@mordremoth

> It's time for #DisabilityDrivenDevelopment.

What exactly do you mean by this? Developing our own more powerful assistive technologies and workarounds for accessibility problems, or something else?

@devinprater @podcast

I've posted a more technical/detailed update already, but for the purposes of general news: I've got a very solid prototype working that can make simple computer programs without typing code.

This is a notable step towards separating software-creation from the usual tools (and mindsets) that are expected by the tech field.

There's still a very, very long road ahead, but we're moving fast, y'all.

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

I'm not sure how good a job I can do of explaining the context behind this or why it is so important to me, but this is the first screenshot I've taken of my current #DisabilityDrivenDevelopment project. I like to take screenshots over the course of working on things to document interesting accomplishments.

This particular shot shows the main window of what I'm calling SwitchBoard. There are three major elements to this.

On the left is a giant, vertical column of stuff - these are "recipes" inside of a "cookbook" which is called "Reflection Test Class." Each of the recipes corresponds to actual functions on a C# object in the running program. They all have some "ingredients" and some "products" that correspond to function parameters and return values.

On the right, there is a horizontal piece that is called "Automatic Test Recipe." This recipe, unlike the others, has a series of "Steps." These are generated by using the SwitchBoard program itself - i.e. they do not correspond to any pre-written code. These steps effectively use the recipes from the Reflection Test Class cookbook, passing results from one recipe into another in a sequence.

Floating in the top right is a pop-up window, which shows a simple message. The message reads "Well, this is lovely..."

That message is actually something I typed into a box over in the Recipe stack on the left, and it pops up when clicking the button marked "Consent Test" on the bottom of the screen.

Essentially, clicking that button performs the steps in the Automatic Test Recipe, no matter what they are; this demonstrates that the SwitchBoard system has basically let me write a very simple program, by combining pre-existing C# code in a completely new way.

I don't have to pause or recompile anything when I edit the Automatic Test Recipe in SwitchBoard; it all just works.

As a really cool bonus? All of this UI is 100% dynamically generated on the fly - none of it exists in the compiled program.

This is the beginnings of a tool for writing programs without relying on typing code.

Had way more spoons than I thought I did today, and cranked out a ton of work.

Very, very close to having enough of the basic building blocks in place to start doing actually interesting stuff... There may even be a demo of some kind on the horizon in the next few weeks!

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

I should really be trying to go to sleep, but I'm busy being really excited about this programming project.

I only managed to work on it for an hour today, but even though I'm only getting a spoon or two for it on a given week, I'm really pleased with the progress.

Still a long ways from having much to share, but it's getting there.

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

Had some spoons today (for a while anyways). Used them to write some more code.

I'm very happy with how quickly this project is shaping up. Confirms that my ideas, as designed on paper, are solid.

Not sure how long before I have stuff I'm ready to show (or even talk about in detail) but progress is definitely happening!

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

I'm very excited tonight.

I suppose every special craft has its moments of ecstasy that look very strange to outside observers.

For me, as a programmer, I often find tiny-looking things very exciting when they finally happen on the screen.

Tonight, I am at a loss to explain, without going into far more technical detail than I have the energy to provide right now, why I am so excited.

It's "just" a little message that says "Test" on my screen...

...except that tiny little word is my first interactive proof that the field of software development is well on its way to changing forever.

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

Right now I'm working on a tool that will (eventually) enable computer programming to happen without exclusively relying on typed code.

There is a very long way to go, but the beginning prototype is starting to take shape already.

I'm out of writing-spoons for now, but I'm very excited to talk more about this approach and what I think it can enable, sometime soon. Either way I am very, very pleased with my progress the past few days.

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment #DisabledJoy

I usually don't like to work this late, and I seriously was not expecting to have any spoons left tonight after the day I had, but hey, when crip time flows, it flows.

I've just finished a very early first draft of a system that I think will form the core of what I'm trying to do with Disability-Driven Development.

It's tough to summarize, but the bottom line is, it'll create new ways to get bits of software to interact with each other. It'll also be the foundation for allowing things we don't usually think of as "code" to be part of a program.

This is what happens when a radical anarchist starts reimagining software engineering.

I'll have a proper writeup of all this at some point, but I couldn't help but celebrate this progress - what has, until now, mostly been paper notes and wild dreams in my head is now starting to look like an actual thing... And the more I think about it, the more excited I get by what this could unlock.

Never been more happy to have quit a job.

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

Spent this morning setting up my personal desktop for heavy lifting... dev tools, version control systems, databases, and a starter repository.

It's time to move past this huge pile of handwritten ideas on printer paper and sticky notes.

It's time to start implementing a new programming paradigm.

#DisabilityDrivenDevelopment is underway.

This is a longer piece, even for me, but apparently today was the day when I needed to write it; and it seems fitting to be the day to share it.

This is a collection of my musings about software, digital technology, who gets to create it, and why (and how) that must change.

This is Disability-Driven Development:

https://starshipgender.com/disability-driven-development

#Disability #DisabledJoy #DisabilityDrivenDevelopment

#DisabledPeopleDay #InternationalDayOfPersonsWithDisabilities #IDPD

#SoftwareDevelopment

I wanted to share a quick Disability-Driven Development teaser for today; first some context:

I got sent this link (by a blind friend of mine) about research on merging textual code with hand-written components: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2022/11/programming-tool-turns-handwriting-computer-code

I especially took note of this quote, from lead author Ian Arawjo:

"Our work shows that the current infrastructure of programming is actually holding us back. People are ready for this type of feature, but developers of interfaces for typing code need to take note of this and support images and graphical interfaces inside code."

Which brings me to my teaser: my current project is to explore ways to de-center text (and, therefore, classic ideas about what qualifies as "code") to facilitate precisely this kind of merging.

The future of software creation won't rely on using the Latin alphabet to type instructions.

The future of software creation will be #DisabilityDrivenDevelopment.

There's a very good chance this will turn into another essay soon, but it's too good to keep locked in my head until I have the spoons to write the whole thing, so this is what's been going on in my brain lately:

Disability-Driven Development.

Intersectional understanding applied to the creation of software tech.

Invert the usual hierarchy of privilege and access to making things (like, say, social networking infrastructure). Find multiply marginalized voices and put them in charge.

People whose life experiences and privilege have let them accrue technical skills and expertise are welcome to contribute what they can, but we don't make the decisions. That belongs to the voices that don't usually get heard.

Refuse to be about scale or monetization or growth. Reject the idea that appeal to the privileged "mainstream" is a viable route to health.

There is only one success criteria:

Are people who usually get left out of the development process getting to make things that improve their lives?

#DisabledJoy #Disability #DisabilityDrivenDevelopment