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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?

#51

Post by kolanos »

istorical wrote: post #7

Biggest advice, start programming with your monitor covered up by a sheet or turned off now while you still have the option to turn it back on to figure out what you just did. Gradually have it turned off for longer periods without turning it on to see what's happening until you can do it without seeing it at all.

On Macs, there's a screen curtain feature that can be turned on and off. The shortcut is FN+CTRL+OPTION+SHIFT+-. It might be different on older versions of OSX, used to use the right option key, but I've forgotten the keystrokes.

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

#52

Post by kolanos »

soneca wrote: post #48
Waterluvian wrote: post #19

I just want to throw this out there, just in case you haven't deeply considered it. I'm sure others will answer your question more properly. Have you considered that maybe you don't want to be doing software engineering and with this precious remaining time would rather prepare for something entirely different? Not sure what your financial situation will be or if you live somewhere with sufficient social support, but…

I am failing to see where are you coming from with this. If anything, changing careers to software development made me live a more fulfilling life in the last 3 years. What would be your suggestion for the best way to live a full and fulfilling life?

Do what you're passionate about. You're going to have a learning curve no matter what, might as well enjoy the ramp up as much as possible.

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

#53

Post by oaabhilash »

I am a Software Engineer and my spouse has limited vision. These is based on my experience 1. Use your remaining time with vision to be really really good at touch typing. I mean, you should be able to any character without looking at the keyboard. 2. My spouse finds these magnifiers really useful to read small text. Hoping you can use these if you can retain some vision. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EV0XP8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b.... 3. Learn how to use the Accessibility features in Windows, Mac, Android, Linux and ios. Learn the shortcuts. You should think about how to use the tools for low vision (magnifier) and no vision (Audio aids and other stuff) 4. Learn the ADA standards for applications and be an advocate for visually impaired. At my own work, I try to use every opportunity to push for more accessible applications. However there so many software applications deployed to Enterprise every day, without any accessibility considerations. Being a software engineer, I implore you to be a champion for this cause. 5. People who grew up using computers from the 90s are turning older now. Next 10 to 20 years they will demand the applications they use to be accessible. As an industry, we will need to change the way we do business. 6. Know that this is going to be Mental Health / emotional challenge as well. Get help if needed

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

#56

Post by eddieh »

As I'm already an Emacs user, I'd start by looking at what Emacspeak (http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net) can offer. Since Emacs itself is way more than a text editor this package is also much more than that. It isn't just a screen reader, instead it is an audio based desktop that does email, web, news, plays games, keeps notes, calendars, writes computer languages, etc.

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

#57

Post by Waterluvian »

soneca wrote: post #48
Waterluvian wrote: post #19

I just want to throw this out there, just in case you haven't deeply considered it. I'm sure others will answer your question more properly. Have you considered that maybe you don't want to be doing software engineering and with this precious remaining time would rather prepare for something entirely different? Not sure what your financial situation will be or if you live somewhere with sufficient social support, but…

I am failing to see where are you coming from with this. If anything, changing careers to software development made me live a more fulfilling life in the last 3 years. What would be your suggestion for the best way to live a full and fulfilling life?

I'm glad it's fulfilling for you. It is for me too. What I said wasn't an indictment on software engineering as a source of joy.

I think many 24 year olds have spent so much of their recent years thinking about their career that they might miss the fact that there's so much more to life. This time might be better spent in other ways too. I just want to nudge this individual towards considering those things too.

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

#58

Post by ashilfarahmand »

exdsq wrote: post #6

One thing to consider is to write a blog on accessibility - it’ll help expose issues to those who develop developer tools which is great but it’ll also help you get exposure for getting work.

I was thinking the exact same thing! It would be something I would definitely be interested in reading just to get a different perspective on how different people approach a site.

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

#59

Post by mcv »

I have no experience with being blind, and I can't imagine what it's like. I can only wish you the best, and hope it progresses as slowly as possible.

I do know one reason why a blind front-end developer can be very valuable for a company: there are a lot of blind people out there, and they need to be able to use the web too. For this reason, a lot of companies care a lot about accessibility, and so do a lot of developers. But despite those best efforts, those developers keep dropping the ball without even noticing, because they don't experience it. As a blind developer, you will notice when something your team has built, doesn't work for blind people. This can be very valuable in the right situation.

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