[Blindmath] accessible online math resources

[Birkir R. Gunnarsson]

This is a very good point. I lost at least 150 points on my math SAT,
because I had someone write it for me, who did not even know what the
cosine symbol looked like, kept describing the printed symbol for me,
hoping for me to recognize it (I think it was the cosnie symbol, it
was a while ago).
I did take the SATs, at a U.S. military base in Iceland, so I am sure
the standards for tests administerred within the U.S. is higher (or at
least I hope so).
Also keep in mind, while readers are a quick solution, sometimes
necessary, that using readers is something you will not be able to do
easily once you graduate. Over reliance on readers, over finding other
ways to access math material, can free publishers and providers from
having to think about accessibility, and once you are in a job and you
need to brush up on something math intensive, you may have to hire a
reader with your own money to achieve that task.
I had issues with that in banking and I missed out on research project
within risk management that required near instant access to an
800-page text on measuring asset portfolio performance, because I had
no time or options to make it accessible.
If you have luck with demanding TeX or MathML from publishers or even
co-workers or teachers, or scanning text with, for instance,
InftyReader, then you have built a better foundation for you and
others, and created increased awareness of the problem, which can be
solved, but people are just reluctant to do so.
This is a bit of a philosophical point, and if you need a reader, you
need a reader, whatever gets the job done. But it is important to be
aware of the future and thinking about how you can get to where you
want to go in the career you choose, which sometimes may require
campaigning for accessibility and exploring software and hardware
options for solving the problems involved.
End of lecture *grin*
-Birkir


On 5/12/11, Jerry Richer <jerry at chirpingbat.com> wrote:
>      RFBD's stuff is all audio.  Real people reading.  Most books are read
> by qualified people though.  The reading can get very confusing at times but
> it's the best we have for now.
>
>                Jerry
>
>
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