5 ms·

An Autobiography of a Blind Programmer

58 points by edtechdev 11y ago

swiley 11y ago
That was definitely one of the more readable articles on the front page. IMO if more web developers where blind like this guy then maybe the web would be more readable.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  It's the one reason I positively hate all the eye candy and executable pages on the web. Accessibility went right out the window at some point, but it was actually a cornerstone of the web that the reader should determine what a page should look (or sound) like. Now, you could of course craft a page that would still work well on screen readers and that at the same time does the whole dog-and-pony show on more capable browsers. But in practice that doesn't really happen. Many pages which are in fact just text pages once rendered simply won't render or will render very badly with javascript off.
  - StavrosK 11y ago
    Get blind employees/coworkers. You'll find that you'll be making damn sure your page is accessible. I enjoy it a lot because you don't generally think about it, but accessibility does affect many people.
    - parham90 11y ago
      This is a very valid point. All the pages produced by the places I've worked at were 100% accessible, mainly because the developers could see that I am unable to use the website, and I told them how easy it is to make content accessible. It is really simple once you do know that it is possible, and having a blind colleague who serves as a human tester is, as you said, really cool in this regard.
      - StavrosK 11y ago
        And not only as a reminder, like I said before, but most of the time I don't even know how to use the accessibility tools! So it's very nice to have someone who knows what they're doing tell you "I can't read this". This is also how I discovered what a clusterfuck the Android accessibility tools are. Talkback before Marshmallow is atrocious (as in very obviously buggy), I'm going to test the new Talkback now and see.
  - parham90 11y ago
    I personally find it unfair to make the whole web seem bland to a majority of people, so that a minority would find it easy to access. However, I believe that teaching developers about their responsibility to their fellow human beings, even in theory, would go a long way in reducing stuff that looks well, but is not usable to the blind. What you mentioned about accessibility features being available but not being used in practice is not only in the web. You get the same thing in Android and IOS applications as well. I have always wondered about how we can fix this, but to be honest, I have never found a solution, sadly.
    - swiley 11y ago
      No, honestly this is more readable for sited people too (speaking as one). I am 100% for a "bland" web.
- parham90 11y ago
  Thank you. I'm glad to know that sighted people were looking for readable articles as much as I am.
jacquesm 11y ago
> Having a screen reader that reads at about 520 words per minute is a blessing when you are gathering knowledge. That's so fast it is incredible. I'm really quite shocked at that speed, is that a regular speed for a blind person to be using their screenreader at?
- Razengan 11y ago
  Apparently if you're poor or lacking in one of the body's basic senses, the others are heightened to make up for it? Maybe by not having to process the immense data that must be required by vision, they're able to dedicate more of their brain's "bandwidth" to processing a more intensive stream of aural data. :)
  - xenadu02 11y ago
    No, you just have to practice. I'm not blind. I listen to all podcasts at 2x speed and I can't stand to go back to "normal" speed because it's so slow. While doing accessibility testing I've found myself turning the voiceover prompts faster and faster because I very quickly get used to it. If you have an iOS device, set your home button triple click to bring up a shortcut menu and put Voiceover in as one of the options (inverse colors is another good one). Test your own app in Voiceover mode. Close your eyes and navigate around. You'll be surprised at how quickly you figure it out... and what rough edges your app has.
    - agumonkey 11y ago
      Being blind is just the most efficient way to improve focus. You are back against the wall, no other alternative to pursue. I don't say it loud but I somehow envy them. The see more than me.
      - parham90 11y ago
        I agree. Yoshiro Nakamatsu claims that he invents things while submerging himself under water. While I'm not sure if he's telling the truth, one thing everyone agrees on is your well-said statement. We perform best when under immense pressure, when our fight-or-flight response activates.
fao_ 11y ago
> As for mathematics and theoretical subjects ... there was no way of learning them for me. That's extremely saddening, since to me those are some of the subjects that I have really enjoyed in the past. The idea that there is no way for blind people to learn these subjects either at all or without great difficulty is rather appauling. However I'm not really sure of what a solution to this could be. EDIT: Actually, given that most of mathematics was written down until (I think) the 1400s, and the person said their screenreader was around 520 words per second, would one possible solution be to have mathematics papers written down, with all the symbols reduced in some way to plain english. It would make things marginally slower, but if the person can listen at that speed that I would say there should be a chance for it to work.
- parham90 11y ago
  Hey, Thanks a lot for going through the article! :-) You should keep a few things in mind about what I said regarding the accessibility of math content: - I am in Iran. A lot of the assistive technology (other than software) is not available to me. I have no idea what people have in the United States, but I know blind people who have been very successful in mathematics. So, there is definitely a way. You just have to be in the right place. - At the time I was in university (that is 2008-2010) screen readers and accessibility were not as advanced. There was also no concept of MathML back then. Things are improving though. With all that said, math content is still not as accessible to blind people as it is to their sighted counterparts. But with the right people, you can circumvent the lack of support.
  - lake99 11y ago
    I don't know why, but you have been shadowbanned, likely by some automated process. I vouched for each comment of yours. Hopefully, if enough people do it, everyone else will be able to read your comments too. Go here for more information: https://blog.ycombinator.com/two-hn-announcements https://blog.ycombinator.com/two-hn-announcements
    - parham90 11y ago
trengrj 11y ago
Would love to hear more about how he interacts with his computer day to day and what sort of software he uses to get through the mess that is web 2.0.
- rpgmaker 11y ago
  Me too, he never said how he manages to actually write and test his code. Going blind it's one of my nightmare scenarios not only because I won't be able to see but because I just don't know how I will be able to keep coding (and earn money) after that. I have even thought about using my PC/phone as if I were blind for about a month or so, that way if I lose my eyesight at some point I will already know how to navigate my system and the shock wouldn't be so great. That is how much I dread that relatively unlikely scenario.
- parham90 11y ago
  To be honest, I started working on that first. Then, I realized that the reader needs more background to know what I'm talking about. Then, I decided to write this post. I promise to write about that next Sunday.

58 points by edtechdev 11y ago

That was definitely one of the more readable articles on the front page. IMO if more web developers where blind like this guy then maybe the web would be more readable.

jacquesm 11y ago
It's the one reason I positively hate all the eye candy and executable pages on the web. Accessibility went right out the window at some point, but it was actually a cornerstone of the web that the reader should determine what a page should look (or sound) like. Now, you could of course craft a page that would still work well on screen readers and that at the same time does the whole dog-and-pony show on more capable browsers. But in practice that doesn't really happen. Many pages which are in fact just text pages once rendered simply won't render or will render very badly with javascript off.
- StavrosK 11y ago
  Get blind employees/coworkers. You'll find that you'll be making damn sure your page is accessible. I enjoy it a lot because you don't generally think about it, but accessibility does affect many people.
  - parham90 11y ago
    This is a very valid point. All the pages produced by the places I've worked at were 100% accessible, mainly because the developers could see that I am unable to use the website, and I told them how easy it is to make content accessible. It is really simple once you do know that it is possible, and having a blind colleague who serves as a human tester is, as you said, really cool in this regard.
    - StavrosK 11y ago
      And not only as a reminder, like I said before, but most of the time I don't even know how to use the accessibility tools! So it's very nice to have someone who knows what they're doing tell you "I can't read this". This is also how I discovered what a clusterfuck the Android accessibility tools are. Talkback before Marshmallow is atrocious (as in very obviously buggy), I'm going to test the new Talkback now and see.
- parham90 11y ago
  I personally find it unfair to make the whole web seem bland to a majority of people, so that a minority would find it easy to access. However, I believe that teaching developers about their responsibility to their fellow human beings, even in theory, would go a long way in reducing stuff that looks well, but is not usable to the blind. What you mentioned about accessibility features being available but not being used in practice is not only in the web. You get the same thing in Android and IOS applications as well. I have always wondered about how we can fix this, but to be honest, I have never found a solution, sadly.
  - swiley 11y ago
    No, honestly this is more readable for sited people too (speaking as one). I am 100% for a "bland" web.
parham90 11y ago
Thank you. I'm glad to know that sighted people were looking for readable articles as much as I am.

jacquesm 11y ago

> Having a screen reader that reads at about 520 words per minute is a blessing when you are gathering knowledge. That's so fast it is incredible. I'm really quite shocked at that speed, is that a regular speed for a blind person to be using their screenreader at?

Razengan 11y ago
Apparently if you're poor or lacking in one of the body's basic senses, the others are heightened to make up for it? Maybe by not having to process the immense data that must be required by vision, they're able to dedicate more of their brain's "bandwidth" to processing a more intensive stream of aural data. :)
- xenadu02 11y ago
  No, you just have to practice. I'm not blind. I listen to all podcasts at 2x speed and I can't stand to go back to "normal" speed because it's so slow. While doing accessibility testing I've found myself turning the voiceover prompts faster and faster because I very quickly get used to it. If you have an iOS device, set your home button triple click to bring up a shortcut menu and put Voiceover in as one of the options (inverse colors is another good one). Test your own app in Voiceover mode. Close your eyes and navigate around. You'll be surprised at how quickly you figure it out... and what rough edges your app has.
  - agumonkey 11y ago
    Being blind is just the most efficient way to improve focus. You are back against the wall, no other alternative to pursue. I don't say it loud but I somehow envy them. The see more than me.
    - parham90 11y ago
      I agree. Yoshiro Nakamatsu claims that he invents things while submerging himself under water. While I'm not sure if he's telling the truth, one thing everyone agrees on is your well-said statement. We perform best when under immense pressure, when our fight-or-flight response activates.

fao_ 11y ago

> As for mathematics and theoretical subjects ... there was no way of learning them for me. That's extremely saddening, since to me those are some of the subjects that I have really enjoyed in the past. The idea that there is no way for blind people to learn these subjects either at all or without great difficulty is rather appauling. However I'm not really sure of what a solution to this could be. EDIT: Actually, given that most of mathematics was written down until (I think) the 1400s, and the person said their screenreader was around 520 words per second, would one possible solution be to have mathematics papers written down, with all the symbols reduced in some way to plain english. It would make things marginally slower, but if the person can listen at that speed that I would say there should be a chance for it to work.

parham90 11y ago
Hey, Thanks a lot for going through the article! :-) You should keep a few things in mind about what I said regarding the accessibility of math content: - I am in Iran. A lot of the assistive technology (other than software) is not available to me. I have no idea what people have in the United States, but I know blind people who have been very successful in mathematics. So, there is definitely a way. You just have to be in the right place. - At the time I was in university (that is 2008-2010) screen readers and accessibility were not as advanced. There was also no concept of MathML back then. Things are improving though. With all that said, math content is still not as accessible to blind people as it is to their sighted counterparts. But with the right people, you can circumvent the lack of support.
- lake99 11y ago
  I don't know why, but you have been shadowbanned, likely by some automated process. I vouched for each comment of yours. Hopefully, if enough people do it, everyone else will be able to read your comments too. Go here for more information: https://blog.ycombinator.com/two-hn-announcements https://blog.ycombinator.com/two-hn-announcements
  - parham90 11y ago

trengrj 11y ago

Would love to hear more about how he interacts with his computer day to day and what sort of software he uses to get through the mess that is web 2.0.

rpgmaker 11y ago
Me too, he never said how he manages to actually write and test his code. Going blind it's one of my nightmare scenarios not only because I won't be able to see but because I just don't know how I will be able to keep coding (and earn money) after that. I have even thought about using my PC/phone as if I were blind for about a month or so, that way if I lose my eyesight at some point I will already know how to navigate my system and the shock wouldn't be so great. That is how much I dread that relatively unlikely scenario.
parham90 11y ago
To be honest, I started working on that first. Then, I realized that the reader needs more background to know what I'm talking about. Then, I decided to write this post. I promise to write about that next Sunday.