Since the beginning of computer production, various efforts have been made to adapt them for the use of the blind. So in early eighties there were blind users who were using the popular APPLE 2 computers, which used "a monitor for the blind" (a Braille line) instead a monitor for the sighted persons.

Personal computer

The personal computer for the blind is being developed for PC compatible hardware running the Linux operating system, with a working title Talking Linux for the Blind (TLB).

An audio desktop will be used in order to bypass the visual approach of point and click interface. The audio desktop is text-to-speech engine combined with software voice synthesis. A blind user interacts with the computer primarily through a keyboard, and the computer gives the user voice feedback through the audio desktop.
This system would allow a user to run the most common computer applications:
Address book, calendar, e-mail, and news services, web browsing, text editing, fax software, voice messaging, audio applications such as CD/MPEG players, web stream software, etc.

Furthermore, efforts are being made to include optical character recognition in the system, which would make it possible for the computer to read any text a blind user feeds it through a scanner.

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What is a Braille line?

As the sighted people read the text from a screen, so the blind people can read it from a Braille line. The main differences is between the alphabets which are used, but there are also some other differences. A sighted user can have a whole page displayed on the screen, while a blind person can have displayed only one line. If you are a Braille line user, after having read the current line you can easily pass to the next and so to the end of the page or the book.

At the same time, another, completely different system for blind users, based on different principles, has been developed. Instead of reading a document on your own, the computer reads it for you using voice synthesis. During the eighties, computers were not able to produce speech and that was the reason why an external unit was used. This external unit is defined as a speech synthesizer.

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What is a speech synthesizer ?

It is an external device connected to the computer that enables the blind to use it. The computer sends the text from the screen to the speech synthesizer which is then being spoken by it. It is very simple, isn't it? But, it is not so simple as it may seem to us: the computer uses a special programmer which sends the right text to the synthesizer.
These specialized programers are called "Screen readers".

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What is a screen reader ?

The text displayed on the screen, should come on a determined way to the speech synthesizer. It means that the speech synthesizer separates the words and the characters of the text from the screen and then it sends the text word by word to the speech synthesizer which speaks it out. Consequently, The system which includes a computer, a screen reader, and a speech synthesizer, is a system completely adapted for a blind user.
In view of the above, blind persons can access a computer using two systems: using either speech synthesizer or Braille line. Your choice depends on your preferences as well as on your budget. For the comparison: a Braille line costs 40000 kn and a speech synthesizer costs 7000 kn. Each device requires its speech synthesizer which costs at least 3500 kn more.

Nevertheless, the story doesn't end here because the eighties are far behind us. Speech synthesizers and Braille lines are still present and their technical features have been improved in many aspects. But, today, every PC has the sound system capable of producing speech. By the aid of a text-to-speech engine every PC can talk. It requires only an appropriate sound card and a program.
In this case the program will produce speech and completely replace the external speech synthesizer. Nowadays, screen readers are usually accompanied by speech programs, so that you are purchasing a screen reader and a speech program at the same time.

But this is not valid for everyone. So if you are American, or if you speak English well, the system that consists of a computer and a speech program will be enough. Here we are talking about a pogrom which costs only 3500 kn. The problem comes up if you are not American and if the English is not your second language. The real problem appears when you want to write a document in Croatian. You could write a Croatian text, but your computer will read Croatian English. It sounds as if an American read a Croatian text. Even the most skillful blind computer user would not understand it. Unfortunately we still have no Croatian speech synthesizer.

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Completely closed system

A hardware integrated unit which contains all the components: the scanner, the keyboard, and the computer.
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Semi-open system

The system which contains all the classic PC components, not integrated in one hardware unit.
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Open system

The system to which several external units can be connected: a monitor, a scanner, a Braille line. It is a normal PC with a software adapted for the blind enabling them to read and write. Easily.