[Blindmath] Accessible display format for matrices

[Michael Whapples]

Hello,
NVDA not working with MathML is specific to NVDA, Window-eyes and Jaws 
should work with mathplayer, however as some have noticed due to the 
limitations of the accessibility tools mathplayer only creates words for 
the equation (words for how the equation should be spoken) and so is not 
good when using a Braille display or when you want to navigate the 
equation. I don't know how mathplayer deals with a matrix, but what I 
have said in general about mathplayer will give you an idea of how it 
will be at best.

The following is a system I have used in the past, I do not claim it to 
be the most efficient or even if its really worth recommending but it 
can be used and has been. You could use a notation like that used in 
matlab or octave for inputting a matrix. You start the matrix with a 
left square bracket ([), separate each cell in a row by a comma (,), 
separate the rows by a semicolon (;) and end the matrix with a right 
square bracket (]). So the matrix:
1 3 2
12 4 3
5 2 4
would be written as [1, 3, 2; 12, 4, 3; 5, 2, 4].

Just from reading the example above you probably can tell why I would 
not say its the most efficient, many operations on a matrix look nice 
when you have the layout and I think whenever I was dealing with this I 
would use the linear notation above to read it and then I would copy it 
out into Braille (laying out in 2D) for ease of working.

The above is not the only linear type notation, you could go down the 
route of the LaTeX way of defining tables/arrays/etc.

Michael Whapples
On 15/11/11 11:53, Richard Baldwin wrote:
> Hi Pranav,
>
> Thanks for the input. I understand how a spreadsheet can be used for doing
> matrix computations. The main thing that I am looking for is the most
> accessible display format. For example, MathML can be used to create
> beautiful matrix equations in an HTML page. Beautiful, that is, for sighted
> students. However, NVDA becomes silent when it encounters MathML in a web
> page. I don't have a copy of Jaws, so I don't know how it reacts to MathML
> in a web page.
>
> Most normal equations can be handled in an accessible manner by writing
> them on a single line using programming format. Matrix equations, on the
> other hand typically require three or four lines. I wondering how to
> configure those three or four lines in such a way that a blind student can
> make sense of them.
>
> Thanks,
> Dick Baldwin
>
> On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 4:11 AM, Pranav Lal<pranav.lal at gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> Hi Richard,
>>
>> I have worked a bit with matrices. At the time I did, a spreadsheet
>> was the solution I chose. I could add rows and columns without a fuss
>> and they were accessible. Excel is the tool to go for in windows. No
>> special tool is required.
>>
>> On 11/15/11, Richard Baldwin<baldwin at dickbaldwin.com>  wrote:
>>> I will be teaching the following course for the first time in the Spring
>>> 2012 semester.
>>>
>>> GAME 2302 - Mathematical Applications for Game Development (3-3-1)
>>> Presents applications of mathematics and science in game and simulation
>>> programming. Includes the utilization of matrix and vector operations,
>>> kinematics, and Newtonian principles in games and simulations. Also
>> covers
>>> code optimization.
>>>
>>> The course must be accessible for blind and VI students. Even if there
>> are
>>> accessible textbooks at the college level covering these topics (which I
>>> doubt) it is far too late to adopt a new textbook for the course.
>>>
>>> I really need suggestions from those who teach mathematics and blind
>>> students who study mathematics regarding the most accessible formats for
>>> presenting matrix equations.
>>>
>>> If special reader software is required (beyond a standard screen
>> reader), I
>>> need to know that also.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>> Dick Baldwin
>>>
>>> --
>>> Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
>>> Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials
>>> http://www.DickBaldwin.com
>>>
>>> Professor of Computer Information Technology
>>> Austin Community College
>>> (512) 223-4758
>>> mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
>>> http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/
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>
>