How a Blind Programmer Codes: Tools, Techniques, and Accessibility Insights

How I See Information on the Screen

I use a standard Dell Inspiron laptop with Windows 8 and the free, open‑source screen reader NVDA, which reads the text on the screen aloud and can drive a refreshable Braille display that renders characters as tactile dots.

With this setup I can browse the web in Firefox, write documents in Microsoft Word, compose blog posts, record and edit audio, and develop applications using IDEs such as Eclipse, Visual Studio, and Notepad++.

How I Write Code

if（x=5){ print(“hello world”)}

My coding style is similar to sighted programmers; I type blind and conceptualize the code mentally, relying heavily on keyboard shortcuts and the command line rather than a mouse. Many mainstream IDEs (IntelliJ, PHPStorm, WebStorm, PyCharm, SourceTree) lack proper accessibility support, so I seek out accessible tutorials, programs, and tools.

Do I Dream?

My dreams are built from the sounds, smells, and sensations I experience during the day. Because I have been blind since birth, visual imagery is absent, resulting in a “404 image not found” experience for the visual component of dreams.

My Relationship with Code

This article was written at the suggestion of a fellow learner in a coding camp, aiming to inspire other developers with visual impairments. I appreciate the community’s help in transcribing slide content that screen readers could not interpret.

For anyone building large applications, I recommend treating accessibility as an integral part of the software, especially when using UI toolkits across Android, iOS, and HTML5 components.