[Blindmath] new publication about R accessibility

[Lewicki, Maureen]

Jonathan, this is great! I am not a mathematician, but I can appreciate your description of what a blind computer user is doing when faced with software: bottom line it makes the computer accessible but not easy! They are tools,  not miracles. They are huge helps, but they don't totally remove the physical nuisance of blindness from the user. (See Jernigan quote below.)

Please forgive me if I am misinterpreting what you are saying! I write because with your permission I would like to heavily quote you when I compose a summary of the complexity of the job of the TVI. We are constantly on a steep learning curve, trying to keep up with technology, so that we can pass accommodations  on to our students, and sometimes daily presented with a new tech  situation that needs an accommodation( for example, a website a 6th grade Science class may use, which is inaccessible by apex, or JAWS...or perhaps it IS accessible, but by means that  the TVI has to scramble to learn, usually on their own. Another situation may be how to access smart boards, etc.

When I entered the field, about the only technology I wrestled with was that dastardly cassette tape player from Library of Congress...and I hated it....but there is so much more technology that a blind or visually impaired person MUST tangle with and conquer. I want administrators to understand the complexity of the field, and I think your descriptions may help, particularly as a consumer of the products.

Thanks,

Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central Schools
(518)439-7681
"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical
nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan



-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John Gardner
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2012 7:54 AM
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] new publication about R accessibility

Good work Jonathan!  Such articles build both awareness and understanding about accessibility among mainstream scientists.  People are much more willing to extend themselves to make their work accessible if they understand how and why.

John


-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan Godfrey
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 4:02 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: [Blindmath] new publication about R accessibility

Greetings all,

For some time now, I've been working on making the R community more aware of what R has to offer the blind community. (And vice versa also!)

Courtesy of links made via this email list and conferences/workshops attended, I have been able to submit an article to the R Journal. 
This is the main journal where those people involved with the development of R present their work and findings. After some refereeing processes and some editing, I have just learned that the article will be published in December this year.

The submission now appears online on the journal's web
site: http://journal.r-project.org/accepted/2012-14/Godfrey.pdf

This is a pre-print so the volume/issue/page numbers will change but I felt that this community deserved to see the fruits of my labour and the snippets of  wisdom collated over the last five or so years. 
As an academic myself, I think it is important to recognize those whose shoulders you have stood on. Several list participants get an explicit mention (John Gardner and Neil Soiffer) but others will know that they have pointed me and other list members in the right direction to excellent resources.

Let me now extend my sincere thanks to those people: John, Neil, Michael, Susan, Dominique, and those people too numerous to name explicitly whose feedback has been invaluable. Thank you all.

Jonathan

_____
Dr A. Jonathan R. Godfrey
Lecturer in Statistics
Institute of Fundamental Sciences
Massey University
Palmerston North

Office: Science Tower B Room 3.15
Phone: +64-6-356 9099 ext 7705
Mobile: +64-29-538-9814
Home Address: 52 Linton St, Palm. Nth.
Home Phone: +64-6-353 2224 (Just think FLEABAG) 

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