[Athen] Kindle software

[Ken Petri]

Hi Robert,

Pratik is painting a gloomier picture than is the case. The thing is called
Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin and you can get it for free here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000632481

If you have a screen reader installed (for example NVDA, which, again, is
free) when Kindle fires up, you will be able to use NVDA to navigate the
controls of the interface and the home screen (there is some verbal "junk"
in the interface in NVDA, not so with JAWS, but it's livable).

For book reading, the Plugin's native TTS takes over. It downloads with a
high quality male and female voice, which you can toggle between. You can
navigate by sentence on a page or have the whole page read in its entirety.
There is no way to select or copy text with a screen reader. That will
require sighted use and a mouse. But you can set a note on an entire page
and the notes are accessible with a screen reader. (Oddly, the notes cannot
be removed via screen reader, though they can be edited).

You can also set and search on bookmarks and text.

This behavior is NOT limited to books with TTS enabled by the publisher. It
will work with any Kindle book and there are more than 900,000 of those
now.

It's far from perfect, but it is a marginally decent accommodation.

Also, if you buy a book in Kindle, it is relatively trivial to break the
DRM and convert it to EPUB for playback in other devices.

Best,

ken
--
Ken Petri
Program Director, OSU Web Accessibility Center
102D Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio  43210
Office: 614.292.1760 | Mobile: 614.218.1499 | Fax: 614.292.4190
http://wac.osu.edu | petri.1 at osu.edu



On Thu, Feb 9, 2012 at 9:39 AM, Robert Beach <rbeach at kckcc.edu> wrote:


> Hmmm, sounds rather gloomy.  There is a book I need that is not available

> at any other resource (that I can find), but is available for the Kindle.

> Since it is a textbook and not a leasure read, I really would like to have

> at least paragraph navigation.  Also, since I don’t know if TTS is turned

> on or off in the book, I hate to go that route.****

>

> ** **

>

> Thanks for the feed back.****

>

> ** **

>

> ** **

>

> Robert Lee Beach****

>

> Assistive Technology Specialist****

>

> Kansas City Kansas Community College****

>

> 7250 State Avenue****

>

> Kansas City, KS  66112****

>

> 913-288-7671****

>

> rbeach at kckcc.edu****

>

> ** **

>

> *From:* athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:

> athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] *On Behalf Of *Pratik Patel

> *Sent:* Thursday, February 09, 2012 8:31 AM

> *To:* 'Access Technology Higher Education Network'

> *Subject:* RE: [Athen] Kindle software****

>

> ** **

>

> Hello Robert,****

>

> ** **

>

> There is a specific piece of software that can be downloaded for some

> accessible output. It hasn’t been improved.****

>

> ** **

>

> There are built-in voices that can be used to read out loud. You can use

> speed control. You can read page by page. You won’t be able to read by

> paragraph, line, word, sentence, etc. There is no support for a screen

> reader to read the book; nor is there support for braille displays. For

> books that do not have TTS enabled, you will get no speech.****

>

> ** **

>

> Hope this helps.****

>

> ** **

>

> Regards,****

>

> ** **

>

> Pratik****

>

> ** **

>

> *From:* athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu

> [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] *On Behalf Of *Robert

> Beach

> *Sent:* Thursday, February 09, 2012 9:30 AM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network (

> athen-list at u.washington.edu)

> *Subject:* [Athen] Kindle software****

>

> ** **

>

> Hello all,****

>

> ** **

>

> I know this was discussed some time ago, but I need an update/reminder.***

> *

>

> ** **

>

> I know there is an accessibility patch for the Kindle software for PC that

> supposedly makes it work with JAWS.  I also remember the reviews weren’t

> very exciting when I first heard it discussed.  What kind of luck are folks

> having with this setup?  Have there been any improvements?  What draw backs

> might I expect to find?****

>

> ** **

>

> Thanks.****

>

> ** **

>

> ** **

>

> Robert Lee Beach****

>

> Assistive Technology Specialist****

>

> Kansas City Kansas Community College****

>

> 7250 State Avenue****

>

> Kansas City, KS  66112****

>

> 913-288-7671****

>

> rbeach at kckcc.edu****

>

> ** **

>

> _______________________________________________

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