[Blindmath] Performing calculations as a blind students, tips, tricks and advice for the NFB Youth Slam

[John Gardner]

Hello Birker, it is certainly possible to solve algebraic equations using
Latex notation, but that is pretty verbose and clumsy.  As is just about
every other standard notation.  Most blind people who have to do this sort
of thing seem to invent their own shorthand. Even people who work in braille
often use shortcuts instead of official Nemeth.  

For years after losing my sight, I used an abbreviated form of Latex for
working out algebraic equations.  It worked but was pretty clumsy.  My group
developed WinTriangle with the purpose of reducing notation to a minimum,
and I used that for a while too.  It was really nice, having single
keystrokes for many common symbols such as Greek letters, integral sign,
raised symbols for superscripts, dropped symbols for subscripts, etc.  It
was the most compact way I have ever seen for writing math on a computer.
Unfortunately, Triangle also had disadvantages, and they have meant that it
is no longer a viable thing with modern OS.  ChattyInfty is not quite as
compact as WinTriangle, but it is pretty close.  I would recommend it as the
best alternative that I know for writing and developing math equations on a
computer.  Among other benefits, you can cut, copy, and paste parts of
equations.  And copy them into separate files for pasting in a number of
times.  That's a great advantage when working with complicated equations.

Good luck with your tutorial.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 5:11 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: [Blindmath] Performing calculations as a blind students, tips,
tricks and advice for the NFB Youth Slam

Hey yea wise people.

I am giving a presentation to the NFB Youth Slam students next week on
math accessibility and issues to deal with in college.
There has been a lot of talk and a lot of resources on reading math,
and not insignificantly, to writing math as well.
However one thing I feel often gets lost in the mix is techniques for
actually performing calculations and working one's way through
equations in order to find a solution i.e. the calculation part
itself.
I have some experience of course, but I'd be curious to hear what
works for people around here, especially VI or blind folks who have
completed STEM degrees in college.
Did you use LaTeX, Nemeth or some other code to write your way through
each step in the process of solving your calculations?
If not, how did you do it?
Is some software particularly useful for those (anyone remember
Derive? It was a dos software and it saved my behind quite a lot in
high school and college, but I am not even sure it is available any
more, and it was too powerful for some things).
I want to devote a few minutes to this in my presentation, but I am
having trouble finding material that is not just based on my own
experience.
Any input is more than welcome.
Cheers
-B

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