The Internet helps with these problems. Also, because the Internet is a trendy medium for communication for everyone and as it is a faceless medium, people do not know if you are visually impaired or not, and communication is on a level playing field. It is easier to be independent using email, as you are not relying on people to emboss or read letters. However, at the end of the day, Peter said no matter how good the information on the Internet, he will always want access to the real thing, paper copies, and he is sure Braille will not be supplanted by the Internet. Other problems for the visually impaired trying to gain access to information on the Internet begins with the cost of hardware and software.
Training is the next problem.
Most training up till now for the visually impaired has been on DOS and not Windows which you need for most Internet software. Peter and others like him 'find it difficult to get their head round Windows'. Once on the Internet, much of it is inaccessible to the visually impaired, for example graphics. People need to be made to think about their Web pages at the design stage. Careful design and coding of information can alleviate access barriers, for example, every graphical image should have associated text.