I am visually impaired and have been exposed to platforms with no code, low code, block programming, etc. However, it’s really not good because it can’t work well with assistive technologies for people. blind. Specifically I’m using the NVDA screen reader and I want to create my own app. But the hardest part is designing the application as well as dragging and dropping code blocks. Meanwhile, the screen reader software cannot be compatible. I know that when I raised this issue, no one was going to discuss it, but I hope there will be a solution to overcome the limitations of the visually impaired when using thunkable at the moment. I need some help to make things happen. I know, thunkable is going to be hard to reach for the blind. I hope my problem will be discussed. Thanks.
I think it’s a great issue to raise here. I just don’t know if many people on the forums will have suggestions for you.
Have you contacted Thunkable Support? I believe you can send a message to hello@thunkable.com.
A one-on-one conversation with a staff member might get you further than any of our best guesses here.
Can you share examples of websites, especially coding platforms (if there are any), that do support visually impaired people?
i wish if thunkable had neural link it could have been poossible
maybe staff can help
I emailed thunkable and mentioned this issue but really nothing positive, they don’t have specific feedback on the things I mentioned. I know, NVDA can’t work with no code, low code or block programming platforms yet. However, I found the Microsoft power app to be accessible to screen readers but they are not fully deeply compatible. Everything is very bad and the maintenance cost is very high so I am not eligible to use it. I need a long-term support platform so that the visually impaired can work on it better. I will try contacting them directly.
You have asked the same question on the Kodular forum. Unfortunately, you will get the same response. It would of course be fantastic if Thunkable could do what you ask but it is unlikely.
Perhaps @domhnallohanlon can help.
kodular is based on mit so they cant i mean they need to get the code from mit oopen source page else it will take them time
yes i tthink he can like nerual link is hard but if we do speech to totext and text to speech seems to be nice ffeature
btw no worries @banlinhdanong50046bf ill try to make some prototype or it
It’s kind of you to want to help but I think this is an issue that needs to be addressed at the company level. I have no idea what goes into making a web-based product accessible for visually-impaired people but I suspect Thunkable X would need a major overhaul to make it so that on-screen blocks can be read by a screen reader.
Thunkable X has a lot of similarities with Scratch. If anyone has put efforts into accessible block-based programming, it’s probably the team at MIT. I’m curious if they have anything that might be a starting point for this discussion.
Edit: I found these comments related to Scratch and screen readers:
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/m/topic/279211/?page=12
@banlinhdanong50046bf Are there things we as users can do on the forums to help with readability? For example, the second link above (https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/279211/?page=5) gets re-formatted from a text url to a clickable “button” with three lines inside of a rectangle. Does that present a problem?
I have contacted them but they have no response to my email so everything I said has no effect. I have tried all kinds of help but to no avail. I need a solution for this to work. What I need is accessibility as well as NVDA can work with thunkable. However, that will not be possible. What I want is for it to be accessible, I don’t see any potential from it at the moment but I hope blind people and visually impaired developers will be able to work on thunkable properly. I think it will be difficult for visually impaired developers to work on this platform and they will not be able to move forward when block based programming is a big barrier for them. I think both bright-eyed and blind-eyed developers sit together to discuss and discuss to find a more suitable solution. It’s nice to add paragraphs that describe components in an application so that screen readers can distinguish between code blocks and accompanying structures so they can design the interface however they want. I know it’s not enough to use accessibility properties because I need independence and I need to make sure I can access it with a screen reader, I can help my colleagues design apps, I Need an affirmation that visually impaired people can develop applications on this platform by themselves without having to depend on others?
I needed some additional research by the blind thunkable community on this forum to help build a barrier-free community among developers. I have never been self-conscious about my shortcomings. I truly believe that, with current technology, there will be an alternative to it.
now if you are totally blind it might be possible u might need assistance
but if u aare partially then u can tryy n make somehow but screen hours can effect you too so just see of tht…
well my another thought is quite kidish and might not be easy and great but anyways i think if thunkable adds some text to speech feature … relly hard… btw im trying to mke my own platform in which i will try to add it…(maybe)
I am completely blind myself and I desperately need to be able to develop apps by myself without any barriers. this is great. I know, everything will be difficult to do but at least I can confidently show my friends and colleagues that I have products on the play store. I will not lose sight of the sighted in that.
I myself am a screen reader user, so I really need a small change to fit the development of my upcoming projects.
umm so basically u liked my idea??
yes i think staff will be able to help you
I agree with your consistent point of view. However, there is no staff to support me for this because I am visually impaired, so they do not have feedback on my email. I’m glad my idea is well received.
btw ill try to make a demo for you soon!!
You know, the difficulty of the visually impaired when working on this platform is that they can’t design the user interface, can’t drag and drop animation, can’t perform activities, can’t catch events, can’t Drag and drop blocks of code, creating things used to execute that application is difficult because the screen reader itself is inaccessible. So, I think we should find a solution to overcome this problem and I hope blind people can do everything by themselves. I believe things will improve. Right now, other than creating the project, I can’t do anything else. I see, you need to consult with other visually impaired people to make your product better, more accessible.