The new Kindles are able to connect to Amazon’s Echo Speaker and it is claimed that when connected to Bluetooth headphones or speakers, the device will have the capability to read books aloud. This new update builds on last month’s development where Amazon launched a separate VoiceView accessory which converts text-to-voice.
Over the past few years we have seen Amazon continue to make accessibility improvements to its Kindle range, after being under pressure from disability group AppleVis to make Kindles accessible. Another positive trend that has been previously reported is that Amazon has reduced the cost of ownership, so Accessible Kindles become increasingly affordable.
The new ereaders are also thinner and lighter making them more usable for those with a physical impairment. However, one important question that is yet to be answered is how easy it will be to pair these new Kindles to a Bluetooth audio device.
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