Support the Right to Read
The RNIB yesterday launched a campaign aimed at making more books available, at a reasonable price, in accessible formats – large print, audio or braille – for the benefit of blind, partially-sighted or dyslexic people:
Three million people in the UK are being denied the right to read on a daily basis just because they have a sight problem or print reading disability. Most books published in the UK never become available in large print, audio or braille – formats which people with sight problems can read … A shocking 96 percent of books are not available in large print, audio or braille … The few books that are produced in accessible formats are rarely available at the same time as the print versions, and are often more expensive. An unabridged audio book can cost over £50 to buy while the equivalent print version can cost £6.99 or £7.99.
There’s a petition that you can sign to show your support (warning: doesn’t display well in Firefox) – take the time to sign it and improve accessibility to literature.
Filed under: General, Accessibility.
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Comments
- Matthew Pennell
- 1384 days ago
- Rubbish – by that rationale, shops shouldn’t be ‘forced’ to make adjustments to their premises to allow wheelchair access such as installing ramps. As a society we should do as much as we can to ensure that all are treated equally.
If you believe that the State shouldn’t impose laws that might restrict a company’s profit, presumably you also think that ‘forcing’ car manufacturers to install seatbelts, or ‘forcing’ drivers to respect a speed limit, is also wrong? - #2
Forcing book editors to use their property in a State-imposed way is the same with expropriation. Simply because a person has a disability, it doesn’t entitle him to a share of my profits or to tell me what to do with it.
If consumers of alternative formats for books (audio, braille, etc.) want more of such wares, they should be ready to obtain them at market prices. (i.e. offer producers a profitable incentive. Forcing the State to impose laws that restrict profits or make certain books unprofitable is wrong, much in the same way that calling in the class bully isn’t a fair way to win an argument.