4 ms·

I think it is totally reasonable that a blind person could code, but how does a blind person learn how to code initially? Did he become blind later on after lea

I think it is totally reasonable that a blind person could code, but how does a blind person learn how to code initially? Did he become blind later on after learning how to code?

virtuallynathan 10y ago
Same as anyone else, I assume. There was a completely blind student in the year below me at University, he did just as well as anyone else. His screen reader read at a ludicrous speed.
- cyphar 10y ago
  "Ludicrous speed? Sir we've never gone that fast before. I'm not sure the ship can take it!" Sorry. I had to. :P
Retr0spectrum 10y ago
I can't imagine what it would be like to use a computer in general, without sight. However, most programming resources are in text form, so I guess it wouldn't have been too difficult (in relative terms).
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  I've done a little commercial web dev so have used freely available audio-browsers. A very interesting experience. YouTube has examples of people programming using audio output. That should help to imagine it.
im_down_w_otp 10y ago
Irwin "Whistler" Emery would like to have a word with you.
- emeraldd 10y ago
  I really enjoyed that movie! For reference http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/ "I want peace on Earth and good will toward men." -- Whistler
sillysaurus3 10y ago
Here's a post from a year ago about how a blind person interacts with computers: https://medium.freecodecamp.com/looking-back-to-what-started-it-all-731ef5424aec https://medium.freecodecamp.com/looking-back-to-what-started... (Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048) From the comments there, here's a fascinating example of how quickly a blind person can absorb information. 525WPM in this case: https://soundcloud.com/freecodecamp https://soundcloud.com/freecodecamp
su_yuen 10y ago
Hi everyone! Thanks for the support and reply. Wasn't expecting this kind of response when we wrote the article. Herwin is visually impaired since birth so he definitely picked up coding with a screen reader. I have notified him of the comments here so he can share more of how he initially picked up coding himself. :)
- garrettgrimsley 10y ago
  I saw that you said you do video interviews, have you considered running "blind" interviews like how orchestras do? Applicants to orchestras play from behind a screen so that the judges selecting the candidates cannot see the candidate, and the only metric by which they can judge is the quality of the performance. Determining sex/age/race/etc through voice could be eliminated through audio filtering.
msb 10y ago
This question came up on StackOverflow a number of years ago and sparked an insightful conversation. I recommend reading through the thread to anyone interested. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/118984/how-can-you-program-if-youre-blind http://stackoverflow.com/questions/118984/how-can-you-progra...
mcshicks 10y ago
I used have a blind colleague, I didn't work closely with him but did have a few interactions with him. This was maybe 20 years ago. So people have been doing this a long time. He was working on speech codecs when I worked with him. Anyway he just went to engineering school. At least in California they have people who help you and the school is legally required to make an "accommodation" if needed. That could be a reader, or more time on exam, etc. Here is a brief article on the guy http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/article.php?id=350 http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/article.php?id=350

I think it is totally reasonable that a blind person could code, but how does a blind person learn how to code initially? Did he become blind later on after learning how to code?

virtuallynathan 10y ago

Same as anyone else, I assume. There was a completely blind student in the year below me at University, he did just as well as anyone else. His screen reader read at a ludicrous speed.

cyphar 10y ago
"Ludicrous speed? Sir we've never gone that fast before. I'm not sure the ship can take it!" Sorry. I had to. :P

Retr0spectrum 10y ago

I can't imagine what it would be like to use a computer in general, without sight. However, most programming resources are in text form, so I guess it wouldn't have been too difficult (in relative terms).

pbhjpbhj 10y ago
I've done a little commercial web dev so have used freely available audio-browsers. A very interesting experience. YouTube has examples of people programming using audio output. That should help to imagine it.

im_down_w_otp 10y ago

Irwin "Whistler" Emery would like to have a word with you.

emeraldd 10y ago
I really enjoyed that movie! For reference http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/ "I want peace on Earth and good will toward men." -- Whistler

sillysaurus3 10y ago

Here's a post from a year ago about how a blind person interacts with computers: https://medium.freecodecamp.com/looking-back-to-what-started-it-all-731ef5424aec https://medium.freecodecamp.com/looking-back-to-what-started... (Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8965048) From the comments there, here's a fascinating example of how quickly a blind person can absorb information. 525WPM in this case: https://soundcloud.com/freecodecamp https://soundcloud.com/freecodecamp

su_yuen 10y ago

Hi everyone! Thanks for the support and reply. Wasn't expecting this kind of response when we wrote the article. Herwin is visually impaired since birth so he definitely picked up coding with a screen reader. I have notified him of the comments here so he can share more of how he initially picked up coding himself. :)

garrettgrimsley 10y ago
I saw that you said you do video interviews, have you considered running "blind" interviews like how orchestras do? Applicants to orchestras play from behind a screen so that the judges selecting the candidates cannot see the candidate, and the only metric by which they can judge is the quality of the performance. Determining sex/age/race/etc through voice could be eliminated through audio filtering.

msb 10y ago

This question came up on StackOverflow a number of years ago and sparked an insightful conversation. I recommend reading through the thread to anyone interested. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/118984/how-can-you-program-if-youre-blind http://stackoverflow.com/questions/118984/how-can-you-progra...

mcshicks 10y ago

I used have a blind colleague, I didn't work closely with him but did have a few interactions with him. This was maybe 20 years ago. So people have been doing this a long time. He was working on speech codecs when I worked with him. Anyway he just went to engineering school. At least in California they have people who help you and the school is legally required to make an "accommodation" if needed. That could be a reader, or more time on exam, etc. Here is a brief article on the guy http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/article.php?id=350 http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/article.php?id=350