Greatest Accessibility Issues in Building Software

Software and the internet revolutionize the way how society works and how wealth is distributed. In the comfort of one's dwelling. Collaborating and connecting with like-minded people across the globe. At least that was the plan. Tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams (and of course Zoom and my personal fav Discord) provided means to run software companies entirely on the internet. So, if we have all the means and tools to make this happen, why are we still spending time on commuting and sitting in front of a computer so that we could work "remotely" from the "comfort" of one's cubicle or a fancy standing desk in a open work space where the lack of noise-cancellation headphones would drive you insane? Not everyone can comfortably afford a decent place to live that is close to work and living farther requires a greater portion of time spent on commuting and often or not (at least in the US) requires the purchase of and the upkeep of a car. Here is what puzzles me and hereby I believe geographical constraint is one of the greatest accessibility issues in building software. We have yet to leverage the available talent pool due to this seemingly strange in-person requirement. This not only causes wasted time and energy but stress, and less productivity. Well, I will be on the sidelines watching when we ask AI-enabled humanoids to take up our offices if such a future exists. I am a firm believer that remote work is the future but remain very doubtful whether it is to given to human workers.

The second accessibility issue is language

No. Not debating whether HTML is a real language or either vibe coding is programming. The language we speak, write, and dream in. The de facto language in the world of software engineering is English, a language that is spoken natively by only 5%-6% of world's population. People argue that programs are not written in English but in computer languages where logic is expressed. This is only half the story. In fact, programming languages are expression of logic written in English. The very thought of becoming a programmer often requires mastery of both programming languages and spoken languages. Variables are named in English. File names are in English. The list goes on infinitely. I wonder how much time and talent is wasted on learning the spoken language and how much a barrier and obstacle it presents to people who once aspired to change the world. It saddens me greatly that the entry ticket to the world of greatest innovations is one's command of English. Imagine a world where software engineering transcended the underlying spoken language in which code was written, where people could focus on crating solutions instead of spending years perfecting their understanding of the grammar of language in which the problem statement was written in. Perhaps only then would we learn the true meaning of hello world.

Thoughts are my own. Would love to hear your thoughts.