[Blindmath] Nemetex

Fri Jun 7 00:06:50 UTC 2013

Hi there,
I found myself in your exact position 5 years ago: realizing with a jolt that my public school days of having a braill-to-print and vice-versa transcriber were nearly over and I needed an alternative way, preferrably using Nemeth.

I found Nemetex, and in spite of initial bumps and many emails to the developers, I got it going. Here are some tips I've learned along the way.

Disclaimer: I was using JAWS 8 and up, a Braille Lite 40 which became a Pac Mate BX400, and Windows XP.

Split your work into individual questions/sections. If errors do appear, you don't want to have to read through a giant file for one missing main-line indicator. Not that I'd know anything about that ...

Learn enough LaTeX to get by: sometimes you can fix your own errors this way. Maybe you'll want to learn the whole markup language later, but at least know how math symbols are rendered. Try a trial of Nemetex and translate a file of your own work: you'll know what you wrote in Braille, and you'll quickly learn it's more intuitive than you'd think.

Most symbols are recognized now, but if you're using something obscure, check the list of supported symbols in the user's guide.

If you can't access a Braille display, get acquainted with how a .txt braille file is read to you with speech. (for example, a punctuation indicator is a _, the = sign is .k). That way, you can fix things from your desktop (either from within Nemetex itself or in Notepad). If you do have a Braille display, have it hooked up for proofreading purposes.

I don't mean to scare you: I have successfully used Nemetex to complete first (single-variable) and second-year (multi-variable) calculus, statistics and economics. But any software comes with a few quirks, so it's best that you're aware of them now rather than 2AM six months from now, the day before an assignment's due (not that I'd know anything about that, either) ;)

Learning LaTeX is a good idea, but I'm still hesitant to take the plunge. Reading my Nemetex output certainly has helped make it look less intimidating.

Happy studies,
Sarah

________________________________________
From: Blindmath [blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Shalini Menon [shalini1394 at gmail.com]
Sent: June 5, 2013 12:49 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Nemetex

Thanks everyone for the advice.
Aine, that was really really helpful! I think the braille note sounds
like a good idea, because I love Nemeth and I’m really comfortable
with it. However, as I plan to study Economics in college as well, I
will probably need to do a lot of Stats. I’m thinking maybe I could
learn to do math on a computer as well, so I can switch over when ever
I need to.

Shalini

On 6/5/13, Shalini Menon <shalini1394 at gmail.com> wrote:
> It's really nice to see you on the list!
> From what I've read, the braille note taker comes with a Perkins style
> keyboard, which will make writing in Nemeth code easier. It also has a
> refreshable braille display, so I will be able to read everything back in
> Braille or Nemeth. As far as I know, it also has an inbuilt daisy player,
> which I can use to read some of my textbooks. I had contacted the Carroll
> Center and Susan Osterhaus to get more information about the Braille note
> taker and I will forward their emails to you. I have also contacted
> accessisoft, the company that makes Nemetex but am still waiting to hear
> from them.
>
> Thanks,
> Shalini
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Paul
> Chapin
> Sent: 04 June 2013 20:35
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Nemetex
>
> I've also been looking at Nemetex for this issue. However, I hate to show
> my
> ignorance, but my impression was that the Perkins Brailler produces hard
> copy output only and Nemetex needs an electronic file. We'd have to switch
> to either a Braille notetaker or scan the printed Braille. BTW, is there
> any
> way we can use a standard notebook to do the functions of a braille
> notetaker? Conceptually it doesn't look like they're that different.
>
> In the interest of full disclosure,  I've done some accessibility support
> in
> the past but it hasn't been my primary responsibility so I'm still in the
> process of bringing myself up to speed.
>
> Paul Chapin
>
>
> From: Shalini Menon <shalini1394 at gmail.com<mailto:shalini1394 at gmail.com>>
> Reply-To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>>
> Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 12:15 AM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>>
> Subject: [Blindmath] Nemetex
>
> Hello!
>
> I plan to major in Math and have been trying to figure out how I would work
> out and submit my math assignments. I've previously used a Perkins brailler
> to work out Math problems in Nemeth code. I've been looking out for a
> programme that converts Nemeth code into print. Has anyone used Nemetex?
> I'm
> not really sure how it works. I've heard that it works well with the
> braille
> note and I've been thinking of getting the braille note apex. Does Nemetex
> work well with this model?
> I've also looked into learning LaTeX, but as a braille and Nemeth code
> user,
> I'm not sure if this is the best option. I would really appreciate any
> advice or suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
> Shalini
>
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