Today there are nearly 19 million Americans who have visual impairments (VI), and this number is set to rise sharply as the population ages. The implications of aging on visual sensory functioning include: declines in visual observation under low illumination; less color discrimination; declines in visual acuity; reductions in the functional field of view; and declines in near vision and visual search (Schulz & Salthouse, 1999). Yet, the reliance of mainstream computing on graphical user interfaces disproportionately emphasizes the visual sensory channel, leaving older adults with VIs at a distinct disadvantage with respect to equitable access to information technologies. This presentation will address the lack of equitable access by people who have prevalent ocular pathologies associated with aging, including Age-related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Retinopathy. Studies will be reported that empirically examine factors affecting the use of direct manipulation interfaces. Participants in the studies were exposed to several different interface conditions, varying both visual and non-visual features between conditions; multimodal feedback was of particular interest as an enhancement to the human-computer interaction. The research empirically validated that the interactions of older adults with VIs are dependent on qualities of their residual vision (e.g., ocular diagnosis, acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visual field), interface characteristics (e.g., size, color, modalities employed), and personal characteristics (e.g., age, education, computer experience, manual dexterity and physical/mental health). The results of these studies have driven the development of commercially viable software that can create customized interface solutions for older adults with VIs. The software uses diagnostic tests to assess a person's ability to interact with a computer to generate a unique profile of their functional abilities and makes automatic enhancements to the interface based on the profile and performance threshold, resulting in a personalized, intelligent, multimodal interface.