Introducing Accessible Scala blog post

Author: MasseGuillaume

blog/_posts/2018-06-13-accessible-scala.md

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+---
+layout: blog-detail
+post-type: blog
+by: Guillaume Massé
+title: Introducing Accessible Scala
+---
+
+  Have you found yourself where you had to verbally describe code? For example, while pair-programming
+or talking about work during lunch. Verbally describing code is not an easy task, fortunately for you the
+Scala Center is working on this. [SCP-016]: Accessible Scala, was submitted to provide industry-leading support
+for blind and partially-sighted developers. It's also an opportunity to formalize a spoken Scala. For example,
+how do you pronounce: `Map[K, V]`? Perhaps `Map of K V`, or maybe `Map taking K and V`.
+
+  Reading Scala out loud make some of its syntactic elements less intimidating for beginners. When we read the
+following expression: `class S[+T]` as `class S parameterized with covariant T`, we don't need to mentally
+associate the syntax `+T` with its concept `co-variant`.
+
+  One of the goals of the proposal is to remove the noise introduced by various delimiters. Notice how the type
+parameter delimiters: `[` and `]` are absent from the verbal description. However, with more complex expressions, 
+this can make the audible form ambiguous, for example, with nested types: `Either[Wobble[T], Option[Wobble[S]]]`
+becomes: `Either applied to types Wobble of T, Option of Wobble of S`.
+  
+  To overcome the limitation of verbal description, we created a technique called the Cursor. The idea is simple:
+from your cursor location, you can navigate the abstract syntax tree of the source code. From a node, you can
+navigate to the parent node, to the siblings (left or right) or the first child. As you navigate the code,
+it's described and selected. We created an online demo (adjust your volume!) to let you try the cursor 
+technique and hear the descriptions.
+
+# Want to try it?
+
+We created an [online demo]. You can try it now! (Tip: It works best on google-chrome! )
+
+We also created a [vscode extension] so you can try on your project. Search for `Accessible Scala` in the 
+extension manager
+  
+# What's next?
+
+We hope you are excited as we are by the online demo. We would like to hear your feedback on the verbal 
+descriptions. We would like to invite the Scala community to improve the quality of the project and join the
+effort. You can find an extensive test case here: [DescribeTest.scala]. If you find that descriptions could
+be improved, send us a pull request with the expected form. Another area where we would need help
+is to create an integration with [Emacspeak]. It's an emacs plugin widely used by blind developers. If you
+know emacs lisp well and want to participate, please reach out to us!
+
+# Talk to us!
+
+Thoughts or opinions about Accessible Scala? Join us over on [Scala Contributors] to contribute to the discussion.
+We also have a [gitter] channel.
+
+[SCP-016]: https://github.com/scalacenter/advisoryboard/blob/master/proposals/016-verbal-descriptions.md
+[vscode extension]: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=scala-center.accessible-scala
+[online demo]: https://scalacenter.github.io/accessible-scala-demo/
+[DescribeTest.scala]: https://github.com/scalacenter/accessible-scala/blob/master/tests/unit/src/test/scala/ch.epfl.scala.accessible/DescribeTest.scala
+[Emacspeak]: https://github.com/tvraman/emacspeak
+[gitter]: https://gitter.im/scalacenter/accessible-scala
+[Scala Contributors]: https://contributors.scala-lang.org/TBD