[Blindmath] Can PDF math texts be accessed via screen reader?

Fri Apr 10 14:59:37 UTC 2009

Hi

Its probably worth pointing out that when importing a pdf into the more 
recent versions of inftyreader, it extracts any text storred in the file 
and uses this to help with the OCR.  This is obviously a good idea and 
means you get very good results on some files, but it also means that 
using inftyreader on a pdf with storred text doesn't give an accurate 
idea of the standard of the OCR process.

Alastair

John Gardner wrote:
> Infty Reader imports PDF and bit map files.  The present version does an
> excellent job of OCR'ing directly from PDF files.  Several years ago one got
> better conversion by printing and scanning but that is no longer the case.
> 
> Conversion quality of bit maps is strongly dependent on resolution.  600 dpi
> bit maps give excellent results.  Infty does not recommend using Infty
> Reader on bit maps having less than 400 dpi resolution. 
> 
> John Gardner
> 
>  -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Louis Maher
> Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 7:01 PM
> To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Can PDF math texts be accessed via screen reader?
> 
> Hello,
> 
> If I have a journal article in pdf, or any other type of electronic format,
> is it necessary to print the pages, and then scan them back into the
> computer for Infty to translate them?
> 
> Regards
> Louis Maher
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of P. R. Stanley
> Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 4:47 AM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Can PDF math texts be accessed via screen reader?
> 
> "  It's not cheap at $900, but it is the only game in town."
> 
> You do not have to pay $900 for infty reader. The commandline version of the
> infty reader is freely available and if anyone wants a copy feel free to
> email me offlist.
> Paul
> At 03:07 09/04/2009, you wrote:
>> Hello Richard.  The Infty Reader can do OCR of PDF and is surprisingly 
>> good at getting both the math and text right.  It's not cheap at $900, 
>> but it is the only game in town.
>>
>> See
>> http://www.inftyproject.org/
>> Their ChattyInfty accessible math editor has a bit of a learning curve, 
>> but works well also.  Both these products are made by a university 
>> research
> team
>> and do not have easy user-friendly interfaces.  But they do work.
>>
>> By the way, it is absolutely not true that you cannot access the graphs 
>> and diagrams.  Look at the ViewPlus IVEO Creator Pro package.  You'll 
>> need a ViewPlus embosser to make the tactile copy, but it also works 
>> well.  Lots
> of
>> money for software and hardware, but at least today you have really 
>> full access to math and science.  Wasn't tru a couple of years ago.
>> http://www.viewplus.com
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>> [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Richard Dinger
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 5:05 PM
>> To: BlindMath
>> Subject: [Blindmath] Can PDF math texts be accessed via screen reader?
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Sorry, this is a bit long.
>>
>> I have spent most of my working career as a software engineer and 
>> recently
> I
>> have been looking into neural networks and linear classifiers.  That 
>> led to support vector machines and compact vector machines, which leads 
>> to linear algebra in general.  So my initial interest/question for this 
>> group was where can I find an accessible text on undergraduate level linear
> algebra?
>> I took linear algebra 40 years ago at the University of Washington, but 
>> recall very little of that course.  But then that question led to what 
>> may be a broader question for this group, namely, what are some solid
> approaches
>> to accessing mathematics texts in PDF via computer screen reader.  I
> mention
>> PDF texts as I see many of them offered while googling topics.
>>
>> When I say access I mean access to both the written text and at least 
>> some access to any equations.  I understand that graphs and diagrams 
>> will not be accessible, but can usually be infered from the text.
>>
>> I would be completely happy if equations were in some markup language 
>> like La Tex as that can eventually be understood.
>>
>> Are there any commercial products that can convert text and equations 
>> to some other format such as word?
>>
>> Finally, is pursuing PDF a fools errand?
>>
>> I will post on a different thread regarding La Tex.
>>
>> Richard
>> _______________________________________________
>> Blindmath mailing list
>> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Blindmath:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/john.gardner
>> %40o
> r
>> st.edu
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Blindmath mailing list
>> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> Blindmath:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/prstanley%40
>> ntlw
> orld.com
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Blindmath:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/ljmaher%40swbell.
> net
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Blindmath:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/john.gardner%40or
> st.edu
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Blindmath:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/alastair.irving%40sjc.ox.ac.uk