Small talk at the #TeachMeet during BETT 2026 in London about the new MakeCode website. The MakeCode team has made major steps in accessibility, ensuring that visually impaired students can also learn to code using block-based programming.
They began by making Google Blockly accessible. Since MakeCode is built on Blockly, this breakthrough opened the door for full accessibility within MakeCode as well.
Happy faces of the students because:
- Keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation
- Full support for screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA, allowing them to read blocks aloud
- A simple keyboard command to download code to the micro:bit
- Inclusive learning materials designed specifically for blind and visually impaired students
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If time allows, I can show a short one‑minute video demonstrating how this works. The site is still in beta, but the team hopes to make it available to millions of children around the world this summer.
My dutch blog about the visit.
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