I caught Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, on Charlie Rose last night (in the wake of the writers’ strike, Rose has replaced my nightly dose of Letterman before bed). He was pitching Kindle, Amazon’s new e-book reader. The device has received mixed reviews in the gadget press, but one thing keeps bugging me. People with disabilities are a natural consumer market for e-book readers, but Amazon and other hardware manufacturers have shown zero interest in even exploring the needs of readers with disabilities. I recognize that these companies are in business to make a profit and I’m not expecting them to cater to a niche population, but I don’t think I’m asking for the moon, either. Lots of really brilliant people are working on these readers and I’m fairly certain they can figure out how to include switch access, voice recognition, or text-to-speech capabilities. And, as with most accessible technologies, the average consumer might find them useful as well.
Sooner or later, a reading device will come along that has universal design elements built into it and I’ll eagerly give that company my hard-earned cash. The wait is getting frustrating, though.
Disabled people are a significant part of the general market. It isn’t particularly market savvy not to use universal design. As the baby boomers age and a significant number of them become disabled, I think we will see more devices that use universal design.
I know I would benefit from having a text to speech feature. Instead I will rely on my trusty puter which give me access to all I need. Unfortunately it does not fit in my purse.