As we noted previously, reading on the new Kindle 3G and Kindle Wi-Fi will be easier than ever for all of us, and especially for the visually impaired or anyone else with vision issues, with several new accessibility features:

• Text-to-speech is now augmented with new voice-guided text-to-speech enabled menus that allow us to navigate on the Kindle without having to read menu options or content listings and item descriptions on the home screen. The new Voice Guide audible menuing feature handles all of that.
• New hand-built, custom fonts and font-hinting make words and letters more crisp, clear, and natural-looking, including a very clean new san serif font.
• Amazon is also releasing a brand new lighted Kindle cover, sold separately for $59.99, that includes an integrated retractable LED reading light that never needs batteries and hides away into the cover when not in use. It lights the entire Kindle display without glare and draws its power directly from the Kindle’s battery through the new gold-plated conductive hinges that connect the Kindle to the cover.

How are these improvements playing for the organization that filed suit against Arizona State University (ASU) to prevent the university from deploying the Kindle DX last year? The press release below from the National Federation for the Blind pretty much speaks for itself.

BALTIMORE, July 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) today commended Amazon on the unveiling of a new, accessible Kindle.  Amazon announced Wednesday that the new Kindle will come equipped with a voice guide that reads all menu options aloud so blind and other print-disabled people can navigate the device menus.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “We commend Amazon on the unveiling of a new Kindle that blind and print-disabled people can use.  In order to compete in today’s digital society, blind and print-disabled people must be able to access the same reading technologies as the sighted.  The National Federation of the Blind has long been urging Amazon to make its reading device accessible, and we are pleased that our efforts have come to fruition.”

In June 2009 the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind (ACB) filed suit against Arizona State University (ASU) to prevent the university from deploying Amazon’s Kindle DX electronic reading device as a means of distributing electronic textbooks to its students because the device cannot be used by blind students.  The Kindle DX featured text-to-speech technology that can read textbooks aloud to blind students.  The menus of the device were not accessible to the blind, however, making it impossible for a blind user to purchase books from Amazon’s Kindle store, select a book to read, activate the text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading functions available on the Kindle DX.

For more information on the National Federation of the Blind, please visit www.nfb.org.

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.  The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation’s blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.