[Blindmath] mathplayer, jaws, and math in graphics?

Sun Apr 3 19:31:27 UTC 2011

Well, the additional problem here, and one that really comes down to
standardization and software development, is that there is no
refreshable braille support for MathML encoded documents (feel free to
crrect me if I am wrong).
MathPlayer does not support refreshable braille in any MathBraille code.
This is something that could be fixed, for instance by linking up
Liblouis with MathPlayer.
You can produce Nemeth or UEB math by going through MathType with
Microsoft Word and Duxbury or TSS, so you can turn MathML into
embossed braille.
Refreshable braille output would be very nice but somehow we have not
managed to tie up the necessary ends to make it happen.
The other problem is to think about math input. For a braille user
there are not too many option.
Chatty Infty and Lambda have input through menus, which is nice, but
if you want to really input math your best choice is to learn
TeX/LaTeX to do it, as you can then put math directly into, for
instance, Word with MathType, or create a TeX document with math
encoded using any text editor.
And once you put in the investment and time to learn TeX, mostly as a
medium for authoring in inputting math, you get more comfortable
working with TeX source code, you are free from software environment
restrictions and you have braille support. The downside is that, as
was pointed out and explained very well, TeX can be a less than ideal
medium to work with when you are simplifying complex expressions and
sometimes a simple math braille code would be more ideal for this.
Thanks
-Birkir

On 4/3/11, Roopakshi Pathania <r_akshi_tgk at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Prof. Stacey,
>
> 1. The first expression you wrote is actually ASCII text, and not LaTeX...
> 2. Do you want me to decode your second expression? Of course it is quite a
> simple example as you yourself stated.
> 3. You are right that a serious LaTeX paper or article can be hard to study.
> But then I skip initial code for the very same reason.
> Still, macros are present even in the main part of the article, so... yes.
> 4. This is also why OCR application InftyReader has a special format in
> which only math is represented in LaTeX.
> And yes, most of the websites have LaTeX in alt tags alone, so this makes
> life much simpler.
>
> When it comes to accessible math available on the web and in ebooks, there
> aren't many choices.
> So the lines blur between the real uses of LaTeX and MathML for a screen
> reader user.
>
> Regards
> --- On Sun, 4/3/11, Andrew Stacey <andrew.stacey at math.ntnu.no> wrote:
>
>> From: Andrew Stacey <andrew.stacey at math.ntnu.no>
>> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] mathplayer, jaws, and math in graphics?
>> To: "Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics"
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>> Date: Sunday, April 3, 2011, 11:38 PM
>> There seems to be some confusion
>> regarding LaTeX and MathML here.  I'd like to
>> help straighten that out, if I may.  The confusion is
>> with regarding their
>> roles.
>>
>> LaTeX is an input format.  It is how we mathematicians
>> write our articles,
>> books, webpages, and anything else where mathematics is
>> involved.  (And often
>> anything where mathematics isn't involved.  I use
>> LaTeX to design my
>> children's birthday invitations.)  It is not designed
>> to be read as-is.  It is
>> intended to be processed into a suitable output format and
>> then read.  If
>> anyone thinks that they can read LaTeX and understand what
>> is going on, then
>> I have a few documents I can post samples from which will
>> soon disabuse you of
>> that notion.  Of course, very simple LaTeX can be
>> read.  Something like x^2
>> + y^2 = z^2 is fairly easy to understand, but try something
>> more complicated
>> like \sum_{m = 2 \over m \text{prime}}^{\infty}
>> \frac{1}{m^s} and you'll see
>> what I mean.  And that's fairly simple compared to
>> what can be written.  When
>> you realise that LaTeX (or rather, TeX) is completely
>> programmable, then
>> you'll see that you can find absolutely anything in a LaTeX
>> document.
>>
>> MathML is an output format.  It is not designed to be
>> written directly, but it
>> is designed to be read.  Of course, one needs a
>> suitable renderer: a browser
>> for the sighted and something like MathPlayer for those who
>> want their
>> mathematics read, but then the same is true of any output
>> format.  As it is an
>> open standard, it is a reasonable task to design a program
>> to render MathML in
>> to any desired medium.
>>
>> It is possible, though not always straightforward, to
>> convert LaTeX to MathML.
>> One reason why it is not always straightforward is that TeX
>> (the program
>> underlying LaTeX) often needs to know things about its
>> output.  When run
>> normally, TeX has complete control over the process and so
>> can know exactly
>> how the output will be seen.  When producing MathML
>> (or XHTML), it can't know
>> exactly how the output will be seen.  But those are
>> technical difficulties
>> that can usually be avoided.  The main difficulty is
>> that most websites don't
>> bother with this route.  They convert the LaTeX
>> mathematics to a graphic which
>> is then displayed, with the original LaTeX as the alt
>> text.  Because of how it
>> is produced, the LaTeX is usually very simple (no
>> complicated macros), and so
>> it may be possible to get by with reading the alt text.
>>
>> So if you want to read mathematics, look for MathML.
>> If you want to write
>> mathematics, learn LaTeX (or another TeX variant).
>>
>> Andrew Stacey
>>
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>
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