W. Joseph Hatley, Friday, July 01, 2011 | Filed under: Non-discrimination
Last year, OCR issued a
"Dear Colleague" letter to college and university presidents expressing concern over the increasing use of e-readers such as the Kindle and Nook to replace or supplement traditional textbooks. According to OCR, the use of such devices violated the rights of sight-impaired students, because the devices lacked a text-to-speech function. ("Text-to-speech" means that content on the screen will be read aloud.)
OCR recently issued a
second "Dear Colleague" letter clarifying that its guidance to universities applies with equal force to elementary and secondary schools. At the same time, OCR released answers to
Frequently Asked Questions regarding its restrictions on the use of e-readers. According to OCR, schools that provide content on e-readers must afford blind students "the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students." Likewise, students with other disabilities must be accommodated if the use of e-readers prevents them from accessing content in an "equally effective and equally integrated manner."
One possible solution proposed by OCR is to make tablet computers (such as an iPad) available to sight-impaired students, because they generally have a text-to-speech function. While tablets are more expensive than dedicated e-readers, their additional cost may be offset by the savings realized by replacing hardbound books with their electronic versions. Nonetheless, OCR's guidance should be studied carefully by schools considering a shift toward electronic textbooks.