Introduction: This article reports on a study that explored the benefits and drawbacks of using spatially positioned synthesized speech in auditory interfaces for computer users who are visually impaired (that is, are blind or have low vision). The study was a practical application of such systems--an enhanced word processing application compared…

Describes experiences of United Kingdom's Open University blind students involved in "Computing and the Blind" project. Microcomputer applications described include braille-to-text transcription, word processing, and computer programming. Each application's use of software designed for commercially available microcomputer systems with…