Amazon's New Kindle Isn't Very Accessible

The E-Book Reader Lacks Features for the Blind and Mobility Impaired

Feb 9, 2009 Suzanne Robitaille

Amazon introduced a new version of Kindle, its electronic book reader. But once more, the device fails to include many assistive technology features.

To be sure, the Kindle 2 announced several new features at a press conference on February 9, 2009 at the Morgan Library in New York, including a sleeker design and a lighter console. For the disabled, the most interesting feature by far is a text-to-speech function that allows readers to listen to books with a computerized voice.

Speech, but No Custom Voice

What's interesting is, though Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos didn't say as much, his company partnered with a key assistive technology company, Nuance Communications, to build the speech capability into the Kindle 2. Nuance is the maker of RealSpeak software, which is the same technology that enables text-to-speech on Nokia cell phones and Freedom Scientific's JAWS screen readers to make them accessible for the blind and visually impaired. Nuance also makes Dragon NaturallySpeaking, a speech-recognition program that's popular among workers with mobility impairments who can't type on PCs.

Unfortunately, Amazon didn't take advantage of Nuance's full accessibility features, such as its menu of custom voices. Kindle 2 users can only choose between a male or female voice, which makes the speech function adequate for reading a recipe or a short article, but not a longer novel. However, Amazon calls the text-to-speech function "experimental" -- so perhaps they'll upgrade to more sophisticated voices in future versions.

Lacking Universal Design

As with Kindle 1, Amazon noticeably failed to consider accessibility or universal design in the new device. For example, a person with a learning or reading disability would benefit much more if the text could be highlighted and spoken at the same time. Amazon cited "improved ergonomics" for holding the Kindle 2, but didn't address how the device might help readers with physical impairments who cannot hold traditional books.

For those with limited vision, the Kindle 2 offers six fonts, but only up to 18 points, which isn't sufficient for a person with more than an eye-strain issue. Likewise, images -- but not text -- can be zoomed to full screen size. There's also the issue of how the books are formatted. Bezos says his vision is to have "every book ever printed, in every language" available on the Kindle. But he neglected to say in which formats. There is no Braille support, no large-print support and no speech capability for operating the Kindle if you can't see the buttons.

Overall, Amazon missed a huge opportunity to market this new device to people with disabilities. Perhaps Amazon doesn't think the disabled can afford the $359 price tag, but people with disabilities are apt to spend twice as much on technology that will improve their lives. Unfortunately the Kindle 2 isn't one of them.

The copyright of the article Amazon's New Kindle Isn't Very Accessible in Disabilities is owned by Suzanne Robitaille. Permission to republish Amazon's New Kindle Isn't Very Accessible in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The new Kindle 2 from Amazon