# Spaces vs tabs: It's an accessibility issue

I never got involved in spaces vs tabs debates throughout my career. But the topic has popped up recently and I took notice of something that I have missed for many years: spaces have been an accessibility issue for many developers. For the visually impaired, spaces are hard to read. Tabs give developers the control and flexibility of the spacing to suit their needs.

## Good reads

- [Rich Harris](https://github.com/Rich-Harris) pushed for GitHub to change their tab width size in [PR #170](https://github.com/isaacs/github/issues/170).
- [Prettier](https://prettier.io/) is considering making tabs the default in 3.0. Mentioned in [Issue #7475](https://github.com/prettier/prettier/issues/7475).
- [MarcoSehe](https://github.com/MarcoZehe) comments on [PR #170](https://github.com/prettier/prettier/issues/7475#issuecomment-668544890) the impact that spaces have on Braille displays.
- [Nobody talks about the real reason to use Tabs over Spaces](https://www.reddit.com/r/javascript/comments/c8drjo/nobody_talks_about_the_real_reason_to_use_tabs/)

## What I learned

- Developers who are visually impaired can change the tab width to a size that is comfortable on their eyes.
- If you prefer spaces, you can set the tab width to `2`.
- You can change the tab width in GitHub by using the `?ts=` query.
- You can change the tab size in GitHub globally in the [Appearance](https://github.com/settings/appearance) settings page.