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by AdmiralAsshat 2783 days ago
Slightly off-topic: how do blind programmers read code? Does the screen reader recite it aloud and just say "int main left-paren void right-paren open-brace int i equals zero...", or does it use some other kind of auditory vocabulary to make it more meaningful to the listener?

I've been thinking about this alot lately because I've been wondering how I could get better at programming while driving on my daily commute.

4 comments

> I've been wondering how I could get better at programming while driving on my daily commute.

Please don't do this. The last thing the world needs is another distracted driver.

The blind people I have known use a Braille display to work with a computer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refreshable_braille_display

Braille’s somewhat dying off as screenreaders become more integrated into computer systems - a system reading to you (usually at 3x speed as well) has massively more information density than a Braille display, to the point that it’s becoming less usual to learn Braille in the first place.
Last I knew, Braille displays are also pretty expensive, slow, and prone to breakage. Cool idea, but doesn’t work as well as a screenreader in practice for most people.
How about a podcast about programming subjects? Would probably be more beneficial and less distracting than trying to write code while driving.
Tangentially related, I've been listening to The Blind Side, a podcast about technology made by a blind person. It's interesting to learn tricks that don't require vision to interact with tech.
The most extreme sport: programming the car you're in to self-drive, without being able to touch the steering wheel, next to the grand canyon.