[Blindmath] JAWS reading Math equations element by element

[Karen Sorensen]

Hi Steve and Khaleel,
Steve, great explanation of what combination of AT, browser and add-on is
necessary to read math.
So what do you suggest the student use to write math? This is an issue that
has confounded us. MathType isn't accessible for a screen reader user to
write math with.
Here are some ideas we have compiled (some from this listserv), but none
are ideal:

   - Talking graphing calculator - does it output what's written with the
   calculator to the computer? Is it a complete solution? Probably not.
   - Excel may be a viable solution in some cases, at least in Stats.
   - ASCII code, but instructor has to agree to the code choices. An agreed
   upon ASCII set would need to be defined.
   - Braille display or Perkins brailler, but will probably need to be
   converted to math that's readable by a sighted instructor
   - LaTeX, but learning LaTeX is a commitment (you can also write LaTeX in
   MathType, and therefore only have to write the math portion of LaTeX, not
   the layout. It also is in a popular word doc format, but is difficult to
   avoid errors (from John Gardner's post on math listserv. John is a former
   physics instructor at Oregon State and the owner of ViewPlus in Corvallis,
   OR)
      - Other recommendations by John Gardner in Blindmath listserv post on
      3-16-16 (words are John's not mine):
         - "Use MathType and compose equations in LEAN. LEAN is something I
         wrote myself, and it works extremely well in audio, but the
current version
         has bugs in the braille output. Write me if you'd like to
join the beta
         list and use it in audio. Much more compact than Latex - I
find I can write
         math faster than any sighted person using any computer
application (but not
         as fast as a person using a pencil yet. LEAN is free for blind users.
         - Use ChattyInfty. Available from the Japanese Infty group at
         their commercial web site:
         http://www.sciaccess.net
         Chatty works well and can output in several formats including MS
         Word. But it is expensive."
      - Pearson's accessible braille editor
   <http://accessibility.pearson.com/mathex-app/>   tested with a
   refreshable braille display and found it promising. There were some issues
   with the display not refreshing until we navigated away from the page and
   returned.

Have any other ideas?
Thank you!
Karen
Karen M. Sorensen
Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses
www.pcc.edu/access
Portland Community College
971-722-4720
Twitter: @ksorensun