[Blindmath] Hello

[Rasmussen, Lloyd]

I got my electrical engineering degree 42 years ago from Iowa State University, as a totally blind student.  Things have changed so much that I don't have any LaTeX recommendations to give you.  But you are on a good listserv in which to gather some information and encouragement.  

The last time John Miller posted here, his e-mail address was j8miller at soe.ucsd.edu .  If you haven't done so already, I would recommend you contact him.

Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress   202-707-0535
http://www.loc.gov/nls
The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Library of Congress, NLS.



-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael Chen
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 11:34 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: [Blindmath] Hello

Hi all,

Just wanted to introduce myself to this list and ask for some suggestions.

I am a university student who recently lost my sight in an accident. 
Previously, as a sighted student, I studyed Physics and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, San Diego.  I have been completely blind since three years ago, whence I started to learn to use the computer again with the help of a screen reader.  I have used JAWS, but currently my primary screen reader is the open-source NVDA.  I don't know how to breil, but I would like to learn maybe in the near future.

I am planning on returning to the university in Fall of this year to finish my degrees, but as I am now blind, I need some help in finding the right assistive software for my technical fields of study.  I have done some research on LaTeX, and this seems to be what most are suggesting for replacing traditional pencil and paper for the presentation and manipulation of mathematical formulae which can easily be compiled into the more readable and visually acceptable formats to exchange printed contents with sighted students and professors.

Can anyone suggest a good and user friendly LaTeX editor which works well with NVDA and can also convert and print out easily readable math content? 
Also, what would be a good place to start, either website or book or some other documentation, that I can get my feet wet learning the basics of LaTeX?

Thanks.

Sincerely,
mike