The Mercator Environment : A Nonvisual Interface to X Windows and Unix

User interfaces to computer workstations are heavily dependent on visual information. These Graph-ical User Interfaces, commonly found on powerful desktop computers, are almost completely inaccessible to blind and visually impaired individuals. In order to make these types of computers accessible to non-sighted users, it will be necessary to develop a new interface which replaces the visual communication with audio and tactile communication. This paper describes the Mercator Environment|an auditory and tactile interface to X Windows and Unix workstations designed for the visually impaired.