[Blindmath] access to statistics for blind students
Roopakshi Pathania
r_akshi_tgk at yahoo.com
Sun Aug 29 18:54:14 UTC 2010
Hi Vincent,
It is a great initiative.
There was also a huge discussion based on access to statistical packages during ICCHP 2010.
These are just some initial thoughts.
Since SPSS is your priority, your group should contact IBM and make them aware about all the problems you and other students face while trying to use SPSS. You should ask them the reason for not implementing a more accessible interface.
Like most products of IBM, SPSS can also be built using SWT instead of Java Swing which currently is not completely accessible.
Note that IBM acquired SPSS one year ago.
Regards
--- On Mon, 8/30/10, Vincent Martin <vmartin at mindspring.com> wrote:
> From: Vincent Martin <vmartin at mindspring.com>
> Subject: [Blindmath] access to statistics for blind students
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Date: Monday, August 30, 2010, 12:01 AM
> My advisor has assigned a Post doc
> and a couple of more people in the
> sonnification lab at Georgia Tech to start working with me
> on an Accessible
> Statistics project. What we need to determine is
> exactly how to go about
> approaching the entire problem. The ultimate goal is
> to create both an
> formal and informal approach towards the topic, such as
> just presenting and
> teaching Statistics to blind high school and college
> students. The other is
> a way to make the output from SPSS and other calculating
> packages
> accessible.
>
> Since SPSS is by far the leader in the industry, we would
> like to make their
> program accessible to screenreading programs. We know
> that "R" can be
> utilized by using command lines from the terminal prompt,
> but that still
> requires blind students to do way more than their sighted
> peers just to do
> their calculations. What we really would like input
> from the community
> about is what is the most important thing to attack
> first. I have a STATS
> class this semester and we are using SPSS for the lab
> portion and also to
> complete any class project. This is now the standard
> in most universities
> in the country, whether it is undergratuate or graduate
> level. Since I will
> have another year and a half of classess in Statistics and
> then research on
> a dissertation, making SPSS is the priority for me.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On
> Behalf Of blindmath-request at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2010 1:00 PM
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Blindmath Digest, Vol 49, Issue 22
>
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Fw: [Nfb-science] Fw: Canadian
> scientists envision synthetic
> corneas (Christine Szostak)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:57:38 -0400
> From: "Christine Szostak" <szostak.1 at osu.edu>
> To: "Discussion list for NABS, National
> Alliance of Blind Students."
> <nabs at acb.org>,
> "Blind Math list for those interested in
> mathematics"
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Blindmath] Fw: [Nfb-science] Fw: Canadian
> scientists
> envision synthetic
> corneas
> Message-ID: <5BEDF5F3F5F54D009DDDDB6D26C43B37 at cs11>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed;
> charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> Hi All,
> I just thought some hear might be interested. I
> apologize as this is not
> 100% related to list topics, but it may prove of
> interest to many here.
> many thanks,
> Christine
> Christine M. Szostak
> Graduate Student
> Language Perception Laboratory
> Department of Psychology, Cognitive Area
> The Ohio State University
> Columbus, Ohio
> szostak.1 at osu.edu
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
> To: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>;
> <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 11:06 PM
> Subject: [Nfb-science] Fw: Canadian scientists envision
> synthetic corneas
>
>
> I recently got the following article from a friend and
> thought it was quite
> exciting if it can be perfected. I am sending it
> along for those interested
>
> in corneal transplants.
> Enjoy!
> --le
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Gianfranco Di Cosmo
> To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 3:13 AM
> Subject: Canadian scientists envision synthetic corneas
>
>
>
> Canadian researchers may have made a breakthrough in the
> treatment of
> blindness caused by damaged corneas.
>
> They've developed a biosynthetic cornea that can actually
> help the eye
> repair its own damaged eye tissue and restore vision. And
> with further
> research, they say their approach could help restore sight
> to millions of
> people around the world who have lost their sight from
> diseases that lead to
>
> clouding of the cornea.
>
> The research, published today in the journal Science
> Translational Medicine
> is a small one, involving just 10 people. But scientists
> say they were
> surprised that the treatment worked in the majority of
> patients who had
> scarred corneas, helping to restore the sight of nine of
> the 10 patients.
>
> The cornea is the thin, transparent layer of collagen and
> cells that acts as
>
> a window on the eyeball. In most cases of corneal damage,
> only a transplant
> can restore sight.
>
> But in this research, Dr. May Griffith of the Ottawa
> Hospital Research
> Institute, the University of Ottawa and Link?ping
> University in Sweden
> created corneas using biosynthetic collagen produced in the
> lab that was
> moulded into the shape of a cornea, much like a contact
> lens.
>
> After first testing the corneas on pigs (who have eyes
> similar to humans),
> they recruited 10 Swedish patients with advanced
> keratoconus, or central
> corneal scarring. Each patient underwent surgery in 2007 to
> remove damaged
> corneal tissue. That was then replaced with corneas made
> from synthetic
> human collagen, which were sewn onto the eyes.
>
> For two years, researchers watched what happened. Over
> time, the implants
> acted as scaffolding to help the eye restore normal corneal
> cell and nerve
> growth.
>
> "You put the material in the eye and it becomes almost an
> integral part. It
> allows the natural cells of the person treated to go into
> the material and
> become part of it," co-author Rejean Munger of the Ottawa
> Hospital Research
> Institute told CTV News.
>
> The corneas even became sensitive to touch and started
> making tears to keep
> the eyes oxygenated.
>
> Griffith says while the study was intended only to test the
> safety of the
> new corneas, her team found that nine of the 10 patients
> saw their vision
> improve, though some needed to wear contact lenses. The
> 10th patient is
> improving though much more slowly.
>
> "We were actually very surprised and happy that we saw
> improvement in the
> vision," Griffith said.
>
> "After surgery, patients didn't have perfect vision, but
> they could see
> better," she says. "One patient had almost perfect vision;
> others had
> slightly less than perfect vision."
>
> The research was published Wednesday in the journal Science
> Translational
> Medicine.
>
>
> Page 2.
> Dr. Keith Gordon of the CNIB notes that there are millions
> of people in
> Canada and around the world who need new corneas, but there
> is a dire
> shortage of donor corneas. A synthetic cornea from a lab
> would be an
> important new way of treating patients.
>
> "If these transplants are as effective as they appear to
> be, we have got a
> winner. And it will be exciting and useful for people with
> vision loss due
> to corneal disease," he says.
>
> Researchers think it will take another five years to
> further improve the
> implants, and to test them in other eye conditions.
>
> With a report from CTV's medical specialist Avis Favaro and
> producer
> Elizabeth St. Philip
>
>
> CTV.ca News Staff
>
>
> Posted at 2010/08/25 18:51:13
>
> If you want to visit my website, http://dicosmo.ifreepages.com/
>
> Gianfranco
>
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>
>
>
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