Everyone Can Code: Bringing Coding To Everyone

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 17, Apple is hosting events nationwide to promote inclusive design and to show how beneficial technology can be for people with disabilities. One of these programs include working with blind and deaf communities across the US in order to bring accessible coding to schools. Starting in the fall, schools supporting disabilities will start teaching the Everyone Can Code curricula for Swift, Apple’s powerful new programming language.

Apple created the Everyone Can Code curriculum so students of all ages could learn and write code using Swift. Teachers could guide young students using iPads with Swift Playground installed, allowing them to use simple code to solve puzzles and control animated characters, whereas older developers could use the same program for app development within iOS.

The Everyone Can Code curriculum is also compatible with VoiceOver, the most advanced screen-reading technology available for people who are blind or low vision. This program describes nearly everything occurring on the screen, and is 

the most popular screen-reading technology of any mobile platform. Other accessibility features available to people who are deaf or hard of hearing include Type to Siri, closed captions, LED Flash for Alerts, Mono Audio, and Made for iPhone hearing aids. iPad and Everyone Can Code can also be used by students that have physical motor limitations by using Apple’s Switch Control, which allows devices such as joysticks and switches to control what is on the screen.

Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, states “Apple’s mission is to make products as accessible as possible. We created Everyone Can Code because we believe all students deserve an opportunity to learn the language of technology. We hope to bring Everyone Can Code to even more schools around the world serving students with disabilities.”

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