The more I work around access tech, the more I see brilliant blind developers that lack even the thinnest bit of social empathy or the lack the ability to look at something and think, "why is this difficult for someone?"
@ysotomayor That's very common. I think it is why I made a really good teacher. Even though I code and blahblah, I don't assume that what I find easy is easy for someone else.
@lerven Yeah, and I meant to write, not all devs. I know some wonderful developers that actually think about this kind of thing constantly. NVACCESS for example. Although I have my issues with their insistance of using github for bug reporting.
@ysotomayor They don't understand the extreme difficulty that many people face when encountering a new paradigm. Interface design is a unique field for a reason.
@ppatel If I would have known ux design was a field of study, I would have gone for that instead of blindness rehab. It’s such a facinating field.
@ysotomayor Unfortunatley, by the time that the field became codified, I was working full time and didn't have the time to pursue it formally. Luckily, my consulting work gave me enough experience to be somewhat good at user experience and human-centered design.
@ysotomayor Have them provide tech support for their products. If you can't have empathy for your users, you shouldn't be writing software.