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Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#301

Post by reyalteya »

I am a totally blind software engineer. Was also not born blind, but our difference is, I am already blind when I became a software engineer.

However, I made a career shift a few years back due to my frustrations to inaccessible work tools, plus the company where I worked before is not that inclusive. I was disheartened, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the interesting world of digital accessibility opened up for me.

Just thinking.. maybe we can collaborate. From someone who was once sighted and became blind in a not so very young age, maybe we can collaborate. I am very willing to teach you the ropes. not being a software engineer of course. I believe you’re already an expert in that. But more of learning how to be comfortable with being blind while growing in the tech world.

Hope to chat with you soon.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#302

Post by yoloClin »

1337shadow wrote: post #272
bad_user wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understood why Dvorak is a thing. I and others like me can touch type with Qwerty just fine. I can comfortably do 70-90 wpm, which is above my speed of thought. I don't suffer from RSI either and I've been touch typing for 20 years. Also the Qwerty layout is more international. In non-English languages the Dvorak assumptions break down, the layout being optimized for English. And good luck finding Dvorak vers…

I speak 3 languages on Dvorak-alt-intl layout which I have optimized for coding: https://blog.yourlabs.org/posts/2017-12-22-dvorak-intl-code-... Dvorak fixed my RSI problems, it is not possible that Qwerty have the same physical impact than Dvorak because physically a Qwerty typer has to "walk" a lot more distance with their fingers to type the same thing than a Dvorak typer that has all voyels on the home row. You c…

I fee like UI/UX needs to be completely redesigned and dvorak isn't even half (or any) of the battle. Single-key copy/paste, undo/redo, keyboard driven UIs, etc etc. I say this as I type on dvorak and while I love it, I also regret it due to interoperability issues and breaking of common keyboard shortcuts (I miss Ctrl+CVX).

But I just aliased `us` and `dv` to setxkbmap shortcuts, so thanks for that!

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#303

Post by _0w8t »

frabbit wrote: post #111
kolanos wrote: post #47

You can definitely continue as a software engineer. I'm living proof. It won't be easy, especially at first. For a while it will feel like you're working twice as hard just to keep up with your sighted peers. But eventually, the better you get with your tools, you'll find you have some superpowers over your sighted peers. For example, as you get better with a screen reader, you'll be bumping the speech rate up to 1.7…

because code is no longer represented visually as blocks, you'll find you're building an increasingly detailed memory model of your code. Sighted people do this, too, but they tend to visualize in their mind. When you abandon this two dimensional representation, your non-visual mental map suffers no spatial limits That's a really interesting idea to me, because I have been trying to improve my memory and recall (most…

I tried that as well and it does not work for me. What works is association with some stories. For example, to remember a credit card number I associate each 2 digits with a year that gives an event and then the number is a sequence of events.

What also works for me to train memory is to learn phrases in a foreign language that I do not understand. Surprisingly combining those with text I do understand leads to better recall of the whole text. It is almost as understanding harms memory.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#304

Post by james_s_tayler »

richardw wrote: post #164
27182818284 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar experience for when I taught myself the Dvorak layout years ago. My fingers learned the common motion for whole words first. Actually, I'm not sure I could draw the layout of the qwerty keyboard I'm typing on right now from memory either.

Just for a laugh, try changing your phone keyboard to Dvorak. It seemed like a good idea but felt alien to see the keys I naturally use. Swiping was just ridiculous. Obviously it’s just practice but I don’t mind using qwerty on my phone. It keeps it vaguely present in my memory.

Funny story. I started learning Colemak must have been close to a year ago now. I switched my home computer and phone to Colemak, but kept my work computer on Qwerty as I wasn't quite ready to suffer the initial productivity hit even though I knew I needed to do it in order to really breakthrough. In the end I couldn't commit, so I switched everything back. About 6 months later my wife received a text while she was driving and asked me to reply to it. I picked up her phone and fumbled through typing out a reply. Something felt off. I opened up my phone to compare. I had never switched my phone back to Qwerty and my brain had completely adjusted. So much so that I didn't even realize my keyboard had been Colemak for the last 6 months.

It's still Colemak to this day.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#305

Post by kolanos »

anonytrary wrote: post #242
kolanos wrote: post #47

You can definitely continue as a software engineer. I'm living proof. It won't be easy, especially at first. For a while it will feel like you're working twice as hard just to keep up with your sighted peers. But eventually, the better you get with your tools, you'll find you have some superpowers over your sighted peers. For example, as you get better with a screen reader, you'll be bumping the speech rate up to 1.7…

> you'll be bumping the speech rate up to 1.75-2X normal speech Try 5-6x. I've met some blind people who listen to audio so fast, it sounds like noise to me. As someone who isn't blind, I regularly listen to lectures and audiobooks on 1.75-2.5x (depending on the base rate) without issues, but 6x is just something else entirely. > Typos will be easily spotted as they just won't "sound right". Really good way to descri…

> Try 5-6x. I've met some blind people who listen to audio so fast, it sounds like noise to me. As someone who isn't blind, I regularly listen to lectures and audiobooks on 1.75-2.5x (depending on the base rate) without issues, but 6x is just something else entirely.

Yes, indeed. I was writing that original comment for someone just getting started. What ends up happening is no matter how fast the speech rate is, you'll eventually get used to it and your brain will grow impatient. So you'll bump the rate up another 0.25 and rinse and repeat. Pretty soon it's incomprehensible to anyone but you.

I'm pretty sure anyone can get used to 2X+ without much effort. After a while you'll wonder how you ever listened to speech at a normal rate. Be careful, though, as I've found myself grow impatient listening to people in real life and can trace it back to my high-speed listening habits.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#306

Post by michaelmior »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #143
michaelmior wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any tips on how to start then? I used to know all the letters in Morse code but it was basically just learning the chart as you mentioned. I've since forgotten most of the alphabet.

Once you learn all the letters, as you walk around, pick various items you encounter, and say their name in Morse code. A car: "dah-dit-dah-dit. Dit-dah. Dit-darrrr-dit." For fun, pronounce "R" like a pirate would.

Thanks for this one. I haven't heard this suggestion before. I'll keep that in mind if I ever try to pick it up again :)

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#307

Post by james_s_tayler »

yoloClin wrote: post #302
1337shadow wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I speak 3 languages on Dvorak-alt-intl layout which I have optimized for coding: https://blog.yourlabs.org/posts/2017-12-22-dvorak-intl-code-... Dvorak fixed my RSI problems, it is not possible that Qwerty have the same physical impact than Dvorak because physically a Qwerty typer has to "walk" a lot more distance with their fingers to type the same thing than a Dvorak typer that has all voyels on the home row. You c…

I fee like UI/UX needs to be completely redesigned and dvorak isn't even half (or any) of the battle. Single-key copy/paste, undo/redo, keyboard driven UIs, etc etc. I say this as I type on dvorak and while I love it, I also regret it due to interoperability issues and breaking of common keyboard shortcuts (I miss Ctrl+CVX). But I just aliased `us` and `dv` to setxkbmap shortcuts, so thanks for that!

That's what Colemak is for. IMO no one should consider learning Dvorak these days.

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#308

Post by selckin »

kolanos wrote: post #305
anonytrary wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you'll be bumping the speech rate up to 1.75-2X normal speech Try 5-6x. I've met some blind people who listen to audio so fast, it sounds like noise to me. As someone who isn't blind, I regularly listen to lectures and audiobooks on 1.75-2.5x (depending on the base rate) without issues, but 6x is just something else entirely. > Typos will be easily spotted as they just won't "sound right". Really good way to descri…

> Try 5-6x. I've met some blind people who listen to audio so fast, it sounds like noise to me. As someone who isn't blind, I regularly listen to lectures and audiobooks on 1.75-2.5x (depending on the base rate) without issues, but 6x is just something else entirely. Yes, indeed. I was writing that original comment for someone just getting started. What ends up happening is no matter how fast the speech rate is, you'…

Does it affect listening to music? Does it also trigger the impatience?

Re: Ask HN: I'm a software engineer going blind, how should I prepare?

#309

Post by michaelmior »

vidanay wrote: post #106
michaelmior wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any tips on how to start then? I used to know all the letters in Morse code but it was basically just learning the chart as you mentioned. I've since forgotten most of the alphabet.

It's called Koch's method. http://www.justlearnmorsecode.com/koch.html https://www.qsl.net/n1irz/finley.morse.html

I'll have to try that. I've tried some acoustical training before, but not starting at full speed like Koch's method.
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