Access technology such as Freedom Scientific's JAWS for Windows screen reading software enable the blind to use mainstream computer applications. Most legally blind people (70% of them across all ages, according to the Lighthouse for the Blind) do not use computers. Only a small fraction of this population, when compared to the sighted community, have Internet access. This bleak outlook is changing, however, as availability of assistive technology increases, accompanied by concerted efforts to insure the accessibility of information technology to all potential users, including the blind.
The movement towards greater web accessibility is opening a far wider number of web sites to adaptive technology, making the web a more inviting place for visually impaired surfers.
Experimental approaches such as the seeing with sound project are beginning to provide access to arbitrary live views from a camera.