When Melissa Peele first started at MSU, the year was 1994 — before computers became commonplace and digital media was available.

For Peele, who is blind, that meant listening to her textbooks on an audio cassette or sending them off campus to be translated into Braille.

How times have changed.

Today, increased technology has made it possible for blind and visually impaired students on campus to access their class materials in a variety of alternative formats. Books can be converted into electronic files, which can be enlarged on computer screens or even translated into Braille — all right here on campus.

"We've gotten faster, I think," said Peele, who earned her bachelor's degree from MSU in 2000 and her master's degree in 2004. "Test-taking is pretty much the same, but book production has changed a lot since even I first worked on campus."

The percentage of blind and visually impaired students attending postsecondary institutions has climbed from 32.8 percent in 1987 to 66.1 percent in 2003, said Karen Wolffe, director of professional development for the American Foundation for the Blind.

Visually impaired refers to people who are both completely blind and legally blind. Legally blind refers to those with an acuity of 20/200 or worse, or a field of restriction of 20 degrees or less — commonly referred to as "tunnel vision." Wolffe said most people consider blindness to refer to people with no vision at all.

Blind and visually impaired students also are the most likely among students with disabilities to attend colleges or universities.

The reason for the increase can be attributed to both changes in federal law and better accessibility as a result of increased technology, Wolffe said.

"It's a fabulous new world that we live in," she said. "The difference is just incredible in terms of access to technology, access to information."

Federal legislation also has helped pave the way for increased numbers of blind and visually impaired students pursuing higher education.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 — commonly referred to as the ADA — prohibits colleges and universities from discriminating against applicants on the basis of their disabilities and requires they provide students "reasonable accommodations," such as alternative testing options.

Before then, "There was no legislative mandate that the schools open their doors to anyone with a disability," Wolffe said. "Now with ADA, it's just universal."

MSU's Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities works with students to provide any and all accommodations they might need.

Inside the center, there are a number of reservable testing rooms available for students with disabilities. Closed-circuit televisions allow students to scan a document that shows up on a computer screen, and they can enlarge the text using a series of controls. A set of headphones is provided at each computer, which allows students to use voice input software.

About 30 blind or visually impaired students register with the center each academic year — a figure that has remained fairly constant since the 1970s, said Virginia Martz, blindness and visual impairment specialist with the center.

Students register to gain accommodations in the classroom. The students must present documentation of their disability and are assessed to determine their needs. Once this process is completed, Martz said, the students are able to go to their instructors and discuss the necessary accommodations.

"Students come in fairly independent," Martz said. "However, they may not know how to talk about the accommodations they may need."

Elementary education senior Meghan Querro said the center provides her the support she needs to suggest accommodations that would help her in class, rather than approaching her instructors alone.

Without it, she said, "I would have been a lot less willing to talk to my professors and a little more embarrassed."

Querro was born without an iris in each eye and is considered legally blind, or visually impaired. Her sight in her right eye has an acuity of 20/200, and it's even worse in her left.

"I don't notice a difference (between eyes)," she said. "(But) I'm blessed with more vision than most."

The center helped her gain extended time when testing, a device to tape-record class lectures and a bus pass. But she doesn't use much of the accessible technology now available, saying she finds it easier to figure out as many of her own accommodations as she can.

Peele, an alumnus who works with the resource center, translates student textbooks and area restaurant menus — including those of The Peanut Barrel Restaurant and the Kellogg Center — into Braille.

"I would go to a place and say, 'Hey, let me do your menus for you,'" she said. "I explained to them why it's such a great thing. They'd always come back to me when they changed their menu."

One menu takes about a day to convert. She uses voice software that reads aloud what is on the screen, and whatever she types shows up on a Braille window attached to the computer. Part of the challenge, Peele said, is the fact that Braille documents are roughly three times as long as their print counterparts.

Peele, who is fluent in Braille, was born with a form of cancer known as retinal blastoma, which affects the eyes. She lost all vision in her right eye at 4 months old and in her left at age 7.

"Some things still frustrate me," she said. "I generally deal with it pretty well. It's been a long time now. I had periods off and on, even before I was 7, where I couldn't see anything."

There are still things that can make it difficult to get around, such as when people place furniture in hallways without realizing it could affect someone's mobility, Peele said.

"People don't always think before they do things like that," she said. "(But) most day-to-day things I've gotten fairly used to."

As technology develops, the center makes sure to have any alternative technology students might need, Martz said.

"Everybody's always striving to do the best that they can," she said. "Everything can always be improved."