SODBeans

Comprehending and debugging computer programs are inherently difficult tasks for sighted programmers. These tasks are even more difficult for non-sighted programmers, who rely on audio-based representations of programs. The state-of-the-art approach to building program execution and debugging environments for non-sighted programmers is to retrofit existing visual environments with screen readers. Because of intrinsic differences in the ways humans process auditory and visual information, we argue that these environments are insensitive to the needs of the blind community. We present an alternative: SODBeans (the SonifiedOmniscient Debugger in Netbeans), a compiler, debugger, and accessibility architecture for Netbeans 6.5.