We've made it! It's time for our number 1 story on our annual look at the top stories of 2011. Our panel of Blind Bargains and Serotek contributors each independently submitted their votes for the top stories of the year. This year's panel included Joe Steinkamp, Jamie Pauls, Kevin Reeves, Matt McCubbin, and J.J. Meddaugh. Here are our earlier stories in case you missed them. And now, number one.
There was no clear top story on this year's list, and one could make a case for several of our picks. But after tabulating and ranking the votes from our panel, Amazon's absolute and total disregard for accessibility stole the show.
With the release of the Kindle 3, Amazon fans began to hold out hope that the company was tired of lawsuits and ready for some real change. The anticipation and subsequent release has been represented on both of our previous year-end recaps.
This year's release of the Kindle Fire, however, clearly brings us to question the real philosophy of Amazon and whether they care one smidge about access at all. Maybe some people in the company didn't get the memo. Perhaps they'd love to deal with another lawsuit which we're confident is right around the corner. Whatever it is, Amazon is perhaps the biggest company with the worst accessibility initiative, which shows us that much work still needs to be done in fighting for equal access across the board.
What will 2012 bring? We'll have to wait just under 365 days to find out. In the meantime, get ready for the 2011 Blind Bargains Access Awards, recognizing the best products, services, and innovations of the year gone bye. Happy New Year.
Category: ArticlesThis is a backward year for accessibility on many fronts. Amazon is, by no means, alone. The old XM player was completely accessible, but the new SiriusXM player is extremely poor in the regard, and the company will not answer specific questions about these concerns. The regular Facebook site has also gotten much worse to use.
darknexus Friday, 06-Jan-2012 11:36 PM ET:
Yes, because a legal case is certainly going to do oh so much good. Can anyone say target? Look, this is extremely simple. If amazon isn't making their stuff accessible, we vote with our wallets. So very many of us like to sit around and complain and litigate, without realizing that all they do is ruin the image of all blind people everywhere. You won't fix anything via litigation but, I suppose if we haven't figured that out by now, we're hopeless as a community. If Amazon isn't cooperating, then we buy devices and other products from companies who are, and we make it known to Amazon every time we do this. We give them an idea of exactly how many customers they're disregarding, and they'll get the point mighty quick.
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J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
