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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?

#21

Post by blondin »

eli555 wrote: post #10

I had a coworker this happened too. He was in his late 40s when this happened and so had to use a screen reader instead of a Braille display. He used edlin over putty on Windows. Since Jaws ran best there for him. He had to stop working on languages like Python where a screen reader is of little help.

> He had to stop working on languages like Python where a screen reader is of little help.

i find this interesting. is it due to the space significance thingy?

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

#22

Post by godzillabrennus »

If you are in the USA then I think the best profession for the blind is the legal trade. Do you have it in you to change careers?

Courts in the USA are by and large accommodating thanks to the ADA.

Your technical background, with the loss of vision, with a legal degree, and I think you’d have a very long, lucrative, and fulfilling career.

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

#23

Post by mburst »

I would recommend trying to study up on Section 508 compliance https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/index.html. It's a set of rules that all government orgs in the US must follow for making sure their content is accessible. If you do end up becoming visually impaired you'll end up with a unique perspective on building accessible websites.

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

#25

Post by mattwad »

I just learned how to make my website accessible to screen readers (using aria labels, tabindex, etc). You should definitely check it out now to learn how it works. I only did part of my website and it seems like a full-time job. I'm not blind, so I am sure I could have done much better if I was more familiar with tools like Mac's VoiceOver. I am sure there's a market for these skills, especially in any company that has a decent amount of users. Best of luck!

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

#28

Post by profitor »

I don't know if this is helpful to you, but recently I stumbled across this[1] post by a blind developer. He's touching briefly on his setup of choice and what tools he chose and why.

[1]https://www.vincit.fi/en/software-development-450-words-per-...

I wish you the best of luck.

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

#30

Post by tjohns »

There are quite a few blind engineers at my company.

Most of the folks I've worked with are either backend engineers or working on frontend accessibility-related features. (Frontend engineering doesn't just include design for sighted users!)

While I don't have any experience myself, I'd recommend looking at braille displays in addition to screen readers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refreshable_braille_display

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