Posted by Alessandro Palmieri, Regional Lead, Europe, Google Developer Teams
You by no means fairly know precisely how another person experiences the world – however making an effort to attach and perceive others stays an indicator of a robust group. In November 2019, Google Developer Group Pescara invited backend developer Filippo Tenaglia to talk at a neighborhood DevFest occasion, as a part of the worldwide developer program. The group turned the lights down and related Filippo’s PC to the room’s audio system, and Filippo advised attendees about his life as a developer with visible impairment. He allow them to hear what he hears when he works with the code and allow them to hear the totally different speech synthesizers he makes use of: the one he makes use of to browse on the Web, in addition to the one which he makes use of to learn supply code, that reads any punctuation character.
One attendee requested Filippo what number of traces of code he’s in a position to keep in mind with out seeing them, and Filippo answered, “I’ve to recollect the entire block. I can’t see the code, so I memorize it. Often, I can keep in mind 20, even 30 traces of code.” The attendee replied, “you’re a dragon,” alluding to folklore that the paranormal creatures have sturdy reminiscences. Filippo laughed, and his colleague, Gregorio Palama, chief of GDG Pescara, says he acquired goosebumps.
Gregorio met Filippo when the 2 labored collectively at an IT consultancy. Filippo introduced his information canine Lila to work and impressed Gregorio along with his exceptional means to memorize 20-30 traces of code at a time. Filippo used assistive know-how, like speech synthesizers and display readers, in addition to his extraordinary memorization means, to code. By his friendship with Filippo, Gregorio got here to grasp the significance of accessibility.
Gregorio makes use of his Google Developer Group (GDG) Pescara group, in a small metropolis within the central a part of Italy, to advocate for folks with disabilities and educate different builders in regards to the technical instruments wanted to make programming, web sites, and software program actually accessible for the visually impaired.
Leveraging instruments to remain related
Builders with visible impairments just like Fillipo can leverage assistive know-how in Chrome like display readers and magnifiers. When searching the online utilizing varied accessibility extensions, there are methods for folks with visible impairments to make the browser extra accessible, with out putting in exterior software program.
By their friendship, Filippo continued to teach Gregorio about accessibility when he known as Gregorio to volunteer for extra GDG Pescara occasions in Italy. Filippo defined that he was calling as a result of the group’s group messaging platform and software, the place they submit requires volunteers and share occasion particulars, isn’t accessible, so Filippo can’t see the posted data and wishes to make use of a special technique of staying updated on GDG actions.
Utilizing group to share the significance of accessibility
GDG Pescara plans to host a DevFest centered accessibility and different chosen subjects. The organizers are considering of getting a hackathon that would expose builders to Google’s accessibility instruments, just like the ChromeVox display reader, which builders can use to check the accessibility of their internet apps, or Chrome’s documentation on designing accessible extensions. With this community-led programming, Gregorio and his group hope to encourage different builders to construct new accessibility instruments, like a greater group platform.
By his friendship with Filippo, Gregorio discovered the significance of accessibility. Now, he’s utilizing his GDG group and a set of instruments to assist educate about accessibility and advocate for folks with disabilities.
Should you’re impressed to steer fellow builders into an exploration of accessibility in know-how, we encourage you to be a part of a GDG close to you, or take into account main a GDG chapter. You may study extra about Google’s accessibility initiatives and developer instruments right here and take a look at an upcoming GDG group accessibility consciousness occasion right here.
