Amazon beefing up Kindle's functionality for vision-impared users as B&N's Nook stays silent

While the Amazon Kindle's text-to-speech functionality might seem like a gimmick for some, it's anything but for blind, vision-impaired and dyslexic users. Unfortunately, the device's accessibility so far hasn't extended to the menus. That's set to change next year, however, with Amazon promising to release an audible menuing system for navigating the unit look-free. Amazon's also prepping a new "super size" font, that doubles the current largest font in height and width. It all sounds great, but it also seems like a subtle dig at Barnes & Noble, whose brand new Nook reader is skipping out on text-to-speech (for this generation, anyway). Barnes & Noble claims that it's due to the sub-par experience on "other devices," but for now that means the Kindle might just be most accessible dedicated e-reader around -- at least once this new software rolls out, supposedly by summer 2010.