Couldn't you solve some of these working memory issues by creating a script or manner by which the programmer could execute a keyboard command that will repeat the current line of code at a desired speed? That is, let's say someone hands the blind programmer a lengthy line of code to review, to overcome the classic "Magical Number 7 + or - 3" and similar character limitations of human memory, why not allow the programmer to hit a hot key such as control+l to read the current line again, and if this keyboard command is pressed again, the line will read yet slower and on and on until the line of code is reviewed thoroughly and understood. After the line of code is read in this manner the screen reader will automatically return to its default reading speed. If you want a little more information you might want to look at the jaws spellcheck function in word which will allow the user to slow down the speed at which errors in spelling are announced.
Now that its popped into my head....How about breaking-up the line of code into quadrants and using hotkeys such as control+1, control+2, control+3, and control+4 to allow independent review of 4 sections of a line of code rather than waiting for the entire line to be read. That is, if the programmer already knows the leading characters that might stay constant from line to line, he or she might not want to hear that section of the code as it is repetitive and unnecessary clutter in one's memory, and the programmer might opt to only review the second and third quadrant of code via hotkeys. This too should help overcome the old problems with primacy and recency effects in human memory.
Another option would be to simply use a Braille display to verify one's work, but this solution is very costly and probably time consuming.
Matthew---- Original Message ----- From: "Andreas Stefik" <stefika@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 11:27 AM Subject: Re: Some stories
Thanks cdh, It might be interesting to note that the problems you mention are exactly what I've been working on in my debugger, minimizing syllables and reducing short term memory requirements. I designed a whole compiler underneath the surface that tries to intelligently handle these things, and I've been running human studies to figure out what works best under what situations. And, if I've learned anything during the process, it's that you are right. In fact, I might go so far as to say that, from the data I've been able to gather so far, that short term memory issues are one of the most, if not the most, significant issues. Andreas __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind __________ NOD32 2861 (20080209) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com
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