In the past, IDEs were more rigid and less dynamic, but modern IDEs can be configured to convert tabs to spaces automatically when opening a file, and the same thing can be done the other way around (spaces to tabs). Also the code can be unified when committing/pushing it into the repository. By doing that, the tabs/spaces issue is really not an issue.
I agree. Modern tools help us, no matter what "side" we choose!
But we should assume that not everyone is aware of, or is able to use this functionality. Therefore, it's still important to think about 'accessible first', which, in this context, means using tabs.
Accessibility shouldn't be an add-on, it should be a default. 🙂
I'm all for Accessibility and think it should go first, but this is not a matter of Accessibility being an extra/add-on or not. Most likely the tools that are being used already have these accessible features out of the box and can be set as the default (VSCode even detects when a screen reader is running and suggest changes to improve the experience on the fly!)
Didn't know VS Code had those features. That's really cool!
Yes, most likely, but not guaranteed. 🙂 Not everyone is using VS Code, Atom, or any of the other tools that have these kinds of features, but if we default to using tabs, it doesn't matter.
I guess the point I was trying to make is that, in an ideal world, everything should be designed for everyone. People with disabilities should not have to rely on certain tools or features.
Even though that's practically impossible, we should still aim for it, and make the default environment as accessible as possible.
Accessibility as default is nonsense. Accessibility imply access for different needs, sometimes opposed, of course should be a add-on, an easy access add-on but an add-on nontheless; are you suggesting that every editor readout loud by default and have huge fonts with high contrast by default? we should also have by default the OS in all languages?. The default is almost by definition for most of the target user, which doesn't mean accessibility shouldn't be a available and/or hard. But definetely not the default. If you want 1 single space indent because your lines are too long, the write longer lines, a 120 char line is way better than a single space indent, 4 spaces are too few and is hard to read? then use the Linux Kernel style with 8 or look for a tool to help your particular needs; a tab looks like a bunch of spaces, that's it, visual symbols main purpouse is to express something and just one "something". You have vertical delimiters for indents, coloured indents to make them easier to distinguish, you can enlarge space between characters. Newsflash, JS is not always available or desirable, should we disabla all JS by default? and high contrast hurt my eyes but are needed for others, so how do you propose to make both defaults?
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In the past, IDEs were more rigid and less dynamic, but modern IDEs can be configured to convert tabs to spaces automatically when opening a file, and the same thing can be done the other way around (spaces to tabs). Also the code can be unified when committing/pushing it into the repository. By doing that, the tabs/spaces issue is really not an issue.
I agree. Modern tools help us, no matter what "side" we choose!
But we should assume that not everyone is aware of, or is able to use this functionality. Therefore, it's still important to think about 'accessible first', which, in this context, means using tabs.
Accessibility shouldn't be an add-on, it should be a default. 🙂
I'm all for Accessibility and think it should go first, but this is not a matter of Accessibility being an extra/add-on or not. Most likely the tools that are being used already have these accessible features out of the box and can be set as the default (VSCode even detects when a screen reader is running and suggest changes to improve the experience on the fly!)
Didn't know VS Code had those features. That's really cool!
Yes, most likely, but not guaranteed. 🙂 Not everyone is using VS Code, Atom, or any of the other tools that have these kinds of features, but if we default to using tabs, it doesn't matter.
I guess the point I was trying to make is that, in an ideal world, everything should be designed for everyone. People with disabilities should not have to rely on certain tools or features.
Even though that's practically impossible, we should still aim for it, and make the default environment as accessible as possible.
Accessibility as default is nonsense. Accessibility imply access for different needs, sometimes opposed, of course should be a add-on, an easy access add-on but an add-on nontheless; are you suggesting that every editor readout loud by default and have huge fonts with high contrast by default? we should also have by default the OS in all languages?. The default is almost by definition for most of the target user, which doesn't mean accessibility shouldn't be a available and/or hard. But definetely not the default. If you want 1 single space indent because your lines are too long, the write longer lines, a 120 char line is way better than a single space indent, 4 spaces are too few and is hard to read? then use the Linux Kernel style with 8 or look for a tool to help your particular needs; a tab looks like a bunch of spaces, that's it, visual symbols main purpouse is to express something and just one "something". You have vertical delimiters for indents, coloured indents to make them easier to distinguish, you can enlarge space between characters. Newsflash, JS is not always available or desirable, should we disabla all JS by default? and high contrast hurt my eyes but are needed for others, so how do you propose to make both defaults?