ABSTRACT
According to the 1990 U.S. Census of Population, there are approximately 1.1 million individuals registered as legally blind and up to 3 million reporting severe vision impairment. Yet another 3 to 4 million are visually impaired to the degree that they cannot drive and/or have difficulty reading signs or printed material. The most fundamental needs of visually impaired or blind populations include access to information (particularly that presented in written format), accessibility to the environment, and independence of movement. Our focus here is on the latter two needs.
