Ask HN: Are you a/do you know a blind hacker?

by basicallydan on 5/21/2012, 9:48 AM with 2 comments

I'm curious about whether the accessibility tools available on the devices we use for programming are adequate enough for anybody with serious visual impairments to allow them to be a programmer.

It's probably a fair assumption to say that most programmers can touch-type, but if a blind person is also a programmer and touch-typer, does it help them in programming or is the ability to see code on the screen really help to internally visualise the system they're creating? Does blindness lead to a better ability to understand something logically without having any visual cues?

  • by JoachimSchipper on 5/21/2012, 11:20 AM

    "Blind programmer" yields e.g. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/118984/how-can-you-progra... for me (summary: yes, blind programmers exist and can do well.)

  • by 1123581321 on 5/21/2012, 5:06 PM

    I know a blind programmer. He uses a device to read text on a screen. It reads the text very quickly and he usually doesn't have to hear more an entire line to orient himself. He can also browse websites. He's quite functional. However, he uses languages like Perl that he knew before he became blind (he was shot in the face at about 30 years old.)

    He hasn't tried to learn a new language, but I imagine it would be quite difficult for him.