A computing environment for the blind

Much of the early work on applying computer technology to the development of sensory aids for the blind was devoted to systems for transforming ink-print texts into a Braille format. This continues to be an important use of computers, but the disadvantages of Braille render it a poor substitute for the modes of information access normally available to people with normal sight. Braille is embossed on bulky paper. The surface area required for tactile discrimination of the Braille dots add to the problem, since this means that a Braille text takes up more space than a corresponding ink-print text. Furthermore, the ability to read Braille takes considerable time to acquire, and not all visually handicapped persons can read Braille, due to concomitant handicaps or because their visual impairment came fairly late in life. Braille also has the disadvantage that it is unreadable to almost all sighted persons; blind persons cannot read what sighted persons can read, and vice versa. Many blind persons are excellent typists, so they can indeed communicate in writing to the sighted, but they have no way of proofreading their own typing.