* * *

You may recall a past column in which I wrote of enrolling in a Visual BASIC course, which was followed the next week by a concession of defeat. Summer vacation is over and I am back in school -- back in the same classroom, with a different instructor but the same visual training method; this time, however, I have more time with which to fashion a stratagem.

Computer programming -- as well as computing itself -- has become increasingly visual and intuitive, and the GUI (Graphic User Interface) has become increasingly complex. While this has enabled the average computer user to complete more complex tasks with far greater ease, it makes many tasks all but impossible for blind users to accomplish. But the bigger the challenge the bigger the victory, right?

That's all I really have to say this week. I'll let you know how it goes. For now, though, I've got tapes to which I must listen.