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

Wed Apr 13 19:49:55 UTC 2016

Hi Sabra, 

I'm an animal science masters student at Mississippi State University. If I
can help you, or anyone on this list for that matter get access to equasions
for animal nutrition please let me know. 

Regards,

Zac

Zachary Mason
M.S. Student
Animal and Dairy Sciences
Mississippi State University

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sabra
Ewing via Blindmath
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 10:10 PM
To: Saaqib Mahmuud <saaqib1978 at yahoo.co.in>; 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

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 c!
 ompiling 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 prod!
 uce 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 top!
 ic. 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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