[Blindmath] Homework for College Class

[Ben Humphreys]

While I certainly can't quarrel with the presentation of Latex, I did 
just finish Calculus 1 and I can vouch that there is plenty to learn 
and challenges to overcome without the added complexity and 
difficulty of reading Latex compared to a shorthand, which I've 
discussed before.

For example, consider a fraction divided by another fraction such as 
1 divided by 2/3

In Latex, we have:

\frac{ 1 }{ \frac{ 2}{3} }

Now, consider the shorthand that I used in my own homework

1 // 2/3

So the double slash is the "big" division line" if you will.

Now, I'm aware of all the shortcomings of non-standards based 
solutions, but as a practical matter, you're working hundreds of 
prolems, some of them difficult enough in math, without the added 
complexity, syntax, and additional brainpower to translate Latek back 
into what your classmates are seeing natively.

Admittedly, I'm dealing with blindness as an adult without the 
benefit of mastery of braille or Nemeth at a young age, so I rely on 
a screen reader and others mileage may very.

Ben

At 03:55 AM 1/24/2012, you wrote:
>Lanie,
>LateX is the standard for producing mathematical documents on many 
>universities. I highly recommend you learn it. Unlike some self 
>invented shorthand lateX allows you to express any mathematical 
>expression unambiguously. LateX will also benefit you when you are 
>writing a thesis because you'll be able to get a perfect layout just 
>by coding correctly rather than having to check it on the screen.
>
>You can write lateX in any text editor, and you can convert it into 
>PDF using the pdflatex command line program which comes with mictex.
>I hear TeXnic center is accessible and could make your job easier.
>There are many lateX tutorials which can get you started.
>Tim
>On 1/24/2012 5:51 AM, Lanie wrote:
>>I only tried ones specificly for math such as LaTeX and Scientific 
>>Notebook, but that's a good idea to use shorthand in a regular workprocessor.
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: Alex Hall <mehgcap at gmail.com
>>To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org
>>Date sent: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:45:09 -0500
>>Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Homework for College Class
>>
>>What programs have you tried for wordprocessing? I can't think of 
>>any that nvda won't work with.  Even Notepad should do the trick, 
>>even if you have to use a shorthand for some symbols, such as sr(x) 
>>for square root of x.
>>
>>Have a great day,
>>Alex (msg sent from my iPod)
>>mehgcap at gmail.com; //facebook.com/mehgcap
>>
>>On Jan 23, 2012, at 23:25, Lanie <readtobuild at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>Hi, all.  I was wondering if anyone can help with this.  I'm taking 
>>a calculus class in college, where I've just done "so homework and 
>>now have it in Braille.  I'm not beure how to transcribe it into a 
>>format my professor can read though.  Does anyone have any 
>>suggestions.  So far, I thought of using a computer program where I 
>>could type it out and email it to him, but I haven't found one 
>>that's accessible with NVDA, the screen reader I use.  My second 
>>option would be reading it all out loud on to a digital recorder 
>>and emailing it to him, but that's just really tedious.  Also, I've 
>>thought about getting a reader and scribe, but that will make me 
>>tied down to someone, and with my schedule, that won't really 
>>work.  I would really appreciate any help ASAP.  Thanks.
>>
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