[Blindmath] A query about accessibility through a screen reader of mathematical content

Tue Apr 12 06:21:12 UTC 2016

Hi Sabra,

i have a question:

what about Fuser .  tactile Modells with special paper. In Germany we
often use it.

Niels

2016-04-12 5:10 GMT+02:00, Sabra Ewing via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org>:
> I think most blind people just read it before they compiled. After they
> compiled, it is for a sighted person so they don't care if they can read it.
> As for a screen reader that would read math the best, I would suggest NVDA.
> It is free. Also, there is the Pearson equation editor, which is designed
> for braille users. It is much more natural to use and you don't have to deal
> with constant errors from trying to compile, but fullscreen reduce port
> isn't here for that yet. I believe that braille support is the most
> important, especially for higher-level math, so I am glad they started with
> that. If you are fine with reading in braille and using a screen reader
> doesn't matter as much, you could try that. Sighted people like their math
> so different then the way we like ours that it is really hard to have
> something where you can read and write in the same format. To get in the way
> sighted people like it, the program has to convert it to a different format
> or you have to do that by compiling something. If you just want to read
> equations for your own use, you can just write them The normal way that they
> always are. Well, I suppose for us it is the normal way and for sighted
> people is the abnormal way. Computers like our way better anyways, so it
> really makes more sense just to leave them if you are writing them for
> yourself. Maybe there is a way for a program to convert what you wrote into
> an object and then put alternative text in the object so that you can read
> what you have written and sighted people think it is the way they like it,
> But now, we have just reached the stage where you no longer have to write in
> computer braille. You can do your math in the way that you learned to read
> it, andyou can make it look good for sighted colleagues and professors, but
> yet at the stage where it translates back and forth so seamlessly that you
> feel like you can read it all the time and sighted people feel like it looks
> good all the time. Now you can at least produce correctly formatted
> equations without having to know a programming language though. I don't know
> what has happened because we haven't had any math or science technology
> apart from a tactile drawing board for blind people for like 50 years and
> now all the sudden, things are taking off, so what you want will probably
> exist in the near future. So you can wait for that while I wait for more
> seamless 3-D printing technology. I had to specifically avoid a biology
> class that involved identifying plant cells and other things with a
> microscope. I had thought we could simply order some three dimensional
> models and I can just use those, but they don't exist and they have so many
> details that they are too hard to make by hand. What you want is probably
> coming before my pocket sized, Affordable 3-D printer with accessible image
> capturing technology though. Then, I could just bring it to class, take a
> picture of the plant cell, and a little drawer with the three-dimensional
> image inside would pop up in a few seconds later. Sorry, I'm getting way off
> topic. That is all I have though. There could be something else I don't know
> about.
>
> Sabra Ewing
>
>> On Apr 11, 2016, at 9:35 AM, Saaqib Mahmuud via Blindmath
>> <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hello to everyone at the BlindMath mailing list.
>>
>> I have the following query.
>>
>> These days, I'm using WinEdit 9.1 and MikeTex 2.9.5845 for typesetting
>> mathematical documents.
>>
>> After typing in my content, I press Alt + A to go to the Accessories menu,
>> followed by ENTER to activate the Compile menu item. I've just learnt that
>> the desired keystroke is F9.
>>
>> The above procedure produces a PDF file with the mathematical content with
>> the formatting I'd done using the LATEX commands.
>>
>> Now my question is, is the mathematical content of this PDF file going to
>> be accessible (and, if so, to what extent?) to a blind user through a
>> screen reading program such as JAWS, NVDA, or WinEyes?
>>
>> Would this PDF file emboss correctly into braille if I emboss it directly
>> using a braille embosser such as the Index Braille's Everest-D V4 braille
>> embosser?
>>
>> Which screen reader does the best job of making the mathematical content
>> thus created accessible to a blind person?
>> Please be sure to reply to the above questions in a thorough enough manner
>> as your input will help make maths accessible for the blind of an
>> under-developed region!
>>
>> Regards.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Saaqib Mahmood,
>> Lecturer in Mathematics,
>> Govt. Postgrad. College (GPGC) No. 1,
>> Abbottabad, PAKISTAN
>> Kund Malyaar, Muhallah Musa Zai, Nawan Shehr,
>> Abbottabad, PAKISTAN
>> Phone: +92-346-952-7638 (mobile), +92-334-541-7958 (mobile + WhatsApp +
>> Viber)
>> Skype: saaqib.mahmood
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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