[PKFFW]

Originally Posted by Daithi

I like the fact that the blind will get a device that better accomodates their needs, but something about the way the ACB went about getting this "concession" rubs me the wrong way. Particularly since the concession is that the universities won't use any ereaders at all (even if they are a boon to the partially sighted) until the ereaders better accomodate all of the blind.

Originally Posted by markbot

This is the tyranny of the minority. Assisting the disabled should be charity not a legal requirement.

I think you'll find that with attitudes like marks', a lawsuit is often the only way a disadvantaged group like blind people can get any concessions.

Originally Posted by HarryT

But let's face it - a blind student is going to need "sighted" assistance in order to study at university for all sorts of different reasons. That hardly seems like a very valid reason to deny Kindles to all the sighted students. It seems a bit childish - "if I can't use it, then I don't want anybody else to be able to, either".

Yes the blind will need assistance in order to stand a chance of simply receiving the same standard of education as a sighted person. For a university to then actively give an added advantage to sighted students, without any attempt at giving any sort of comparable tool to the blind is simply illegal under Anti-Discrimination laws.

Again, the suit had nothing to do with ensuring no one was allowed to use the Kindle. It was about ensuring that the Universities met their obligation of giving equality to the blind. If the Universities and Amazon could not come up with a way to do that then that is an indictment on them, not on the ACB in my opinion.

Cheers,
PKFFW