Visual programming and the blind: the challenge and the opportunity

The proliferation of graphical user interfaces has had a dramatic impact on the ability to work as a programmer. It is particularly difficult for the blind to create forms for visual programming applications, such as Visual Basic. A scripting language is introduced that enables the blind to create Visual Basic forms without needing to specify a great deal of detail and without needing the "point and click" approach that they cannot use. Related issues of accommodating the blind in a computer science course are also discussed.