Making Data Flow Diagrams Accessible for Visually Impaired Students Using Excel Tables

This paper addresses the use of Excel tables to convey information to blind students that would otherwise be presented using graphical tools, such as Data Flow Diagrams. These tables can supplement diagrams in the classroom when introducing their use to understand the scope of a system and its main sub-processes, on exams when answering questions about such relationships, or in group projects in discussing problems with and recommendations for systems. The main contributions are a)a suggestion on how to translate the different aspects of Data Flow Diagrams into a table format and b) the in-classexperiences from using the approach. The approach can be broadened to other graphical representations such as Entity-Relationship Diagrams or Use-Case Diagrams. Further, this approach could be broadened to support alternative learning styles of sighted students in the class.