Touch Typing for the Visually Impaired

In the digital world, it is almost impossible to distinguish a blind user from a sighted one. People who are fully or partially visually impaired use computers and smartphones just as actively as everyone else. They work, study, teach, use social media, leave comments, play games, and run video blogs. However, their user experience is fundamentally different: instead of being visual, it is based on sound and touch.

No one knows the exact number of blind or visually impaired people in Russia. At the beginning of 2024, official statistics counted nearly 450,000 people with visual disabilities, including 27,000 children. Another study estimated that by 2025 the number of visually impaired people in Russia could reach 6.2 million. The difference is largely explained by the fact that many people struggle to obtain official disability status and therefore remain invisible to statistics.

Researchers agree on one thing: the number of visually impaired and blind users will continue to grow.

As a result, the demand for accessible digital environments is growing as well. While developing our touch typing platform and training tools, we were surprised to discover how difficult it is to find similar services designed for blind users. Most existing platforms fail to meet even basic accessibility standards. Which raises an important question: why is modern online touch typing education still inaccessible to the people who need it the most?

To understand how to build an accessible service, we studied the user experience of blind people, explored the tools they rely on, and even tried living without a monitor or mouse ourselves. Here’s what we learned.

How Visually Impaired People Use Computers

“How is this even possible?” — that’s the first thought many people have when they see a blind programmer at work. The monitor is turned off, there’s no mouse, headphones are on, and fingers confidently fly across the keyboard. At first glance, it seems impossible to work without visual control — until you start understanding the technology behind it.

The Main Tools and Techniques That Make Computer Use Accessible

• Braille keyboard stickers — tactile stickers with raised Braille symbols placed on keyboard keys. Braille itself was invented in 1824 by Louis Braille, a student at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, based on a military “night writing” system created by Charles Barbier. These stickers help blind users identify keys by touch and type without visual guidance. They are especially useful when first learning the keyboard, although many users eventually stop needing them as muscle memory develops.

• Touch typing — a method of typing with all ten fingers without looking at the keyboard. It was developed in 1878 by Frank McGurrin, a sighted typist searching for the fastest and most accurate typing technique. He discovered that the most effective approach was proper hand positioning, assigning specific keys to each finger, and building muscle memory through repetition. Once a blind user masters touch typing, they are already halfway toward fully independent computer use.

• Screen readers — accessibility software that converts on-screen text into speech. Screen readers allow blind users to understand what is happening on the screen by voicing menus, text, notifications, and interface elements. One of the first major screen readers, JAWS, was created in 1989 by Ted Henter, an American who lost his sight in a car accident. Since then, many alternatives have appeared, including the free and widely used NVDA screen reader.

• Screen magnification software — tools designed for users with low vision, often combined with voice support. For example, MAGic includes speech features powered by JAWS. These programs allow users not only to see enlarged interface elements but also to hear what is happening on the screen. This combination is especially valuable for people gradually losing their vision, helping them transition more comfortably to non-visual computer interaction.

• Braille displays — devices that convert digital text into tactile Braille output using dynamic six-dot Braille cells. However, these devices are far less common among visually impaired users. The main reason is cost: prices range from roughly $1,500 to over $10,000. In addition, many users find screen readers sufficient for their daily needs.

Testing Our Touch Typing Trainer for Accessibility

To better understand the challenges, we installed screen readers and tried navigating both our own website and similar typing platforms using only a keyboard. Through hands-on testing, we reached several important conclusions:

• Accessibility must be considered from the very beginning — during both design and development. In our case, the screen reader often read information in the wrong order, while some interface elements could only be activated with a mouse. Every interactive element should work properly with Tab, arrow keys, Enter, and Space.

• Most touch typing trainers rely heavily on visual feedback. For blind users, that makes them almost unusable. Even audio instructions alone are not enough, because touch typing exercises often contain difficult combinations of letters, symbols, and punctuation marks that are hard to process through speech.

• Traditional touch typing trainers are not suitable for complete beginners who are just learning the keyboard layout. At this stage, Braille stickers are extremely helpful. They compensate for the lack of visual guidance by serving as a kind of “physical keyboard map.” Over time, as muscle memory develops, users no longer need them.

• Visually impaired users interested in touch typing trainers are often already able to touch type. However, they still want to improve typing speed and accuracy in order to feel more confident using computers and avoid constantly double-checking their input. This is exactly the problem accessible typing trainers should solve.

Accessibility Checklist for a Touch Typing Trainer

As we worked toward creating a comfortable and accessible service for blind users, we put together a detailed checklist of the most important things to consider when building an inclusive website.

1. Interface structure and accessibility:

   • Proper semantic HTML so screen readers can correctly interpret website elements.
   • Responsive design that works consistently across devices and zoom levels.
   • Full keyboard accessibility with logical focus order.
   • Hidden element support using appropriate accessibility attributes such as aria-hidden.
   • ARIA labels and roles (aria-label, aria-describedby, etc.) to clearly explain interface elements.

2. Development and functionality:

   • Testing with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack.
   • Minimizing mouse dependency and supporting full keyboard navigation.
   • Avoiding reliance on visual-only hints.
   • Using WAI-ARIA live regions (aria-live) for dynamically updated content.

3. Design:

   • Clear button labels, form descriptions, and heading hierarchy (h1, h2, h3).
   • Reducing visual clutter and limiting unnecessary animations.
   • Voice navigation and audio guidance throughout the interface.
   • Optional sound effects for errors, successes, and exercise events.

4. Features for an accessible touch typing trainer:

   • Audio-based exercises and dictation modes:
     • learning keyboard layout through voice guidance and Braille stickers;
     • reading letters, words, and sentences at adjustable intervals;
     • typing back spoken letters or phrases;
     • spoken feedback on typing speed and accuracy after exercises.
   • Adjustable speech speed.
   • Detailed feedback:
     • explaining mistakes (for example: “You typed F instead of J”);
     • notifying users about milestones (“30 words per minute reached”).
   • Different practice modes:
     • dictation typing;
     • random character combinations;
     • speed and accuracy drills.
   • Personalization:
     • customizable vocabulary lists;
     • adjustable exercise length.

5. Additional features:

   • Voice-controlled settings menus.
   • Accessible progress statistics showing speed, accuracy, and learning dynamics.
   • Integration with Braille devices and Braille displays.

Our Goal for 2025: Make Online Touch Typing Education Accessible

Modern technology opens entirely new opportunities for blind and visually impaired users, allowing them to fully participate in digital life. Yet many existing services remain inaccessible or require significant improvements. Touch typing trainers present a particularly important challenge because they must account for the unique ways visually impaired users interact with computers.

Anyone who builds digital products knows how much time and effort stand behind every line of code. The accessibility checklist we created is only the first step toward making our touch typing trainer truly inclusive. Implementing these ideas will take time, but it is a necessary process that can remove invisible barriers and make learning more comfortable, effective, and accessible for more people.