Emily Shea – "Perl Out Loud"

As a Senior Software Engineer at Fastly, I use voice dictation as my main form of interacting with the computer. I will talk about my experience with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and how this led me to discover voice dictation and subsequently change my perception of the viability of using voice dictation for software development. I will cover some unique challenges to using voice dictation, from homophones and defining custom vocabulary, to designing and building my own voice commands to write Perl. This talk is relevant to anyone who might find themselves unable to use a keyboard or mouse, anyone curious about exploring new ways of interacting with a computer, anyone writing software for people using different input methods, and anyone interested in learning what it’s like writing Perl by voice in 2019. It’s important to make known that voice dictation is a viable option for those who can benefit from it, and as more people are using voice assistants to interact with their phones and computers, we should be thinking about using voice for software development.