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How can you program if you're blind?

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Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#31

Post by socksy »

saqibs wrote: post #16
zxoq wrote: post #3

None 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…

That sounds like an issue with the screen reader, surely? CamelCase is arguably somewhat less readable for the seeing than underscore_separated_words, as the underscore can be read practically as a space. Presumably, you'd need a syllable to distinguish between CamelCased and underscore_text, but I don't see why you can't have Python or Ruby style underscores as a convention?

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#32

Post by cannona »

lucian1900 wrote: post #6
zxoq wrote: post #3

None 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…

I suspect Braille displays help with those sort of problems.

They certainly do, if you can afford one. They start at $3,500 for a small one (20 characters wide) and swiftly increase in price from there.

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#33

Post by cannona »

ars wrote: post #28

Does anyone know a service that will review your website for accessibility? I don't have a budget to pay them, but I'd be willing to put in reasonable recommendations. I do already use alt attributes and label tags on everything.

Ping me on Twitter and I can take a quick look. @cannona

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#34

Post by cannona »

k4st wrote: post #29

I am curious about what blind programmers consider to be aesthetically appealing code.

As a blind developer, I don't think my opinions on what makes nice code differ wildly from my coworkers, with the exception of indenting, equal-sign alignment, and other such white space issues. Those are the sorts of things I only do because I have to. They rarely provide me any benefit.

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#35

Post by cannona »

dugmartin wrote: post #10

I was part of the team that rebuilt Narrator (the built in screen reader for Windows) for Vista. A few days after we had a minimal version running I tried to use it with Visual Studio to make a small change with the monitor turned off. For me it was next to impossible.

Don't feel too bad. I'm an experienced screen reader user, and even I find it almost impossible to do anything with narrator. Well, to be honest, I've only tried the one from XP. Hopefully the newer versions are better.

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#37

Post by cannona »

chewxy wrote: post #27

Interesting. This post has inspired me to actually improve the usability of my sites. Anyone have any good guides? Strangers for Dinner and edgeyo are pretty much text-driven, but what about CSS layout etc? Will screenreaders parse those?

For the most part, CSS is ignored by screen readers. However, it can of course make a huge difference for people who are browsing your site with screen magnification or who have color blindness.

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#38

Post by cannona »

neurostimulant wrote: post #36

I imagine it would be hard for a blind programmer to program using Python, Coffeescript and other language where white space plays important part. Can anyone give more insight about this?

Python is one of my favorite languages to program in, but the white space thing was an issue for a while. Fortunately, I found an editor that will work well with my screen reader and will tell me what level of indenting I'm at, so it's now just a mild annoyance. However, when browsing on the web or elsewhere outside my editor, I do find myself occasionally counting spaces if it's not obvious from the context what indentation level a particular line is at.

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#39

Post by ars »

cannona wrote: post #33
ars wrote: post #28

Does anyone know a service that will review your website for accessibility? I don't have a budget to pay them, but I'd be willing to put in reasonable recommendations. I do already use alt attributes and label tags on everything.

Ping me on Twitter and I can take a quick look. @cannona

The site is not public yet, but I'll save your message for when it is.

Re: How can you program if you're blind?

#40

Post by neurostimulant »

cannona wrote: post #38
neurostimulant wrote: post #36

I imagine it would be hard for a blind programmer to program using Python, Coffeescript and other language where white space plays important part. Can anyone give more insight about this?

Python is one of my favorite languages to program in, but the white space thing was an issue for a while. Fortunately, I found an editor that will work well with my screen reader and will tell me what level of indenting I'm at, so it's now just a mild annoyance. However, when browsing on the web or elsewhere outside my editor, I do find myself occasionally counting spaces if it's not obvious from the context what ind…

Can you elaborate on the tools you use? What IDE and screen reader do you use? Also, what tool do you use to type code with? Braille keyboard? I really interested to learn about what kind of setup that works best for blind developer.
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