 accessible programming with Blocks for All, a boy plays piano. Boone, he's very excited about the world. He's up for almost anything. Boone and Janet. He's a finger. Boone's parents. And he likes to explore. He's not afraid to do things. I like computer programming. I might do some computer programming. I also want to be maybe an inventor, a scientist, and an author. He uses a refreshable Braille device. I don't know, I guess, if it's so important for him to learn coding, but it's important, I feel like, for him to be at least introduced to coding, and then it's his decision to pursue it or not. I'm Richard Ladner, professor emeritus at the University of Washington. I've been observing, you know, this movement to bring computer science into K through 12 education. And I've noticed that a lot of the technologies that are being introduced to young children are not accessible, especially for young children who are blind or visually impaired. I'm Lauren Milne. I'm a graduate student at the University of Washington, and I'm the inventor of Blocks for All. Traditionally, programming has been done with text-based editing, so you just type in your program, which is, of course, very accessible. But more recently, people have been creating these environments for children, these block-based environments that have a lot of visual elements, so they're really not accessible for a child with a visual impairment. We decided to design Blocks for All on a touchscreen because we found that a lot of children, especially children with visual impairments, are already using touch screens. The screen reader voiceover that comes with, for example, iPads is very accessible. The outputs for the programs were typically visual. There were animations, and those weren't accessible either. Instead of having visual outputs, we have tactile output, which is using a robot. Drive forward, turn left, turn left, and then turn left again. Boone touches the tablet's screen. Two times, if, two times, repeat. Inside repeat, if, play, button. The robot runs over the blocks. Really what I'm envisioning is it's really, I see it as a prototype where I try out a whole bunch of techniques, and I'm hoping that other developers who are creating these block-based environments can use some of the techniques that I'm finding and make their own environments accessible. The robot's eyes blink, and it runs over blocks as it pushes blocks across the floor. Access CS for All, including students with disabilities in high school computing education. Search for Access CS for All for more information. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grants. Copyright 2018.