[Blindmath] Accessible LaTeX

[Andrew Stacey]

I can't say anything to the output side but I have a suggestion for the input.
I would recommend using markdown+itex2mml for input.  Let me explain why.

It sounds as though one of the things that your solution has to do is make the
output available in many different formats.  In particular, you must have an
output for the blind and partially sighted users, and an output for the
sighted people who will read and grade the assignments.  You therefore want
a format that is easy to convert from.  Markdown with itex2mml provides this.
It converts to pure LaTeX and to MathML and from there to PDF and PS, and
presumably to Braille.  The conversion is almost 100% accurate (and the
inaccuracy is known so can be easily avoided).  From what I've learned so far,
there is no 100% accurate conversion from LaTeX to MathML (though there may
still be something that I've not yet heard about).  In addition, the
mathematics is easily readable by someone experienced in LaTeX with none of
the potential difficulties that new and strange commands can introduce.

It is also easy to learn.  As you are looking for a solution for students, it
can't be assumed that they will all go on to become people who write
mathematical documents every day.  So although my default is to recommend
LaTeX, the steep initial learning curve together with the dubious long-term
use makes me hesitant to do so.  I don't know how it feels to a blind user,
but I would regard Markdown+itex2mml as much easier than LaTeX.  The
mathematics part of Markdown+itex2mml is very close to a subset of LaTeX so
someone who wanted to go on to learn LaTeX would have gained a head start.

Markdown with itex2mml is the default format in instiki, but it can also work
as a standalone program.  If you (or anyone else) is interested in installing
it then I'd be happy to help.

As an aside, I would recommend that those responsible for producing large
quantities of documents learn LaTeX for producing mathematics.  If someone is
going to be doing it for a reasonable length of time then it is a skill
definitely worth acquiring.  The standard place to start learning is the "Not
So Short Guide to LaTeX2e" (generally called lshort2e.pdf in a standard tex
distribution).  I don't know if there's an accessible version of it (if not,
there should be!) nor if there is another guide specifically aimed at
blind/partially sighted users.

Hope this helps,

Andrew Stacey