A nice idea would be to use the touchscreen as a relative device (like computer touchpads) instead of absolute positioning device. Multitouch would help here but we can do without.

Let's assume you are in the Maemo menu. A swipe down would go to the next app down, a swipe right to the right. A screen reader should read the icon names and when you reach what you need you can tap to activate. Camera button can be mapped to cycle desktop, dashboard, menu shortcutd and keyboard can be used for typing. A double tap could be used for other interactions e.g. back button, or send button.