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Computer access by Visually Impaired Persons—is it Still a Dream?

Are Computers Really Necessary? No,you can still find officesand classrooms without a computer. Every computer expert will tell you that whatever you can do with a computer can be done without it. The misuse of computers has caused immense losses and distress. There are those who feel that blind people shouldn't be troubled with the complexities ofusing them. They should leave these beastly robots to sighted people. If that strategy appeals to you, read on. Commerce has become dependent upon using computers, and would sustain severe trauma without them. Some tasks-notably writing, filing and calculating-can be accomplished more efficiently with computers. Of greater importance, however, is the following: Computers have been seized upon by our society in general, and by professionals in particular, as the major technical means for pioneering effort and for increasing productivity, power and prestige, despite the fact that the public perhaps knows less about computers than any subject with the possible exception of the human soul. Rare is the professional person or student who isn't using a computer or doesn't know that he or she soon will be. People in trades find computers in cars and machine tools. There is a host of half-hidden computers in household appliances. Students, clerical workers and professionals increasingly find that they are denied opportunities for advancement unless they can use computers. The end to the computer revolution is not foreseeable because more powerful integrated-circuit chips are still being designed. Visually impaired workers have a print handicap predating computers. If we are forced into indirect access, that is, if we must sit beside someone who reads the computer to us, we will lose virtually all opportunities for academic and professional pursuits. This is unconscionable in a society that prides itselfon academic excellence, professional standards and equal opportunity for all. Those of us who recognize our need for computers are among the most capable and articulate people. Many of us have worked hard for the gains we have made. Rest assured, we will not easily give up the battle for computer access. Let's call upon history for perspective. In the Middle Ages, blind people did not have a reading handicap because most people couldn't read. The printing press paved the way to mass education and mass literacy that gave rise to the need for braille. The use of braille reduced the handicaps created by mass literacy. Then came typewriters, which were a mixed blessing for blind people because their output is hard to access without sight. However, when sightedpeople used only books, typewriters and filing cabinets, well-trained blind people could compete with the tools at hand, namely, the use of braile and tapes. Now that people study, write and me with computers, we can no longer compete with only braille and tape equipment. Fortunately, however, there is something in the nature of computers that gives us hope to overcome the very handicaps created by their use: their ability to translate. Ifwe can adapt them to efficiently deliver their output in braille, speech and large print, we can work and study on a parity with our sighted co-workers. Wealso have the hope of using computers to overcome some of our print handicap which predates their use.