zersiax/FCCBlog

## FCCBlog
###A vision of coding, without opening your eyes

The title of this blog post may look a little odd. Don't worry, it will all make sense

soon. And by the end of this article, you'll likely be groaning about the plentiful puns

regarding eyes, looking, and other such vocabulary.

Why is this, you may ask? This is actually quite simple. I am blind, as a bat you might

say. I was born this way, just like lady Gaga likes to make us believe she was born quite

...gaga. :)

When I mention this to my fellow human beings, the ones who have never had any form of

visual impairment tend to look at me somewhat oddly. Usually, a small pause ensues,

followed by either one or several of the following questions:
* Then, how do you even know what I'm saying? (in chatrooms, IM etc)
* Wow. How do you code? (fellow coders, fellow students etc)
* ......Do you dream? (the rest of the human populace)

Ok ok, granted, these aren't the only questions I receive but these three are a common

subset of what I get asked about again and again. Therefore, let me answer these three

questions in this blog post and sketch an image for you guys, the readers who are

wondering about accessibility and how blind people use a computer to code or do any kind

of work in the 21st century.

####How do you even know what I am saying?

I like this question because it allows me to immediately explain how blind computer users

....actually use computers.
A lot of people are under the impression that you need a "specially adapted computer" of

some kind to be able to use it as a blind or visually impaired person. Even some of my

fellow VIPs tend to think this.
**VIP ...that is visually impaired person. I did warn about the puns, didn't I?**
Anyway, let me debunk this myth right here and now. I am currently typing this on a normal

Dell Inspiron 15r SE notebook, which can be bought in any laptop store that has somewhat

less recent machines for sale. The machine runs windows 8, which wasn't my personal choice

but UEFI is too much of a pain to downgrade it, and all I did to adapt it was install an

open-source screenreader called[NVDA](www.nvaccess.org).
What a screenreader basically does, at its most basic level, is ...wait for it ...read the

screen.
It tells you the **textual** content of the screen in a synthesized text-to-speech voice

(Siri anyone?) and also allows for the use of a braille display, which is a device that

consists of a line of refreshable braille cells which can form letters according to what

content is highlighted on the screen.
This is really all the adaptation a blind computer user needs. Using this program, I can

do some things you can probably not imagine doing with your eyes closed, including but not

limited to:
* Browsing the web using Firefox
* Writing up and marking up reports that stand up to a college teacher's stringent layout

demands using Microsoft Word
- Writing up snazzy blog posts like this one
* Recording, editing, mixing and publishing audio (I sing and make music for a hobby)

using Reaper, Goldwave, Audacity and Sonar
* coding websites and applications using Eclipse, Visual Studio (now isn't that one

ironic?) and good old NotePad++

I could go on for a while, but ...I'd better not. The reason I put so much emphasis on

what programs I use is to show that I use mainstream technology, just like people who are

not ocularly challenged.

If you are writing the next big application, with a stunning UI and a great workflow, I

therefore humbly ask you to consider accessibility as part of the equation. In this day

and age, there really is no reason not to and in a lot of UI toolkits it's a lot easier

tha you may think. Yes, that includes the Android activities, iOS NsViews and HTML5

widgets you might be thinking of right now.

I joined FreeCodeCamp a few weeks back and really loved the concept. I have been pursuing

a degree in Computer Science for the last few years and failed a semester that involved a

lot of work with the MEAN stack. I was really happy to find such an amazing community to

be a part of and learn with and I am sure I will pass my semester with flying colors this

time. Although I sadly did run into an accessibility glitch when working through the by

now famous [Dash tutorials](http://dash.generalassemb.ly) by General Assembly.
The tutorials are undoubtedly very good, but were completely unreadable for me because the

slides that are being used lack any textual description or content for screenreaders to

work with. Recall that I said screenreaders read out *textual* content of the screen, they

are not smart enough to interpret graphics.

Some people in the FreeCodeCamp were sympathetic towards my plight and completely

voluntarily offered to transcribe these slides for me. I will freely admit this offer left

me 'flabbergasted' as our dear western neighbors across the sea would say, and I am still

very grateful for the work these people have done just to further my studying. You know

who you are guys, thanks a lot. :)

####But ...how do you code?

> If left paren x equals five right paren left brace print left paren quote hello world

exclaim quote right paren right brace

This is how a typical if-block in a Java-ish programming language would be read to me. You

can see that is rather verbose, which is why I tend to turn off the notifications for

parens and brackets until I find I need to match brackets while debugging, to not go crazy

by the rather wordy descriptions of these signs. Others have solved this problem by

substituting the default (left brace) for something like (lace) or (begin) just to save

some milliseconds. The speech rate also is deemed to be extremely fast by people who are

not used to it, let me give you an [example]

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6643494/example.mp3).
For those who cannot follow this, it is my computer reading out the first bit of this very

blog post I am writing in NotePad++.

So, how I code doesn't actually differ all that much from how others code. I've learned

how to touch type (getting sick of the puns yet?), mentally conceptualize my code and work

with it just like you guys do. The only difference is that I barely ever use a mouse for

anything and I tend to go for hotkeys or the commandline instead.
Sadly though, in this field it's not all good. Premier tools coders use every day like the

IntelliJ editor as well as all its offshoots (PhpStorm, WebStorm, PyCharm etc) are

completely inaccessible, simply due to the fact that the developers of these programs have

not adhered to the accessibility guidelines and gave screenreaders no textual labels or

accessibilityDescriptions to work with. The same goes for an application like SourceTree,

which is slowly getting better but still a pain to use.
I therefore have to keep looking for tutorials, programs , tools etc. that are accessible

and cannot simply pick up any off-the-shelf IDE.

####How do you dream?
Yeah ...I did promise to answer all three questions so I'll keep that promise. Don't

expect much though. :)
I dream just like you guys do, my mind translates experiences and impulses I have received

during the day into dreams I have at night. The difference being that I don't actually see

anything but hear, smell and feel everything just like in real life. The reason for this

is simple: Dreams based on visual imagery pull from your already stored visual knowledge

to construct that visual imagery. Since I have been blind since birth, I have no visual

frame of reference so the visual portion of my dreams run into a big fat 404 error:
**image not found**

####Conclusion
I was asked to write this blog post for FreeCodeCamp. After the welcome I have received

into this community, I was all too happy to do this and I really hope you guys have

learned something from it. I could talk about this for hours and the article has already

grown far longer than I initially wanted to make it, so I think this is a good place to

end the Markdown. If you have questions, come find me in the chatroom. I am Zersiax there,

and I can be found by that name on twitter as well.
Alright, thanks all for reading and ....**see you later**. Sorry ...I really couldn't

resist. :) *runs off screen*
	###A vision of coding, without opening your eyes

	The title of this blog post may look a little odd. Don't worry, it will all make sense

	soon. And by the end of this article, you'll likely be groaning about the plentiful puns

	regarding eyes, looking, and other such vocabulary.

	Why is this, you may ask? This is actually quite simple. I am blind, as a bat you might

	say. I was born this way, just like lady Gaga likes to make us believe she was born quite

	...gaga. :)

	When I mention this to my fellow human beings, the ones who have never had any form of

	visual impairment tend to look at me somewhat oddly. Usually, a small pause ensues,

	followed by either one or several of the following questions:
	* Then, how do you even know what I'm saying? (in chatrooms, IM etc)
	* Wow. How do you code? (fellow coders, fellow students etc)
	* ......Do you dream? (the rest of the human populace)

	Ok ok, granted, these aren't the only questions I receive but these three are a common

	subset of what I get asked about again and again. Therefore, let me answer these three

	questions in this blog post and sketch an image for you guys, the readers who are

	wondering about accessibility and how blind people use a computer to code or do any kind

	of work in the 21st century.

	####How do you even know what I am saying?

	I like this question because it allows me to immediately explain how blind computer users

	....actually use computers.
	A lot of people are under the impression that you need a "specially adapted computer" of

	some kind to be able to use it as a blind or visually impaired person. Even some of my

	fellow VIPs tend to think this.
	VIP ...that is visually impaired person. I did warn about the puns, didn't I?
	Anyway, let me debunk this myth right here and now. I am currently typing this on a normal

	Dell Inspiron 15r SE notebook, which can be bought in any laptop store that has somewhat

	less recent machines for sale. The machine runs windows 8, which wasn't my personal choice

	but UEFI is too much of a pain to downgrade it, and all I did to adapt it was install an

	open-source screenreader called[NVDA](www.nvaccess.org).
	What a screenreader basically does, at its most basic level, is ...wait for it ...read the

	screen.
	It tells you the textual content of the screen in a synthesized text-to-speech voice

	(Siri anyone?) and also allows for the use of a braille display, which is a device that

	consists of a line of refreshable braille cells which can form letters according to what

	content is highlighted on the screen.
	This is really all the adaptation a blind computer user needs. Using this program, I can

	do some things you can probably not imagine doing with your eyes closed, including but not

	limited to:
	* Browsing the web using Firefox
	* Writing up and marking up reports that stand up to a college teacher's stringent layout

	demands using Microsoft Word
	- Writing up snazzy blog posts like this one
	* Recording, editing, mixing and publishing audio (I sing and make music for a hobby)

	using Reaper, Goldwave, Audacity and Sonar
	* coding websites and applications using Eclipse, Visual Studio (now isn't that one

	ironic?) and good old NotePad++

	I could go on for a while, but ...I'd better not. The reason I put so much emphasis on

	what programs I use is to show that I use mainstream technology, just like people who are

	not ocularly challenged.

	If you are writing the next big application, with a stunning UI and a great workflow, I

	therefore humbly ask you to consider accessibility as part of the equation. In this day

	and age, there really is no reason not to and in a lot of UI toolkits it's a lot easier

	tha you may think. Yes, that includes the Android activities, iOS NsViews and HTML5

	widgets you might be thinking of right now.

	I joined FreeCodeCamp a few weeks back and really loved the concept. I have been pursuing

	a degree in Computer Science for the last few years and failed a semester that involved a

	lot of work with the MEAN stack. I was really happy to find such an amazing community to

	be a part of and learn with and I am sure I will pass my semester with flying colors this

	time. Although I sadly did run into an accessibility glitch when working through the by

	now famous [Dash tutorials](http://dash.generalassemb.ly) by General Assembly.
	The tutorials are undoubtedly very good, but were completely unreadable for me because the

	slides that are being used lack any textual description or content for screenreaders to

	work with. Recall that I said screenreaders read out textual content of the screen, they

	are not smart enough to interpret graphics.

	Some people in the FreeCodeCamp were sympathetic towards my plight and completely

	voluntarily offered to transcribe these slides for me. I will freely admit this offer left

	me 'flabbergasted' as our dear western neighbors across the sea would say, and I am still

	very grateful for the work these people have done just to further my studying. You know

	who you are guys, thanks a lot. :)

	####But ...how do you code?

	> If left paren x equals five right paren left brace print left paren quote hello world

	exclaim quote right paren right brace

	This is how a typical if-block in a Java-ish programming language would be read to me. You

	can see that is rather verbose, which is why I tend to turn off the notifications for

	parens and brackets until I find I need to match brackets while debugging, to not go crazy

	by the rather wordy descriptions of these signs. Others have solved this problem by

	substituting the default (left brace) for something like (lace) or (begin) just to save

	some milliseconds. The speech rate also is deemed to be extremely fast by people who are

	not used to it, let me give you an [example]

	(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6643494/example.mp3).
	For those who cannot follow this, it is my computer reading out the first bit of this very

	blog post I am writing in NotePad++.

	So, how I code doesn't actually differ all that much from how others code. I've learned

	how to touch type (getting sick of the puns yet?), mentally conceptualize my code and work

	with it just like you guys do. The only difference is that I barely ever use a mouse for

	anything and I tend to go for hotkeys or the commandline instead.
	Sadly though, in this field it's not all good. Premier tools coders use every day like the

	IntelliJ editor as well as all its offshoots (PhpStorm, WebStorm, PyCharm etc) are

	completely inaccessible, simply due to the fact that the developers of these programs have

	not adhered to the accessibility guidelines and gave screenreaders no textual labels or

	accessibilityDescriptions to work with. The same goes for an application like SourceTree,

	which is slowly getting better but still a pain to use.
	I therefore have to keep looking for tutorials, programs , tools etc. that are accessible

	and cannot simply pick up any off-the-shelf IDE.

	####How do you dream?
	Yeah ...I did promise to answer all three questions so I'll keep that promise. Don't

	expect much though. :)
	I dream just like you guys do, my mind translates experiences and impulses I have received

	during the day into dreams I have at night. The difference being that I don't actually see

	anything but hear, smell and feel everything just like in real life. The reason for this

	is simple: Dreams based on visual imagery pull from your already stored visual knowledge

	to construct that visual imagery. Since I have been blind since birth, I have no visual

	frame of reference so the visual portion of my dreams run into a big fat 404 error:
	image not found

	####Conclusion
	I was asked to write this blog post for FreeCodeCamp. After the welcome I have received

	into this community, I was all too happy to do this and I really hope you guys have

	learned something from it. I could talk about this for hours and the article has already

	grown far longer than I initially wanted to make it, so I think this is a good place to

	end the Markdown. If you have questions, come find me in the chatroom. I am Zersiax there,

	and I can be found by that name on twitter as well.
	Alright, thanks all for reading and ....see you later. Sorry ...I really couldn't

	resist. :) runs off screen