[Blindmath] Math Conversion Software

[John J. Boyer]

Susan,

You know all this, but I think that others would find the following  
information useful.

Back-trnslation of Nemeth to MathhML iks one of the goals we are 
considering in the BrailleBlaster project. It is indeed a difficult task 
and cannot be done with existing software. However, the Braille 
transcriptionn engine used in BrailleBlaster has ben able to translate 
MathML to Nemeth, UK maths and Marburg lmaths for years. This engine 
consists of the paired software libraries liblouisutdml and liblouis. 

The development of all liblouis is sponsored by ViewPlus Technologies 
and Abilitiessoft, together with a large worldwide community. 
liblouisutdml is sponsored by the same companies, but has a smaller 
community. BrailleBlaster is in addition sponsored by APH.
All of this software is open source and can be freely downloaded.


On Thu, Oct 03, 2013 at 02:45:00PM -0600, Susan Jolly wrote:
> Developing software to convert print math to Nemeth braille math or to back 
> translate Nemeth braille math to print is a very, very difficult problem 
> that many talented people have spent many, many years attempting to 
> address. This problem is, in my opinion, way beyond the capabilities of a 
> single person.
> 
> The international standard electronic representation of mathematics is 
> MathML which is part of the EPUB3 standard.  I highly recommend that anyone 
> interested in converting print to braille start by reading the book "EPUB 3 
> Best Practices" by Matt Garrish and Marcus Gylling.  Garrish helped develop 
> the EPUB 3 standard and used his expert knowledge of the issues involved 
> with braille translation to ensure that EPUB 3 provides the information 
> necessary to produce accessible documents in braille, large print, speech, 
> and other formats.
> 
> If you are unfamiliar with MathML, my article titled "Positive Impacts of 
> EPUB3: MathML and Braille Mathematics" might be a helpful start.
> http://www.dotlessbraille.org/mathmlandbraille.htm
> 
> Computer back translation of braille to print requires parsing.  There  are 
> many textbooks and articles on lexical analysis and parsing. I found the 
> book "The Definitive ANTLR Reference" by Terence Parr to be a very helpful 
> introduction to computer-based translation as well as to the ANTLR parser 
> generator but there are many alternatives.
> 
> Best wishes,
> Susan Jolly
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blindmath mailing list
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Blindmath:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/john.boyer%40abilitiessoft.com

-- 
John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
Abilitiessoft, Inc.
http://www.abilitiessoft.com
Madison, Wisconsin USA
Developing software for people with disabilities