Community post
Hello Steemit!
Hello everyone! I found out about Steemit from @Riverhead. My brother invited me to dinner with him, and he opened my mind to the potential of this amazing platform and of crypto currency in general.
I became blind at birth, and started programming at age seven on an Apple II/e. Since then I've used all major operating systems. I have become one of the world's first blind iOS developers, and will shortly have my first app in the app store. I live in Philadelphia. I have spoken at local and international conferences about accessibility and its potential to help people with disabilities. I cofounded Philly Touch Tours, a business which provides tours of museums and other cultural institutions, as well as sensitivity training. Most recently I've really gotten back to my roots and want to fully explore the potential of open source software.
I'll have more to write soon, including some notes on Steemit.com's accessibility. I must say that I have great difficulty using the site with a screen reader. Briefly:
- I can't follow or mute because the buttons don't act like buttons (either use standard HTML or ARIA).
- The navigation menu could use a little work.
- Screen updates need better handling.
We can address all of these things. This platform could really make a difference.
I'd like to learn of alternative interfaces. The other night I learned of a command line client but forget the name. An Emacs package would rock the house. Anything for Linux would prove useful at this point.
Thanks for reading, and sorry if I can't follow you...yet! Check out my web site or follow me on Twitter.
Replies (28)
Welcome to Steemit @austinseraphin :)
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Welcome to Steem @austinseraphin I have sent you a tip
Hi Austin,
It's great to have you on Steemit!
Nice to meet you!
https://media.giphy.com/media/ASd0Ukj0y3qMM/giphy.gif
Hi I am new here as well. I'm going to be brightening up people's feeds with funny photoshopped faces!
Please follow me to see more of my work and I'll follow you back...
You have an amazing backstory! Hopefully Steemit will work on making the program more accessible to all of its users. Best of Luck to you
Hello there @austinseraphin and welcome to Steemit! I just upvoted you!! I hope you enjoy your time here and make lots of $$$. If you're interested in lotteries, please check my profile out @steemitlotteries. I run FULLY TRANSPARENT LOTTERIES with promotional posts where I issue FREE TICKETS for those who help me curate my promotions. All the best! :)
amazing story, programming blind sounds impossible, very impressive
Welcome to steemit, happy to have you here
I am @alienposts , my real name is achraf :)
Checkout my blog posts, Enjoy your time here and let's get this party started :)
Welcome Austin, thanks for taking the time to point out some accessibility issues you've encountered on the site. We should work to get these fixed asap!
Thanks @alphacore, I've done it for so long that it flows like a spoken language. And luckily, a lot of programmers still prefer the command line and an editor instead of a complex fancy development environment. I use Emacs, which bridges the gap.
You should make funny text descriptions to keep them accessible!
Excellent! I'll make another post with a whole list. I'd quickly add that keyboard navigation in general needs improvement. Some things, such as the reply link, only seem to respond to mouse events.
Thanks for the actionable accessibility advice! I will see to it these issues are addressed ASAP.
Welcome to Steemit!
I encourage you to file any/all of these on the GitHub repo:
https://github.com/steemit/condenser/issues
Our forthcoming iOS app intends to be fully accessible, as well. Would you like to be a beta tester?
Hi and Welcome @austinseraphin! Very impressive what you have achieved :) Following you now, would love to see what you can apport to the platform.
By the way, 2 other alternative platforms for Steemit are busy.org and https://beta.chainbb.com/. Busy.org have like a Facebook style and more possibilities than steemit.com and ChainBB i a forum style view of Steemit. Hope this is useful for you.
Cheers and Steem-On!
Hey thanks!
Wow that is a really amazing and inspiring story ..hope to read more about you in the future
Upvoted !
SteemOn ! - @Utfull
hi @austinseraphin
being a blind coder must be horrible with all those bots around
must be a pain in the ass with noobs hiding buttons and functions ^^
Welcome to family :) Follow me back and I will surprised you on August 1 ;)
Wow you are really an inspiration, that you always need to be positive! and love that you are helping others ;)
A big warm Steemit welcome goes out to you Austin! :-D
Upvoted and High Pawed.
Flatrider
Hello, welcome and nice to see you in this place :)
Welcome to steemit, it's a really inspirational story and it helps us realise that obstacles in life can be overcome.
Thank you to the devs also that help spread the blockchain to all people!
Thanks, I hadn't gotten around to checking out the Github repo yet, but I will. Yes, you can make me an iOS beta tester. I have Testflight set up if that helps.
Wonderful! It feels encouraging to get a warm welcome. It'll make the platform so much easier to use, and then I can start promoting it in the blind community. And trust me, they will go bananas for this.
Thanks! They will. Check my second post for more specifics!
I thought I replied to this earlier, so sorry if I duplicated myself. Yes, sign me up as a tester! I have Testflight installed. I haven't checked out the issue tracker yet, but will.
Thank you @riverhead for introducing @austinseraphin to Steemit! We're glad that you are here! Im looking forward to reading more of your stories and all that you to share with us here!