Here's a reddit thread with that same question, about three years later
http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/ke5ao/how_can_y...
How can you program if you're blind?
11–20 of 48 posts
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#12I was developing a Liferay portal for a client which needed (in my idea) complete accessibility. I used my iPad to move in the page and was a big experience, most of my initial design was not tested over visual appearance but semantic accessibility.
If you own an iOS device do activate VoiceOver and try to surf YOUR applications (and more important, your WEB applications). Even better, let someone else do it for you.
You'll discover how hard and difficult can be to READ a page not designed to be read but scanned with eyes.
Please, do it. Blind people have the same right to access your content and features.
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#13I'm reminded of an interesting story from a great podcast (99% invisible) about a blind architect.
http://podbean.99percentinvisible.org/2010/11/19/99-invisibl...
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#14I have a coworker who is blind that gave a presentation a couple months ago about creating accessible websites. This isn't really about how to code; instead it is more about how to make websites accessible. He has a couple demos of using JAWS.
http://blog.nerdery.com/2012/01/developing-accessible-websit...
Also, I recognize the irony of a video presentation about browsing the web blind.
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#15I was developing a Liferay portal for a client which needed (in my idea) complete accessibility. I used my iPad to move in the page and was a big experience, most of my initial design was not tested over visual appearance but semantic accessibility. If you own an iOS device do activate VoiceOver and try to surf YOUR applications (and more important, your WEB applications). Even better, let someone else do it for you.…
They have "a right to access your content"?
Is there a law specifying this? What are the penalties for breaking the law?
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#16None of the answers were about the questions I had about how to program when you're blind. While the tools they use are interesting. I'm more concerned with how you would browse the code. Say you wanted to find a method, how do you scroll in a large file to locate it? I guess deft use of find & go to definition helps out here. How do you locate a line of code in a large function? Do you have to listen for the screen…
This is certainly one of the harder aspects of programming blind - particularly tackling a large, unfamiliar, codebase. In the case of a new project, I build up a mental map of how the program works - and memorise the conceptual organisation. With an existing codebase go-to-definition is invaluable, and stepping through in a debugger is just as useful for a blind person as for anyone - you get to see the lines in the order of execution.
This does influence my personal coding style - I always have the entry point at the top, which makes use of meaningful named methods - so it looks like the table of contents of a book. Next come the second level methods - and so forth, until the small auxiliary methods are way at the bottom. This lets me read it top-to-bottom, like a story. Much of this is just good coding practice - but, for example, I find it really frustrating to read code where functions must be defined before they are used - this results in details first, outline last - which makes it hard to build up that mental model (remember, I'm listening to the code line by line - no spinning the mousewheel).
Finally, I'm going to use this comment to express my dislike for underlines (yes, I'm looking at you, Ruby). Every underline adds three syllables to my audio stream - whereas screen readers read cammalCaseCode as separate words.
Feel to ping me @SaqibS on Twitter.
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#17None of the answers were about the questions I had about how to program when you're blind. While the tools they use are interesting. I'm more concerned with how you would browse the code. Say you wanted to find a method, how do you scroll in a large file to locate it? I guess deft use of find & go to definition helps out here. How do you locate a line of code in a large function? Do you have to listen for the screen…
This is certainly one of the harder aspects of programming blind - particularly tackling a large, unfamiliar, codebase. In the case of a new project, I build up a mental map of how the program works - and memorise the conceptual organisation. With an existing codebase go-to-definition is invaluable, and stepping through in a debugger is just as useful for a blind person as for anyone - you get to see the lines in the order of execution.
This does influence my personal coding style - I always have the entry point at the top, which makes use of meaningful named methods - so it looks like the table of contents of a book. Next come the second level methods - and so forth, until the small auxiliary methods are way at the bottom. This lets me read it top-to-bottom, like a story. Much of this is just good coding practice - but, for example, I find it really frustrating to read code where functions must be defined before they are used - this results in details first, outline last - which makes it hard to build up that mental model (remember, I'm listening to the code line by line - no spinning the mousewheel).
Finally, I'm going to use this comment to express my dislike for underlines (yes, I'm looking at you, Ruby). Every underline adds three syllables to my audio stream - whereas screen readers read cammalCaseCode as separate words.
Feel to ping me @SaqibS on Twitter.
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#18I was developing a Liferay portal for a client which needed (in my idea) complete accessibility. I used my iPad to move in the page and was a big experience, most of my initial design was not tested over visual appearance but semantic accessibility. If you own an iOS device do activate VoiceOver and try to surf YOUR applications (and more important, your WEB applications). Even better, let someone else do it for you.…
They have "a right to access your content"? Is there a law specifying this? What are the penalties for breaking the law?
I see what you're getting at, but I think you're being a bit douchey about it.
Of course blind people do not have a "right" to access his content. Neither does anyone else. There is no law anywhere that says "X person or group has an inalienable right to view Google". That doesn't mean we shouldn't be considerate of disabilities.
ADD: He says blind people have "the same right" and not "a right", the implication here being that they have "the same right" as any sighted person.
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
They have "a right to access your content"? Is there a law specifying this? What are the penalties for breaking the law?
I see what you're getting at, but I think you're being a bit douchey about it. Of course blind people do not have a "right" to access his content. Neither does anyone else. There is no law anywhere that says "X person or group has an inalienable right to view Google". That doesn't mean we shouldn't be considerate of disabilities. ADD: He says blind people have "the same right" and not "a right", the implication here…
I'd like to add another way of thinking of it. Several years ago I was part of a group working on a project that was composed of people from various companies. One of the attendees was blind. It became clear VERY quickly that our blind friend was light years above everyone else technically and in terms of thinking about process. He'd sit there, listen to people go back and forth on this or that issue, then come in with an incredibly intelligent and appropriate solution, time after time. He was using an audio browser to go over the project materials when we weren't working. If you don't make your services accessible to the blind, YOU might be the one missing the benefit of this type of person's input.
Re: How can you program if you're blind?
#20I was developing a Liferay portal for a client which needed (in my idea) complete accessibility. I used my iPad to move in the page and was a big experience, most of my initial design was not tested over visual appearance but semantic accessibility. If you own an iOS device do activate VoiceOver and try to surf YOUR applications (and more important, your WEB applications). Even better, let someone else do it for you.…
They have "a right to access your content"? Is there a law specifying this? What are the penalties for breaking the law?
So, you're being sarcastic, but aside from the fact that you're scorning blind people for crying out loud, there are laws that might well apply to you.
Do you do any work building government websites or sites that serve other large public services? Do you sell services to schools or universities? Do you run a site that people might be obligated to use for some reason (i.e., website for a utility)?
Think of it like this: "I know it's kind of a shitty thing to block disabled folks from my site -- but given that I'm an X (offering X, hosting X, etc.), is it ILLEGAL for Xs to discriminate against disabled people?"
Laws are progressively covering more ground as time goes on, so while I doubt there will ever be much enforcement for teensy hobby sites (like the guy at the side of the highway selling strawberries probably won't be building any handicapped ramps), it's pretty reasonable to expect gradually more requirements from all serious sites. In the UK (for example) the Equality Act 2010 gets a bit more explicit that all sites should at least makes reasonable efforts for accessibility: http://www.shoosmiths.co.uk/news/3441.asp
Some info for many countries here: http://www.w3.org/WAI/Policy/
(Caveat: I'm not an accessibility legal expert by any means, but have been doing a bit of reading on the subject over the past year, as I'm developing a site we intend to be fully accessible).