Topic 6: ‘contributing beyond code’ (What other forms beyond code can complement your contribution? How can you improve the outreach and accessibility by considering other non-code related contributions?)

The project I chose is a communication aid. In this case, I speak French and English to a good level. One of my first points of entry was to see if I could help develop the vocabulary in any of those languages. However, both languages are quite common and have a strong community of involved people. As so, the vocabulary needed in both cases was already available.

There are many other aspects of production that need involvement in this particular project but also in other projects. For example, graphic design is one aspect that people can easily contribute to without being too involved. The design of the product in itself can also be something people contribute to in a more long-term aspect.

Being on the internet, there have been many instances where community work doesn’t involve coding. A trivial example would be the recent event in r/place. In the French community, some streamers organized teams and with the help of a coded grid, people could create and defend the french corner in the interactive canvas.

Another project I remember participating in was a project using user participation to read WWI soldier letters. Those historic documents were in great number and with the help of the community, thousands of letters were able to be decorticated.

There are many other ways to help a community without having knowledge in one field or coding ability. The application Dreamlab is a vodaphone-produced app using phones to help calculate results from data collected.