Enabling the use of windows environment by the blind and partially sighted

As the usage of WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers) tools in the development of human computer interfaces increases, the accessibility of such software systems to the blind and partially sighted is reduced. The complex nature of the WIMP interface implies that existing aids, developed for text based applications, have become difficult or impossible to use for the blind and partially sighted. The authors consider how special hardware enables blind users to interact with existing text based systems