Albany Times Union Op-Ed: Blind need more access to written word

Posted Mon, 2009-10-19 15:30 by Jessica

Blind need more access to written word
By CARL JACOBSEN

First published in print: Monday, October 19, 2009

I love to read, and I've been doing it ever since I was able. My wife is also an avid reader. But we are blind, and so are many of our friends. The organization I lead, the National Federation of the Blind of New York, is made up of blind people. Although many of us read everything we can get our hands on, we can't get our hands on very much to read.

There are services for us, of course. Government entities and nonprofit organizations convert books into Braille, audio or digital form for our use. But only about 5 percent of all books published undergo such a conversion. The largest collection of books in Braille and audio form in the United States has, perhaps, 70,000 circulating titles in its collection. A few more selections are available as commercial audio books, but these are up to three times as expensive as print books.

A federal court in New York soon will consider a settlement that could change all that. The proposed agreement between Google and authors and publishers, which stems from a lawsuit over Google Book Search, promises to make millions of titles digitally available to a wide audience, including those who are blind or who cannot read printed materials for other reasons, such as dyslexia or physical limitations.

The settlement, if approved, would bring the printed word to as many as 30 million people who currently have limited access to it. Blind people would be able to search for books through the Google Books interface and read excerpts or purchase entire books in a format compatible with text enlargement software, text-to-speech screen access software and refreshable Braille devices.

The Google settlement also would create a shift in the publishing industry that would provide new opportunities for the blind. Without the settlement, the blind face the very real prospect of being on the wrong side of a digital divide that excludes us from access to the printed word.

Unless an immediate effort to implement such technology is pursued, the impact on blind people will be devastating. Already the lack of information has meant that fewer than 50 percent of blind people in their school years will graduate from high school. It has prevented blind students from being able to matriculate in the college courses of their choosing. And it has led to an unemployment rate of more than 70 percent for the blind.

Blind people are willing to pay for books, but they must be books we can read. The proposed Google settlement is a promise that this magnificent notion may become real.

In the Middle Ages, books were available only to the clergy and the wealthy; everyone else was illiterate and ignorant. That changed with the invention of the printing press, but it was nearly 400 years before another invention -- the Braille code -- gave literacy and knowledge to the blind. We have struggled to catch up ever since. The Google settlement will finally level the playing field.

As the parties and the court consider what modifications need to be made to the settlement, access for those with print disabilities must remain part of the final agreement. It is time for those who cannot read print to have equal access to the world's written works.

Carl Jacobsen is president of the National Federation of the Blind of New York.