Editing Screen reader (section)

=== Command-line (text) ===

In early [[operating system]]s, such as [[MS-DOS]], which employed [[command-line interface]]s (<abbr>CLI</abbr>s), the screen display consisted of [[Character (computing)|characters]] [[Memory-mapped I/O|mapping]] directly to a [[screen buffer]] in [[Computer memory|memory]] and a [[Cursor (computers)|cursor]] position. Input was by keyboard. All this information could therefore be obtained from the system either by [[hooking]] the flow of information around the system and reading the screen buffer or by using a standard hardware output socket<ref>{{cite web
| title=Talking Terminals. BYTE, September 1982
| url=http://www.edstoffel.com/david/talkingterminals.html
| access-date=September 7, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060625225004/http://www.edstoffel.com/david/talkingterminals.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 25, 2006}}</ref> and communicating the results to the user.

In the 1980s, the Research Centre for the Education of the Visually Handicapped (<abbr>RCEVH</abbr>) at the [[University of Birmingham]] developed a Screen Reader for the [[BBC Micro]] and <!--abbr?-->NEC Portable.<ref>Paul Blenkhorn, "The <abbr>RCEVH</abbr> project on micro-computer systems and computer assisted learning", British Journal of Visual Impairment, 4/3, 101-103 (1986). [http://www.visugate.biz/bjvi/1986/autumn1986.html#RCEVH Free HTML version at Visugate].</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Access to personal computers using speech synthesis. RNIB New Beacon No.76, May 1992 | date=March 3, 2014| url=http://www.rnib.org.uk/information-everyday-living-using-technology-beginners-guides/beginners-guide-assistive-technology}}</ref>