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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?

#81

Post by RobMurray »

I have been blind since birth. I recommend downloading NVDA, a free screen reader for windows, and getting used to using it for basic computer use. Getting used to hearing the speech as fast as possible is key to being able to use it efficiently.

You said you have hearing loss. Is it bad enough to make speech output useless? If so you would need to learn braille.

I would never try front end design as I have no idea what it should look like, but you may still be able to do it if you have an image in your head of what you are trying to achieve. You would just have to ask someone to check it.

Python is not a problem with screen readers, contrary to what someone else said. The screen reader can be set to report the indentation level. In fact I can't think of any text based language that wouldn't be usable with a screen reader. Tools are a different story. Some work and some don't.

Feel free to contact me if you would like any more information, weather it's about computers or not. rob at mur.org.uk

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

#82

Post by ddevault »

hatsunearu wrote: post #66
ddevault wrote: post #13

I recommend using a tiling window manager - they allow you to organize windows logically, rather than spatially. I have also written some plugins for using Vim (text editing) and Weechat (IRC chat) with speech synthesis: https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/dotfiles/tree/master/lib/vim/vim... https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/dotfiles/tree/master/.weechat/py... And I have a script for Sway (a tiling window manager) which also gives…

Are you sighted?

Not perfectly, and not for long. I wear glasses, but they only do so much, and my vision worsens every year. I use some light assistive technologies on the daily - higher contrast, large fonts, zooming in on things. To test the tools I linked to, I spend the occasional workday with all of my monitors turned off, relying on these tools to get work done. I also have a braille reader that I occasionally pull out.

I have a different philosophy and approach to using computers than most, and that affects my views on accessibility. Stapling a screenreader onto a graphical application, for example, to me seems like the wrong approach. Text-based applications are much more accessible, and these are my bread and butter. To this end, my work on accessibility involves making more information available as text, organized logically rather than spatially, and making it easier to access and manipulate that information with vision impairments (and other sorts of impairments, too).

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

#83

Post by dan-robertson »

fctorial wrote: post #20

You should try out a lisp. They have the simplest syntax and the code is quite concise. > This code turned out to be a lot more complicated than I anticipated. The patch ended up adding a hundred lines of Arc. A hundred lines of Arc! Do you have any idea how many lines of Arc that is? I just looked through the history and the last commit that added that many lines of code was over two years ago when we got Arc to com…

Counting parents without being able to see indentation sounds like hell but surely there are alternative solutions.

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

#84

Post by symisc_devel »

We do offer a custom version of our OCR reader app for Vision Impaired persons. The app require minimal interaction with the user. Just a single will trigger the phone camera, you have to take a picture and the text language is automatically recognized and played back aloud in your default language and accent with built-in translation powered by Google.

The OCR is powered by PixLab[1] and is damn good. The application homepage is https://i2s.symisc.net. If you are interested in trying the Vision Impaired version, let me know via chm at symisc dot net.

[1] https://pixlab.io/cmd?id=docscan

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

#85

Post by zachrip »

jll29 wrote: post #71

SAP had or has a blind developer at their Walldorf, Germany headquarters. As of 2000, he was using a Braille line. Perhaps back-end work is easier without vision, in particular databases. I hope you get to travel a bit whilst you can still see - catch some beautiful memories (nature) while you can... that's what I would do. All the best!

I spent last summer working remotely traveling a lot of Western Europe mostly by myself and it changed my life. I'd never left the country before and here I was dropped off in Oslo at 1am by myself. Now I have so many memories and I take time most days to look at the pictures I took to try and build stronger mental imagery that I can remember. I wish everyone had the opportunity to do so.

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

#86

Post by forgotmypw23 »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #63

I don't have any answer for Zach (the poster), but I feel a big need to share my feelings about this. I'm sipping a decent morning coffee, I'm in Japan, whereas my home is San Francisco. I've been here for ~5 weeks, trying to escape the coronavirus disaster that is unfolding in the US, and trying to enjoy spring in Japan as well. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford a few weeks abroad without too many money worries.…

I had a similar experience with my career, and after a lot of trying and moping, I recognized it as an opportunity to work and do what i love, without compromise. is there anything that you've been dreaming of working on?

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

#87

Post by zachrip »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #63

I don't have any answer for Zach (the poster), but I feel a big need to share my feelings about this. I'm sipping a decent morning coffee, I'm in Japan, whereas my home is San Francisco. I've been here for ~5 weeks, trying to escape the coronavirus disaster that is unfolding in the US, and trying to enjoy spring in Japan as well. I'm lucky enough to be able to afford a few weeks abroad without too many money worries.…

This experience has been so humbling. I grew up in a rough household and when I had barely scraped myself past high school graduation and gotten work as a SWE and eventually made it to some fortune 50 companies I thought I had life figured out. Then I started bumping into things and struggling playing my favorite games. My eye doctor casually telling me I have RP and discovering I'd be going blind in the parking lot post appointment really knocked me on my ass.

But there are silver linings. I was born with severe hearing loss but it's stable and corrected with hearing aids. I don't have any balance issues (I have USH2A, which only results in hearing/vision loss). I'm so fortunate to have experienced all that I have and all that I will. Thank you for the kind words.

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

#90

Post by taywrobel »

I’m not sure if you’re willing to consider a change of employer, but when I worked at Apple, their accessibility team never ceased to amaze me. They have several blind, as well as deaf and paralyzed engineers on their A11Y team. I’d argue that’s a large part of why the accessibility story on iOS is as good as it is. Having engineers that have various disabilities work on the accessibility of their products helps ensure that solutions genuinely solve problems in an effective way.

I know you may not want to have your disability define your career, but if working to help others that have the same affliction appeals to you, let me know. I’m not there any more, but still have connections I could reach out to for you.

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