The Disabled Deserve to Read Day
Printer-friendly versionBufo Calvin sent a message using the contact form at http://www.readingrights.org/contact.
"...literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book-friends."
--Helen Keller
This Saturday, June 27th, would have been Helen Keller's 129th birthday.
Helen's story is well-known. She lost both her sight and hearing when she was less than two years old. When she was six, Anne Sulllivan (who had been visually impaired herself, but had partially recovered), became her teacher.
She reached Helen and taught her to freely communicate and to read. Helen went on to become an internationally known figure, an author, and an activist.
It is my belief that Helen, along with many disabled groups of today, would have opposed Random House's blocking of the text-to-speech access in its e-books (ironically including Helen's own autobiography, The Story of My Life). While she could not have used the feature herself (being deaf as well as blind), it's reasonable to assume she would have wanted others to have it.
For example, she started a print library in her town: books which she could not herself access without help, but which she and her friends helped make available to those who could.
While I believe that Random House's decision to block the text-to-speech is motivated by perceived economic risk to their audiobook division, it disproportionately disadvantages the disabled. Unless action is taken to block it, people with reading challenges (including the visually impaired, those with debilitating conditions including muscular sclerosis, and those whose conditions do not rise to the legal level of a disability) can buy books for the Kindle and have access to the material, the same as anyone else, as conveniently, and at the same time as everyone else.
While there are alternatives for some (but not all) titles, they are not as convenient or as timely as getting a book from the Kindle store. When alternatives are available, they often come considerably after the print release, which can be important on topical non-fiction. The text-to-speech does not match the quality of a professional audiobook. It is a way to access the material, like using a booklight or increasing the text size. The Copyright Office has also made it clear that streaming text-to-speech, such as the Kindle provides, is a non-infringing use when utilized privately.
If you oppose Random House blocking this access, please make Saturday, June 27, 2009, The Disabled Deserve to Read Day, a day of action.
* Boycott Random House products on that day
* Send Random House an e-mail to let them know. Suggested subject line: "I am not buying Random House products today." Within the e-mail, let them know the basis for your decision
* Contact authors on that day. Explain the situation to them. Suggest that, if they agree, they can join the viral campaign by making a video or a single still that says, "I write for everybody." That can also be a good subject line for an e-mail
* Contact members of the media to let them know about the situation. Public figures speaking out can make a huge difference. This is about economics for Random House: if blocking the access is costing them more than not blocking it, it is likely they will change the policy
* Contact other public figures, including the President (whose own books have text-to-speech blocked by Random House)
* Let your friends and family know
* Use Twitter. A simple message like "I want to read" with the address of the Reading Rights Coalition, or "I write for everybody" with the address could help raise awareness
* Post the situation on your blogs and social networking sites
* Join the viral campaign yourself. Make a video or a still that says, "I want to read" (if you are not an author). Link to the Reading Rights Coalition website
* If you are unsure about the situation, read the Reading Rights Coalition website yourself. Check the membership list. Look at what the Authors Guild has said to see the arguments for blocking it
* Read Helen Keller's autobiography. It's available for free (and with text-to-speech access) from ManyBooks.net. Visit the Helen Keller Foundation website
I have a document (The Disabled Deserve to Read) that I allow to be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes with background on the situation. It links to the relevant statements at the Copyright Office, to information on the Chafee amendment, to the Authors Guild, and more. My e-mail is BufoCalvin@aol.com. If you want it to send as an attachment to people you are contacting, please let me know.
Letting Random House know how you feel and letting the public know about Random House's decision may lead them to reverse their policy. It is the company's choice to block the text-to-speech access. If they become convinced that it is better to allow the access, they can choose that as well.
-----------
Information on the viral campaign:
-----------
Please feel free to distribute this post for non-commercial purposes.
- Login to post comments
