UML Diagrams for Blind Programmers

Many modern programming environments rely on conveying information to the programmer through heavily visual methods. One of these methods is the use of UML diagrams. These diagrams are intended to indicate relationships between classes or states in a software system. Objects are shown with lines connecting to other objects indicating specific types of relationships (such as object inheritance). By nature, this information is difficult to directly translate for blind programmers. While some programs exist to translate UML diagrams to a format a blind user can read, these programs often have flaws and cannot work with a wide variety of UML diagrams. In order to assist a blind student, we developed an auditory system to preserve the relational information from UML diagrams. We will also discuss essential information that blind programmers must receive from any UML translators, as well as future directions for programs that can translate a wide variety of UML diagrams.