The Coalition of E-reader Manufacturers (which includes Amazon – makers of the Kindle – and Sony – which manufactures its own e-reader) filed a petition with the FCC recently. The petition, basically, seeks to exempt e-readers from FCC rules regarding advanced communications services as they apply to accessibility for people with disabilities. This means that e-readers would require fundamentally altering the devices to be more like general-purpose tablets in cost, form factor, weight, user interface, and reduced battery life, and yet the necessary changes, if they were made, would not yield a meaningful benefit to individuals with disabilities. You can read a summary of the petition at www.fcc.gov. You can read a legal filing of the coalition’s attorney’s here.
The FCC is taking public comments on this issue. The deadline for public comments is September 3, 2013.