Development of an Accessible User Interface for People Who Are Blind Or Vision Impaired As Part of the Re-Computerisation of Royal Blind Society (Organization Overview‪)‬

INTRODUCTION As part of an upgrade of its online computer systems and applications, Royal Blind Society (RBS) has collaborated with Deen Systems (DS) in the development of a new user interface optimised for access by blind or vision impaired (BVI) people. The design and special features of this user interface are the main focus of this article. "User interface" refers to those aspects of a computer program which display information to the user and which interpret and/or elicit input (i.e., commands to be issued from the keyboard) from the user. Because the user interface described below is intended for use by vision impaired people, it is referred to here as the VI interface to distinguish it from the regular interface. Three main groups of business applications will ultimately be available in this integrated environment: marketing and fund raising system, client tracking and service delivery statistics system and, finally, a system to track and coordinate the production of alternative format materials and to handle circulation and cataloguing of library materials.