->  WC> When I was in Voc Rehab a blind gentleman learning programming
->  WC> with "JAWS" speech software.

->  WC> He had no difficulty using it to complete the course
->  WC> and be hired right out of school.

->  WC> This is commercial software, perhaps medicare would
->  WC> pick up the tab?

-> There was a piece of Shareware that would tack onto BW giving a
-> synthesized voice. Ever hear of that? 
   
Nope.

-> $30 or something to register it,
-> if there is anyone maintaining it at all today.

I've still got my original Sound Blaster ISA sound card and Creative
CD-ROM from 1994 and it comes with \sb16\sbtalker.exe
which will read out any text file.
Still works.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5