"Different and Boundary-Pushing:" How Blind and Low Vision Youth Live Code Together

Live coding, or real-time algorithmic performance, is a rich medium for engaging novices in informal creative STEM learning. However, despite inclusive and open-source communities, disabled practitioners are underrepresented in live coding, and prior work highlights numerous accessibility barriers. To understand the perspectives of Blind and Low Vision (BLV) live coders, we formed FiLOrk (Fil Laptop Orchestra) with five BLV teens. Across two semesters, FiLOrk performed three original works, each guided by a core concept and improvisational structure for manipulating code and maintaining shared awareness. We interviewed four musicians to understand how they felt about the learning environment and how their creative identities formed individually and in relation to one another. We reflect on FiLOrk's outcomes and propose strategies for future live coding ensembles to meaningfully include novices with and without disabilities.