[Blindmath] Seeking collaboration

[Neil Soiffer]

Kyle,

I used to work at Wolfram and my first attempts at making accessible
software was getting the notebook frontend to be accessible.  I got 80% -
90% of the way there for the text editor and math editor, but the company
didn't want to pursue it and I believe my efforts were long ago purged from
the code.

I think that making Mathematica accessible would be huge because it is so
powerful.  However, it is a massive undertaking that would include making
the text editor and math editor accessible, and also working on making the
incredible graphics that Mathematica can produce be accessible.  They don't
all need to be done at once though.

Or you could start smaller and push to get at least wolframalpha to be
accessible.  Get rid of the images and use MathML for the math and SVG for
the graphics.  The technology to do that already exists at WRI -- you just
need to convince the powers that be that using it so that they have an
accessible website is worth doing.

Neil Soiffer
Senior Scientist
Design Science, Inc.
www.dessci.com
~ Makers of MathType, MathFlow, MathPlayer, MathDaisy, Equation Editor ~





On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 2:51 PM, Kyle Keane <kylek at wolfram.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I am a new subscriber to this or any other mailing list so forgive me if I
> break any protocol.
>
> The short story is that I am a legally blind physicist who has decided to
> move into the software industry with the hope of helping increase access to
> high level math and physics for blind people. I am working at wolfram
> research, makers of Mathematica and wolfram alpha. I specifically chose
> this company because they have an incredible technology stack that I have
> been working with for 10 years. I am however cripplingly unfamiliar with
> business practices and need some guidance from people who have been working
> in industry.
>
> Are there any professionals on this list who would be willing to have a
> conversation with me about the best way to make a true impact in the field?
> Is there anything I can do to get connected to the community of movers and
> shakers?
>
> Also anyone interested in discussing possible partnerships with wolfram
> research can feel free to contact me at kylek at wolfram dot com
>
> Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any consideration you
> give to this.
>
> Kyle Keane
> www.KyleKeane.com
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