Software/Scripts GitHub celebrates developers with disabilities on Global Accessibility Awareness Day

[Git]

At GitHub, our favorite people are developers. We love to make them happy and productive, and today, on

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

, we want to celebrate their achievements by sharing some great stories about a few developers with disabilities alongside news of recent accessibility improvements at GitHub that help them do the best work of their lives.

Amplifying the voices of disabled developers​

People with disabilities frequently encounter biases that prevent their full and equal participation in all areas of life, including education and employment. That’s why GitHub and

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

are thrilled to provide a platform for disabled developers to showcase their contributions and counteract bias.

Paul Chiou, a developer who’s paralyzed from the neck down, is breaking new ground in the field of accessibility automation, while pursuing his Ph.D. Paul uses a computer with custom hardware and software he designed and built, and this lived experience gives him a unique insight into the needs of other people with disabilities. The barriers he encounters push him to innovate, both in his daily life and in his academic endeavors. Learn more about Paul and his creative solutions in this

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

.

Becky Tyler found her way to coding via gaming, but she games completely with her eyes, just like everything else she does on a computer, from painting to livestreaming to writing code. Her desire to play Minecraft led her down the path of open source software and collaboration, and now she’s studying computer science at the University of Dundee. Learn more about Becky in this

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

.

Dr. Annalu Waller leads the

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

at the University of Dundee. She’s also Becky’s professor. Becky calls her a “taskmaster,” but the

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

shows how her lived experience informed her high expectations for her students—especially those with disabilities—and gave her a unique ability to absorb innovations and use them to benefit people with disabilities.

Anton Mirhorodchenko has difficulty speaking and typing with his hands, and speaks English as a second language. Anton has explored ways to use ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot to not only help him communicate and express his ideas, but also develop software from initial architecture all the way to code creation. Through creative collaboration with his AI teammates, Anton has become a force to be reckoned with, and he recently shared his insights in this guide on how to

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

.

Removing barriers that block disabled developers​

Success requires skills. That’s why equal access to education is a fundamental human right. The GitHub Global Campus team agrees. They are working to

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

.

npm is the default package manager for JavaScript and the largest software registry in the world. To empower every developer to contribute to and benefit from this amazing resource, the npm team recently completed an

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

and removed hundreds of potential barriers. Way to go, npm team!

The GitHub.com team has also been hard at work on accessibility and they recently shipped several improvements:

• The new primary navigation experience was designed with accessibility in mind from the very beginning. Check out this
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  .
• The new code search experience is lightning fast and an absolute dream to use with a screen reader. Check out this
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  and learn
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  .
• Developers use the contribution graph to learn about each other’s contributions. Check out the
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  .
• The
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  were delivered courtesy of
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  , which is the GitHub Design System. Learn how the Primer team navigated many competing requirements in this
  You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация
  .

Great accessibility starts with design, requiring an in-depth understanding of the needs of users with disabilities and their assistive technologies. The GitHub Design organization has been leaning into accessibility for years, and this blog post explores how it has

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

in the GitHub development process.

When I think about the future of technology, I think about GitHub Copilot—an AI pair programmer that boosts developers’ productivity and breaks down barriers to software development. The GitHub Copilot team recently shipped

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

.

GitHub Next, the team behind GitHub Copilot, also recently introduced GitHub Copilot Voice, an experiment currently in technical preview. GitHub Copilot Voice empowers developers to

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

. That’s a huge win for developers who have difficulty typing with their hands.

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

if you can benefit from this innovation.

Giving back to our community​

As we work to empower all developers to build on GitHub, we regularly contribute back to the broader accessibility community that has been so generous to us. For example, all accessibility improvements in

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

are available for direct use by the community.

Our accessibility team includes multiple Hubbers with disabilities—including myself. GitHub continually improves the accessibility and inclusivity of the processes we use to communicate and collaborate. One recent example is the process we use for retrospectives. At the end of our most recent retrospective, I observed that, as a person with blindness, it was the most accessible and inclusive retrospective I have ever attended. That observation prompted the team to share

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

so other teams can benefit from our learnings.

More broadly, Hubbers regularly give back to the causes we care about. During a recent social giving event, I invited Hubbers to support the

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

because that organization has made such a profound impact in my life as a person with blindness. Our goal was to raise $5,000 so we could name and support a Seeing Eye puppy that will eventually provide independence and self-confidence to a person with blindness. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my coworkers when they donated more than $15,000! So, we now get to name three puppies and I’m delighted to introduce you to the first one. Meet Octo!

Photo courtesy of The Seeing Eye

Looking ahead​

GitHub CEO, Thomas Dohmke, frequently says, “GitHub thrives on developer happiness.” I would add that the GitHub accessibility program thrives on the happiness of developers with disabilities. Our success is measured by their contributions. Our job is to remove barriers from their path and celebrate their accomplishments. We’re delighted with our progress thus far, but we are just getting warmed up. Stay tuned for more great things to come! In the meantime, learn more about the GitHub accessibility program at

You do not have permission to view link please Вход or Регистрация

.