[Blindmath] question from university ombudsperson on behalf of a blind university student

Tue Dec 1 15:31:50 UTC 2015

One thing I would suggest, Gaylen, is to contact your Commission for the Blind, and contract with someone, preferably a TVI, who can show you what is needed. I can see from the posts that are reacting to my question(how did your TVI help you?) that there is a steep drop off of support for the blind and visually impaired in the college setting. 

Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central School District
Bethlehem High School
700 Delaware Ave
Delmar, NY 12054
http://www.bethlehemschools.org
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shickeytha Chandler via Blindmath
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2015 4:05 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Cc: Shickeytha Chandler
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] question from university ombudsperson on behalf of a blind university student

Hello,

I am a graduate student majoring in Public Administration. This semester, I am taking a Research Methods class as well as working on quantitative research in another class. There are certainly challenges, but I have found a few workarounds that might be helpful.

First, if you can get data sets in Excel format, that can be very helpful. Obviously, Excel is not the best program for statistical purposes, but there is an Excel add-on called the Data Analysis toolpack that is helpful for doing things like regressions, and I have found this add-on to be accessible using JAWS screen reading software.

Second, in reading academic research articles with quantitative tables, I have found that pdf format is not always ideal. While the text sections in pdf documents will often be very compatible with screen readers, sometimes the tables are not formatted as tables.
Thus, the reader will read, for example, all of the column headings consecutively, and then read the numbers row by row, making it difficult to determine which number goes in which column. If research articles are available in word or html format, that can be helpful. In these formats, tables are usually formatted so that screen reader users can navigate through them using table navigation keys (such as control plus alt plus arrow keys). Many articles in my university's library database will have options for viewing the full text either in pdf format or html format, and I usually find the html versions more accessible.

Finally, I am not familiar with SPSS, but I have been working with Stata this semester. I have found that creating a text log to save my commands and results is the most effective way to work with Stata. It is just a text document, and it certainly does not have formatted tables, so there are some of the same issues with Stata that exist with pdf documents. However, I have found that as I become more familiar with Stata, I have memorized the standard column headings for commonly used functions (such as regression) and this helps me to know which numbers go with which column. Additionally, one-on-one training for a student from the professor can be helpful. One of my profs spent about an hour working with me to make sure that the key commands I was using to perform data analysis functions were consistent with the results obtained by my peers who used the mouse to point and click.
(In case you are not aware, most screen reader users only use keyboard commands and not the mouse.)

I hope this is helpful.

Shickeytha

On 11/30/15, Gaylen Kapperman via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Folks, here is a situation posed by an ombudsperson on behalf of a 
> blind university student. Any suggestions or recommendations would be 
> most welcome. Please send them my way and I will be more than 
> appreciative and will forward them to said ombudsperson...Here is the 
> situation to quote from her e-mail to me....
> I have never done social science research, as my background is in law.  
> It seems to be a huge challenge for both the DRC and for students with 
> visual impairments who are struggling with the immense nature of 
> translating charts, math problems, and statistical information into 
> braille.  It feels as though there has to be a better way or more 
> effective way to work.  But maybe I am wrong.  I don't know.  If you 
> would be willing to post the question though, I would sincerely appreciate it.
>
> So, this is the question - What tools do social scientists with visual 
> impairments use to do research?  Does a tool exist that is effective 
> and practical for use in translating SPSS, charts, and math into 
> something truly workable for individuals with profound visual impairments?
>
> Thank you again for your help,
>
>
>
> Thanks again.
> Gaylen Kapperman
>
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