[Blindmath] (no subject)

[Michael Whapples]

If you know how to use Microsoft word, then may be the simplest option 
to write maths is MathType. You would need to learn the LaTeX notation 
MathType uses for maths. After learning that you would just insert 
equations by entering the LaTeX for your equation in word, selecting 
that equation, pressing alt+backslash to convert it into a MathType object.

The LaTeX for the MathType of the quadratic formula is: $x = \frac{-b 
\pm \sqrt{b^2 -4ac}}{2a}$

If you went the route of using LaTeX for the whole document you will 
have much more LaTeX notation to learn. You would write it in either a 
text editor (eg. notepad) or a editor which is designed for LaTeX. To 
get a print version of the document in PDF you would run it through a 
LaTeX compiler such as pdflatex. One advantage of LaTeX though is that 
it is a programming language for creating documents so there are many 
packages you can use to help create certain document types and elements 
within a document and you can define your own commands for things you 
need to do regular. However such power will require significant 
investment in time and effort to learn it. Also when writing LaTeX 
documents, you may as well forget all your MS Word knowledge as LaTeX is 
very different.

LaTeX is a mainstream tool and a good LaTeX reference book and a web 
search engine will be your friend if you choose to use LaTeX, there is 
lots of information out there but you will need to be able to find what 
is relevant for your situation.

There are some editors designed for visually impaired people which try 
to be more friendly than LaTeX, but they tend to be less powerful. This 
is not to say that they are less useful, unless you can manage working 
with LaTeX then a more user friendly tool might allow you to do more 
because you might be able to discover how to do what you want.

To explain some of the tools you listed:
* MathType: A math editor which works with many software packages 
including word. It is certainly powerful and the cost for an academic 
license is reasonable for what you get. There is a demo version 
available which you may want to try before buying to see whether it 
suits you.
* MathPlayer: An extension to Internet Explorer to allow Internet 
Explorer to show equations in webpages which are in the MathML format. 
It has accessiblity features which allow a screen reader to read the 
content of the equation, but navigation is poor compared to other 
solutions. I believe also MathPlayer has support for Braille but I have 
not tried this to see how it works.
* LaTeX: A programming language for creating documents. Free versions 
available, versions for Windows, Linux and Mac. Extremely extensive in 
what it can do, but this power comes at a cost of potentially a lot to 
learn. Also its very different to most other ways of writing a document, 
you are writing computer source code  in the LaTeX format, it is not a 
WYSIWYG editing experience. Some tools use a subset of the LaTeX 
language to allow inputting math, MathType is such an example but a 
number of blogs and wikis also support this.
* Infty Editor and Chattyinfty: These are editors which try to be more 
user friendly than LaTeX but unlike MathType do not allow you to create 
the non-math parts in word and use them purely for math content. I have 
never used these so will not comment on how well they work.
* InftyReader: OCR for mathematics. Possibly a bit expensive but I have 
heard reports it works well and I believe the only maths OCR on the market.
* MathTrax: A tool for graphing equations or data, producing an audio 
representation of the graph. Free and available for Windows, Linux and 
the Mac. It uses Java swing so you would need to ensure you have a 
working java access bridge for it to be accessible.
* ViewPlus Audio Graphing calculator: I guess I had to mention this as I 
do work for ViewPlus. Another solution for producing audio 
representations of graphs, only for windows, commercial software so 
while costing you will get support. There is a demo version available 
should you want to try before buying.

The other things you mention I am not sure what exactly they are.

Michael Whapples
On 07/10/2013 15:57, Bhavya shah wrote:
> Hello, my dear friends. I, Bhavya Shah, a school student want to know
> if if my Maths textbook " Oxford New Enjoying Mathematics Class6" by
> Jose Paul is available in Daisy Format or any other accessible
> e-format.
> I eagerly want to type all my Maths stuff on a word processor but
> unfortunately I am unable to locate some symbols on the standard
> QWERTY keyboard. Please help me here because I have heard that those
> symbols could be found in a different location. Please tell me briefly
> about the mathematical features that Microsoft Office Word provides.
> Also, I have heard that if one does not want to be aided by a word
> processor he or she can type in Latex. I just know that they probably
> are mathematical languages in which we can type the most complicated
> sums. Please tell me if they could be helpful and where I could learn
> it in India.
> I have also heard a lot about various softwares which could be
> helpful. Please explain to me in brief the uses, features and the
> application of the following list of softwares in a secondary school's
> student's school life.
> Software List
> Maths Flow
> Maths Type
> Maths Player
> Maths Trax
> Infty Chatty
> Infty Editor
> Infty Reader
> VP Arithmetics
> VP Algebra
> Kindly also suggest me if you know some other softwares that you think
> could be helpful.
> Thanks a lot.
>
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