Blind Web Development Training at Oysters and Pearls Technology Camp in Uganda
Claire Ferrari, Amy Hurst, Scott Fitzgerald · 2019 · Proceedings of the 16th International Web for All Conference (W4A) · doi:10.1145/3315002.3317562
Summary
This paper describes the development and delivery of a 7-day web development course for 13 blind and low-vision students (ages 18-35, average 24) at the Oysters and Pearls Technology Camp in Gulu, northern Uganda. None of the students had prior experience building websites, though all were certified JAWS screen reader users with an average of 5.5 years of screen reader experience. The course covered HTML, CSS, JavaScript, web accessibility concepts (WCAG), and file transfer protocols, building on accessible curriculum previously developed and tested in New York City workshops. The authors created custom accessible tools and materials including: a Color Namer web application that converts RGB values to color names (addressing the disconnect between numeric color values and blind students' color associations); tactile acrylic tiles with logical operator symbols for teaching computational concepts through a game; a Braille board game for reinforcing HTML concepts; and tactile/Braille diagrams produced on a Braille printer to teach visual CSS concepts like alignment and layout (e.g., showing Google's homepage with and without center alignment). The curriculum was delivered in HTML format accessible via screen readers, with local copies on USB drives to address internet reliability issues. Each day combined lectures, discussion, and hands-on work sessions where students applied concepts to personal website projects.
Key findings
All 13 students successfully built and published personal websites by the end of the course, with sites ranging from personal blogs and recipe collections to educational resources about economics and coding. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive: 86% rated the course as very good or excellent, and 100% rated materials as good or very good. Students reported a strong sense of pride and self-efficacy, with one stating the course "challenged the notion of impossibility" and another saying "I can now do something that many blind people cannot do." Several practical challenges emerged: power and internet outages disrupted instruction on day one; pacing was too fast, with modules consistently taking longer than planned due to varying screen reader proficiency levels; Windows security settings blocked JavaScript from running locally; and the choose-your-own-adventure activity was culturally unfamiliar to Ugandan students. Key observations included wide variation in screen reader proficiency even among certified JAWS users (many did not use efficient keyboard shortcuts); most students did not understand the concept of URLs or the relationship between the address bar and search engines; the Color Namer tool received mixed reactions (congenitally blind students had less connection to color names); and tactile diagrams were novel to most students, who had not previously encountered Braille embossed graphics. An interesting discussion arose about whether students should design their websites for blind or sighted users first.
Relevance
This work addresses two intersecting accessibility gaps — the exclusion of blind people from coding education and the lack of accessible STEM training in developing nations. With 39 million blind people globally facing barriers to education and employment, and Uganda reporting 1 in 25 people with a disability and 13% youth unemployment, accessible web development training has the potential to open meaningful vocational pathways. The paper provides practical, replicable guidance for anyone developing accessible programming courses: curriculum should be delivered in screen-reader-accessible HTML format with offline copies; tactile manipulatives support learning of visual concepts but need proper introduction for students unfamiliar with tactile graphics; screen reader proficiency should be assessed and addressed before coding instruction; cultural context matters — activities and metaphors should not assume Western familiarity; and infrastructure limitations (power, internet) must be planned for. The finding that students exhibited strong motivation and pride despite significant challenges underscores that the barriers to blind people learning to code are primarily environmental and pedagogical, not cognitive. The recommendation to increase course length and provide more time per topic reflects a common pattern in accessible education: tasks take longer with assistive technology, and curriculum design must account for this rather than simply compressing sighted-pace content.
Tags: STEM accessibility · blindness · low vision · web development · coding education · developing nations · Africa · screen reader · JAWS · tactile learning · digital inclusion · accessible programming
Standards referenced: WCAG