The dilemma of building Do-It-Yourself (DIY) solutions for workplace accessibility
The dilemma of building Do-It-Yourself (DIY) solutions for workplace accessibility
Existing commercial and in-house software development tools are often inaccessible to blind and low vision software professionals (BLVSPs), hindering their participation and career growth at work. Building on existing research on Do-It-Yourself (DIY) assistive technologies and customized tools made by programmers, we shed light on the currently unexplored intersection of how DIY tools built and used by BLVSPs support accessible software development. Through semi-structured interviews with 30 BLVSPs, we found that such tools serve many different purposes and are driven by motivations such as desiring to maintain a professional image and a sense of dignity at work. These tools had significant impacts on workplace accessibility and revealed a need for a more centralized community for sharing tools, tips, and tricks. Based on our findings, we introduce the "Double Hacker Dilemma"and highlight a need for developing more effective peer and organizational platforms that support DIY tool sharing.
accessibility, blind and low vision, Do-It-Yourself (DIY), hacking, software development, workplace accessibility
Association for Computing Machinery
Cha, Yoonha
51d42c5f-2020-4dc1-bf56-d9dde2ac9ee9
Jackson, Victoria
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Kohl, Karina
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Prikladnicki, Rafael
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Van Der Hoek, André
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Branham, Stacy
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25 April 2025
Cha, Yoonha
51d42c5f-2020-4dc1-bf56-d9dde2ac9ee9
Jackson, Victoria
28beab06-6fae-46d3-ad73-1d29897680db
Kohl, Karina
ab06970c-64a1-4ab2-b7d5-7e4080a69d35
Prikladnicki, Rafael
7139f69b-6fba-4a68-b602-bb94ec835714
Van Der Hoek, André
4c4cdeed-2314-47ad-ab7f-ae14026a028c
Branham, Stacy
79c305e0-6d9e-481a-979f-0a10e78f7bd1
Cha, Yoonha, Jackson, Victoria, Kohl, Karina, Prikladnicki, Rafael, Van Der Hoek, André and Branham, Stacy
(2025)
The dilemma of building Do-It-Yourself (DIY) solutions for workplace accessibility.
In CHI 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Association for Computing Machinery.
17 pp
.
(doi:10.1145/3706598.3713302).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Existing commercial and in-house software development tools are often inaccessible to blind and low vision software professionals (BLVSPs), hindering their participation and career growth at work. Building on existing research on Do-It-Yourself (DIY) assistive technologies and customized tools made by programmers, we shed light on the currently unexplored intersection of how DIY tools built and used by BLVSPs support accessible software development. Through semi-structured interviews with 30 BLVSPs, we found that such tools serve many different purposes and are driven by motivations such as desiring to maintain a professional image and a sense of dignity at work. These tools had significant impacts on workplace accessibility and revealed a need for a more centralized community for sharing tools, tips, and tricks. Based on our findings, we introduce the "Double Hacker Dilemma"and highlight a need for developing more effective peer and organizational platforms that support DIY tool sharing.
Text
3706598.3713302
- Version of Record
More information
Published date: 25 April 2025
Venue - Dates:
2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2025, , Yokohama, Japan, 2025-04-26 - 2025-05-01
Keywords:
accessibility, blind and low vision, Do-It-Yourself (DIY), hacking, software development, workplace accessibility
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 508701
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/508701
PURE UUID: a6788503-a189-4f6c-8f13-73f4010af83f
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Date deposited: 30 Jan 2026 17:42
Last modified: 31 Jan 2026 08:29
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Contributors
Author:
Yoonha Cha
Author:
Victoria Jackson
Author:
Karina Kohl
Author:
Rafael Prikladnicki
Author:
André Van Der Hoek
Author:
Stacy Branham
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