Exploring accessibility by means of group with Pescara’s Google Developer Group

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 an area DevFest program, as a part of the worldwide developer occasion. The group turned the lights down and related Filippo’s PC to the room’s audio system, and Filippo informed attendees about his life as a visually impaired developer. 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 capable of bear 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 bear in mind 20, even 30 traces of code.” The attendee replied, “you’re a dragon,” alluding to folklore that the magical creatures have sturdy recollections. Filippo laughed, and his colleague, Gregorio Palama, chief of GDG Pescara, says he bought goosebumps.

Gregorio met Filippo when the 2 labored collectively at an IT consultancy. Filippo introduced his information canine Lila to work and impressed Gregario along with his outstanding skill to memorize 20-30 traces of code at a time. Filippo used assistive know-how, like speech synthesizers and display screen readers, in addition to his extraordinary memorization skill, to code. Via 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 individuals with disabilities and educate different builders concerning 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 screen readers and magnifiers. When searching the online utilizing numerous accessibility extensions, there are methods for individuals with visible impairments to make the browser extra accessible, with out putting in exterior software program.

Via their friendship, Filippo continued to teach Gregorio about accessibility when he referred to 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 Fialippo can’t see the posted info 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 pondering of getting a hackathon that might expose builders to Google’s accessibility instruments, just like the ChromeVox display screen 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 staff hope to encourage different builders to construct new accessibility instruments, like a greater group platform.

Via his friendship with Filippo, Gregorio realized the significance of accessibility. Now, he’s utilizing his GDG group and a set of instruments to assist educate about accessibility and advocate for individuals with disabilities.

When you’re impressed to guide fellow builders into an exploration of accessibility in know-how, we encourage you to be part of a GDG close to you, or contemplate main a GDG chapter. You’ll be able to 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.