About this project
Across the world, many children live with disabilities or additional support needs. At the Foundation we are committed to improving access to learning for these children to enable them to create their best digital futures.
Demonstrating their commitment to accessibility, in 2024, Google launched the Blockly Accessibility Fund and the Foundation was delighted to be given funding to work on this 2-year project with the partners, Blockly and Microsoft MakeCode, and the wider community, to improve accessibility in block-based coding.
In collaboration with our partners, this project has allowed us to make significant improvements and there is plenty more to come.
Visit our accessibility section to browse our resources. Many of these have been created or improved as part of this project.
Keyboard navigation for block-based coding is here!
From July 2025, MakeCode for micro:bit now enables children to access block-based coding for the first time using keyboard navigation or an assistive device.
Find out more in our article: Launching keyboard navigation in block-based coding.
Visit Microsoft MakeCode accessibility support for getting started resources.
Support for students with visual impairments
Work is already well underway to add screen reader compatibility to block-based coding in Blockly and MakeCode, as well as other features to support students with visual impairments.
Screen reader compatibility is expected to launch in summer 2026.
Working in partnership
The Micro:bit Educational Foundation's partnership with Google Blockly and Microsoft MakeCode is critical to this project. Each partner provides significant effort and enthusiasm on an ongoing basis for which we are extremely grateful.
We won an award!
The strength of this partnership was clear from the Blockly Summit 2025. At the summit, Lucy Gill, who leads the Blockly Accessibility Project at the Foundation, won the Blockly Partnership Award on behalf of the whole Foundation project team.
Jacqueline Russell, Head of the MakeCode team, won the impact award on behalf of the MakeCode team, in recognition of the significant impact of keyboard navigation to users across the world.
With thanks to the whole community
This project involves multiple rounds of user research. Observing users trying prototypes and gathering their feedback is essential to this work.
Join our research community
To get involved with future Foundation research activities, join our research community . We will particularly be looking for students with visual impairments and their teachers in late 2025 and 2026 to support our ongoing work.
Provide feedback on keyboard navigation in MakeCode
We would love to hear what you think about keyboard navigation in MakeCode and the related resources. Please share your feedback by completing this simple form.
Or you can share feedback or get in touch about anything accessibility related using our dedicated email address: accessibility@microbit.org.
