An account is given of the social, economic, and technical factors surrounding the development of reading aids or devices for blind people. It is shown that these factors interact in such a way as to seriously constrain the approaches that can be made to device design. The progress being made in the research, development, and deployment of several types of reading devices is described to illustrate how the various constraints have affected the design goals and methods of deployment. Emphasis is laid on the development of reading machines with voice output because, ultimately, they are the most likely types of devices to be widely accepted by the blind. Looking ahead to full deployment of such devices before the end of this decade, the paper concludes with a summary of the research, development, and organizational needs that must be met.