Editor, the Record:
In February, Amazon released the E-Book reader, the Kindle 2. A feature that seemed insignificant for many was a potentially empowering tool for millions of readers. Text to Speech (TTS), a computer voice that reads the text of a book aloud, providing access to people considered print impaired. People with visual impairments, dyslexics, quadriplegics, people with severe arthritis, and those with various learning disabilities are all considered "print-impaired."
The Authors Guild immediately began protesting the Kindle's ability to read aloud, asserting the device violates copyright. The Guild essentially said Amazon did not pay for audio rights, usually associated with professionally narrated audio books. Amazon quickly gave in to the Guild's demands and made the TTS feature controllable by the publisher.
Screen readers, software enabling people who are visually impaired and blind to independently use computers, have used synthetic speech for years. I have read books both using TTS and those read by professional narrators; there is absolutely no comparison. Computer voices offer very little in the way of voice inflection and no emotion whatsoever. However, for millions of people it is the only method of accessing information, making TTS the equivalent of a sighted person using their eyes to read.
The Reading Rights Coalition, a group of organizations contending the Author's Guild is restricting access to more than 250,000 books, has started an online petition encouraging the Guild to reverse its position. Amazon is currently working to make the Kindle 2 a device fully usable to all, by enabling sightless navigation. A fully accessible mainstream device providing immediate access to more than 250,000 books will be a historic milestone in the fight for accessibility. Help stop the Authors Guild from restricting equal access to content and our right to read. Sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/We-Want-To-Read.
