The Consumer Technology Association awarded American Printing House (APH) with a highly coveted Best of Innovation Award. The award, won in the accessibility category, honors APH’s Code Jumper, an incredible, inclusive product that allows children who are blind or visually impaired to learn computer coding alongside their sighted peers.
The tools that are currently used to teach computer coding to young children are highly visual, using the drag and drop of colored blocks on a screen to create animations. These methods are not accessible to children who are blind or visually impaired.
Code Jumper (originally designed by Microsoft and developed by APH) is an incredible innovation that teaches children (ages 7-11), regardless of their level of vision, computer coding skills. Children not only learn basic programming concepts, such as sequencing, iteration, selection, and variables, but also learn skills like computational thinking and debugging, which are skills that can serve them in all areas of life.
“Every child should have equal access to the important jobs being created in the technology field. Code Jumper gives them that access and opens a path to a meaningful career,” explains APH CEO, Craig Meador. “We’re excited that CES is giving Code Jumper such a high honor, and sees the importance of the work that Microsoft and APH is doing. We hope to inspire other companies to design products that are inclusive and ensure the future belongs to everyone.”
By connecting together small pods, students are able to build strands of code. They can change sounds to create stories, songs, and jokes. The pods functions are indicated by a unique color and differently shaped knobs so that students can easily identify each pod by sight or touch.
Testing has shown Code Jumper just as effective with children who are sighted, or have other disabilities as it is with children who are blind or visually impaired. With Code Jumper all students can work together, much as they will in the professional world, building skills including confidence, cooperation and critical thinking.
Code Jumper will go on sale in January 2020, during the CES event. To learn more, visit codejumper.com.
