Generative AI use by blind and low vision software professionals in the workplace

The software development workplace poses numerous technical and
collaborative accessibility challenges for blind and low vision software
professionals (BLVSPs). Though Generative AI (GenAI) is increasingly
adopted within the software development industry and has been a rapidly
growing topic of interest in research, to date, the unique perspectives of
BLVSPs have yet to be consulted. We report on a qualitative study
involving 39 semi-structured interviews with BLVSPs about what the
introduction of GenAI has meant for their work. We found that BLVSPs used
GenAI for many software development tasks, resulting in benefits such as
increased productivity and accessibility. However, significant costs were
also accompanied by GenAI use, as they were more vulnerable to
hallucinations than their sighted colleagues. Sometimes, organizational
policies prevented use. Based on our findings, we discuss the higher-risks
and higher-returns that BLVSPs had to carefully weigh when deciding
whether and when to use GenAI tools for work.