[net.general] terminals for the blind

janc (02/14/83)

      Does anyone know if there is software around to make a microcomputer
      function as a terminal for a visually impaired person?  Such a program
      would print letters 1 to 4 inches tall out of graphics pixels.  There
      would need to be some convenient way to control horizontal scrolling,
      and the print size should be adjustable.  It should be usable, at
      least, as a terminal or a word processor.

      There have long been machines which use a tv camera to display a
      magnified image of a book, or the paper in a typewriter on a screen,
      and these are apparently quite useful, though expensive ($ 2000) and
      bulky.  It seems like something similar could be done fairly easily
      to allow people with low vision to work effectively in many data
      processing and secretarial fields, but I haven't seen anything of
      this sort.

					   -Jan D. Wolter
					   -University of Michigan