Contributing beyond code

The second I learned about the story behind NVDA, I knew this is the project I would love to contribute to. The project was founed by two blind students who are passionate about computing. They initially met during a music camp for blind children, but later they decided to build a screen reader for blind visually impaired poeple. The project has always been about listening, explaining, advocating, and designing with empathy since the beginning. It’s about contributing beyond code to make sure the tools we build truly serve the people who need them most.

Accessibility is a Human Issue, Not Just a Technical One

NVDA is a free screen reader used by thousands of blind and visually impaired people around the world. For many of them, it’s the key to accessing education, employment, communication, and independence. The stakes are much higher than aesthetics or usability. What we write as contributors affects real lives.

This perspective grounded my approach from the start. When I worked on my two contributions — I realised the problem wasn’t the lack of a feature, but the lack of understanding. You have to be actively thinking from the perspective of the users, because their point of view is complete different from how I am used to perceive or interact with it. Many of the problems raised are things that as an abled person might never even noticed, but they could heavily effect the experience of the NVDA users.

Documentation is a Form of Care

One of the first ways I contributed beyond code was through writing documentation — both for others and for myself.

Because NVDA is a big, complex project, I try to make sure my contribution only solve the issues I needed to solve and leave the rest of the code untouched. I make sure my comments are complete and clear and documented my testing processes. These notes helped me understand the project better — but they also serve as a roadmap for the next contributor who might be struggling silently like I did.

In open source, documentation is compassion. It invites others in.

Designing for Empathy

I believe the most powerful technologies are the ones that close gaps — between ability and opportunity, between exclusion and participation. That’s why contributing to NVDA has felt so important to me.

It’s easy to see “users” as abstract. But with NVDA, the users are people who rely on technology to write emails, get jobs, or even just check the time. Every adjustment we made, I wasn’t fixing a bug — we were helping someone trust the technology they’ve chosen.

Thinking this way has changed how I see all technology. Every function is a conversation with someone who might not use the world in the same way I do.

Community and Advocacy

Finally, being part of NVDA’s community showed me how non-code contributions like advocacy, testing, and community moderation are critical to project health. People share user stories, submit translations, raise thoughtful issues, discuss ethical concerns, and help triage bugs. The project isn’t maintained by code alone — it thrives on generosity, inclusion, and shared responsibility.

By reading, asking questions, and responding thoughtfully in issues and pull requests, I felt like I was participating in that culture.

The most powerful part is to see true user stories, where people around the world discusses how NVDA has helped them in their everyday life. Those videos have been the biggest motivation for me.

Final Thoughts

For me, this project has been more than just a university assignment. It’s been a reminder of why I chose to study technology in the first place: because I believe it can be a force for good. Accessibility isn’t just a feature — it’s a value. And contribution isn’t just code — it’s care.

We all have different skills. Some of us write code. Others test, translate, explain, design, document, or simply ask the right questions. All of these are contributions. All of them matter.