This article was pretty interesting in the sense that we've talked so much about e-books and how they affect our lives however we've failed to touch upon how e-books may affect the lives of those who are disabled. Since 2001, the Landowski multimedia library of Boulogne-Billancourt in western Paris has been using people who are considered to have Locked-In Syndrome as the basis of their field studies. Locked-In Syndrome referrs to those who may be a quadriplegic, or who can only communicate by blinking (i.e. people with disabilities). Alaine Patez, a French digital librarian says that in 2003, they teamed up with Mobipocket to create the multimedia library, and they have set up loan services for digital downloadable books and devices. The success of this library led to the creation of the Bibliothèque numérique pour le Handicap (Digital Lbrary for Disabled Persons), which is believed to give disabled people a passage into reading, culture and learning as printed books would for those who are not disabled. This library provides a service to disabled people that otherwise they may not have, and its system is specifically designed for those who are disabled. Each person who signs in has a name and password, and the library allows for each user to download 3 books for 21 days, in either PDF format or Mobipocket's PRC. Over 400 users are able to access over 1,000 copyrighted documents in French; 50% are fiction, and 50% are nonfiction. I think this is a great gesture and opportunity for the e-book industry to grow.
Reference:
http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=6201#more-6201