mater along with every other academic institution thinking of delivering textbooks through Kindle deserve to get sued because Kindle is inaccessible. RantWoman is in no position to opine about the merits of lawsuits but does note that loss of access to the huge academic marketplace may possibly have been a motivator. RantWoman is terribly excited by the following news items about the release of the new iOS Kindle ap with built-in accessibility to Voiceover.
New Accessibility Features to Free Kindle Reading iOS Apps
May 1, 2013 6:06:07 AM PDT
Kevin G. - Community Manager says:
(AMAZON OFFICIAL)
Today we announced new accessibility features for the Kindle reading app, making it easier than ever for blind and visually impaired customers to navigate their Kindle libraries, read and interact with their books, and more. These new features are available starting today on Kindle for iOS, and accessibility enhancements will be available on additional platforms in the future.
New accessibility features of the Kindle app enable blind and visually impaired customers to:
- Read aloud over 1.5 million titles available in the Kindle Store using Apple's VoiceOver technology. Over 300,000 of these books are exclusive to the Kindle Store. Over 700,000 books are less than $4.99; over a million are less than $9.99.
- Seamlessly navigate within their library or within a book, with consistent title, menu and button names; navigate to a specific page within a book and sort books in the library by author or title.
- Read character-by-character, word-by-word, line-by-line, or continuously, as well as move forward or backward in the text.
- Search for a book within their library or search within their book and navigate to specific text.
- Add and delete notes, bookmarks, and highlights.
- Use customer-favorite features like X-Ray, End Actions and sharing on Facebook and Twitter.
- Look up words in the dictionary and Wikipedia.
- Customize the reading experience including changing the font, text size, background color, margin, and brightness.
- Use iOS accessibility features like Zoom, Assistive Touch, and Stereo to Mono, as well as peripheral braille displays.
Other new features include:
- Easily rate and review books by accessing `Before you go...' directly from The `Go to' menu
- Enhancements to `Before you go...' including the ability to download a free sample and email yourself a reminder about recommended books.
- Additional Font Selection for Japan - Hiragino Mincho ProN (Serif)
These new accessibility features are available first on the Kindle app for iOS and accessibility features will be added to other Kindle apps in the future.
Customers can download the new Kindle for iOS app for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone or iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore . Blind and visually impaired customers interested in using a Kindle app can also choose Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin, a free application for Windows PC's.
You can download a quick reference guide here:
Kindle for iOS Accessibility Gestures - Quick Reference Guide
If you need assistance with this update, please drop by the Kindle Help Forum -
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/forums/kindleqna/ref=kindle_help_forum_gd
From: Pratik Patel pratikp1@gmail.com
Dear all,
We have spotted the pink unicorn. In this morning's app updates, Amazon's Kindle app was announced as being accessible with Voiceover. Initial testing suggests that remarkable work has been done. Book reading, note creation, highlighting, sharing and other features are all accessible. I am extremely pleased that blind and visually impaired people now have some of the world's largest catalogs of books available to them via the Kindle App, Nook, and iBooks. Kindle devices still need to be made accessible. All of ACB's members can take credit that such progress is being made in a short amount of time.
Regards,
Pratik Patel
Founder and CEO, http://www.ezfire.net/ EZFire
T: 718-928-5529
M: 718-249-7019
E: ppatel@ezfire.net (or pratikp1@gmail.com )
Follow me on Twitter: @ppatel
Follow me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/pratik-patel/9/985/882
Skype: Patel.pratik
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