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

Wed Apr 13 01:21:52 UTC 2016

Hi Sabra,

I have the same problem. The reason for this is that many blind people are not
used to sighted graphics conventions. 

Pranav

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sabra Ewing
via Blindmath
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2016 8:54 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Sabra Ewing <sabra1023 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] A query about accessibility through a screen reader of
mathematical content

They have that in America to, but for some reason, I can't read them unless the
pictures were very simple like a very simple graph. For complicated images, I
can only understand three-dimensional things. For example, if you gave me a
tactile picture of a dog, I would have no idea what it was, but if you gave me a
plastic model of a dog, I would know what it was. Other blind people seem to be
fine with the tactile pictures though, but I don't know why.

Sabra Ewing

> On Apr 12, 2016, at 1:21 AM, Niels Luithardt via Blindmath
<blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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