ADA Settlement on Kindle DX E-Readers in University Classes
Author: U.S. Department of Justice
Published: 2010/01/13 - Updated: 2026/05/15
Publication Type: Announcement
Category Topic: Laws and Rights - Related Publications
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This report announces separate Americans with Disabilities Act settlements reached by the U.S. Department of Justice with Case Western Reserve University, Pace University, and Reed College over classroom use of the Amazon Kindle DX electronic book reader. Under the agreements, the universities will not purchase, recommend, or promote the Kindle DX or any other dedicated e-reader unless it is fully accessible to students who are blind or have low vision, ensuring those students can obtain the same materials, interactions, and services as sighted classmates with substantially equivalent ease of use. The information is useful because it draws directly on Justice Department statements and the terms of the binding agreements themselves, giving students with vision disabilities, faculty, accessibility coordinators, and university procurement staff a clear reference point for how the ADA applies to emerging classroom technology and pilot programs run with Amazon Inc - Disabled World (DW).
- Topic Definition: Kindle DX ADA Settlement
The Kindle DX ADA settlement refers to a set of 2010 agreements negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice with several U.S. universities under the Americans with Disabilities Act, addressing the classroom use of Amazon's Kindle DX electronic book reader and other dedicated e-reading devices. The agreements responded to the fact that, while the Kindle DX could read book text aloud, its menus and navigational controls were not accessible to blind or low-vision users, effectively barring those students from independently selecting titles or using the device's other functions. Participating institutions committed not to buy, recommend, or promote dedicated e-readers for coursework unless the devices provided blind and low-vision students with substantially equivalent ease of use compared with sighted peers.
Introduction
ADA Settlement Regarding Use of Electronic Book Readers in Classrooms
The Justice Department has announced separate agreements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Ore., regarding the use in a classroom setting of the electronic book reader, the Kindle DX, a hand-held technological device that simulates the experience of reading a book.
Under the agreements the universities generally will not purchase, recommend or promote use of the Kindle DX, or any other dedicated electronic book reader, unless the devices are fully accessible to students who are blind and have low vision. The universities agree that if they use dedicated electronic book readers, they will ensure that students with vision disabilities are able to access and acquire the same materials and information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students with substantially equivalent ease of use. The agreements that the Justice Department reached with these universities extend beyond the Kindle DX to any dedicated electronic reading device.
Main Content
These agreements follow the Jan. 11, 2010 agreement between the Justice Department, Arizona State University, the National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind concerning the use of electronic book readers.
"Advancing technology is systematically changing the way universities approach education, but we must be sure that emerging technologies offer individuals with disabilities the same opportunities as other students," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez. "These agreements underscore the importance of full and equal educational opportunities for everyone."
A handful of universities participated in a pilot project in cooperation with Amazon Inc. to test the viability of the Kindle DX in a classroom setting. The terms of the Justice Department's agreement with each university become effective at the end of the pilot projects.
The current model of the Kindle DX has the capability to read texts aloud, so that the materials would be accessible to blind individuals, but the device does not include a similar text-to-speech function for the menu and navigational controls. Without access to the menus, students who are blind have no way to know which book they have selected or how to access the Kindle DX Web browser or its other functions. The technological "know how" to make navigational controls or menu selections accessible is available.
Other universities, such as Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, also examined the utility of the Kindle DX as a teaching device and decided that they would not use the Kindle DX until it is accessible to blind individuals.
In passing the ADA and the recent ADA Amendments Act, Congress found that individuals with disabilities were uniquely disadvantaged in critical areas, including education. It is a core priority of the Civil Rights Division to strengthen and expand the educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
The ADA prohibits discrimination by public accommodations on the basis of disability, including discrimination in private post-secondary institutions.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: What makes this settlement worth revisiting is how clearly it framed accessibility as a purchasing decision rather than an afterthought. By telling universities they could not adopt a device whose menus and navigation locked out blind students - even when the underlying text could be read aloud - the Justice Department set a precedent that has aged well as classrooms move further into tablets, learning apps, and AI-assisted study tools. Students who rely on screen readers, faculty piloting new devices, and administrators weighing campus-wide rollouts can still treat the Kindle DX agreements as a practical benchmark: if a tool is going to sit at the center of coursework, every part of it - not just the content - has to be usable by everyone enrolled - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by U.S. Department of Justice and published on 2010/01/13, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.