Original: In typewriters, a typist would, for example, type a lowercase letter A with acute accent (Ã) by typing a lowercase letter A, backspace and then the acute accent key (also known as overstrike).
Simplified: In typewriters, a typist would, for example, type a lowercase letter "a" with acute accent (Ã) by typing a lowercase letter "a" then backspace, and then the acute accent key (also known as overstrike).