[BlindMath] Fwd: Bookshare Math Books

Fri Aug 24 23:48:19 UTC 2018

Hi Tucker:

I recently (April 2018) asked about this very issue and have pasted some of
the responses I received in this email:

*******
Forwarded Email 1:

If your audience includes alternate media specialists for K-12 students,
then we first recommend that they preference NIMAC-sourced titles in the
Bookshare collection when searching for STEM titles. These books were
created specifically with accessibility needs in mind, and they may include
higher resolution images, alt text, and MathML - particularly the more
recent ones. However, this resource is limited to K-12 content, and is also
limited to students who also have an IEP. (See more information here if you
aren't already familiar:
https://www.bookshare.org/cms/help-center/access-nimac-books)

While we do have advanced search capability that allows a user to search
only NIMAC titles, or titles with images, Bookshare doesn't currently have
a way to indicate whether a book contains MathML or helpful alt text. As
such, for those teachers or specialists downloading on behalf of a student,
we recommend that they download the book and look at it to confirm quality
and content.

In terms of the different 'flavors' of STEM titles in Bookshare, you are
correct in that there is a range! Many of the books contain basic math
expressions in ASCII math with more complex math expressions as images,
with and without alt text. Diagrams are also inconsistently described in
alt-text title to title. In more recent years we have started seeing
improved accessibility features, such as math as images with MathML
alt-text - particularly from publishers Macmillan, Wiley, Sage, and Taylor
& Francis. We actually haven't seen any examples of MathML-only due to the
limited support across all reading systems.

Lastly, as we work to certify books through our Global Certification
program and add them to the collection, users will be able to search more
easily via targeted accessibility metadata.  However, this is definitely
still a work in progress on the content side.

******
Forwarded Message 2:

Per my understanding, there are several different workflows that Bookshare
deals with, pending what is (or is not) provided by publishers. There are a
few cases were graphics and descriptions are available, and therefore,
passed on to the end user. However, for a large portion of our collection,
the math and image descriptions are not made available to us from the
original content owner. We are currently working on an automated math
transcription pilot for a handful of math textbooks in our current
collection, but even that will still require a significant amount of manual
intervention and validation at the end.

******

Furthermore, I recommend that you contact Guillian Hetzler at Benetech (
guillianh at benetech.org) about these questions and more. Bookshare may have
updated some of its processes so there may be news in this regard.

Best,

Joseph

On Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 4:25 PM Tucker Benson via BlindMath <
blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:

>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Tucker Benson <tbxr400 at gmail.com>
> > Date: August 24, 2018 at 4:08:51 PM PDT
> > To: Kendra Schaber <redwing731 at gmail.com>
> > Cc: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <
> blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> > Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Bookshare Math Books
> >
> > Hi Kendra!
> >
> > Yes, I will need to search for those keywords. The issue is that my
> supervisor and I are working with our math department to select accessible
> textbooks for blind students using screen readers since conversion of
> physical copies is a hassle that goes nowhere. However, we didn’t know
> bookshare had math books, so now we’d like to try finding some that are
> accessible. I’ve heard many are, but I’ve only now joined the site. It
> would be nice if I could find some great titles that cover a wide array of
> concepts for pre-algebra, college algebra, and pre-calculus.
> >
> > And I just received an email about Voice Dream the other day, so it’s
> great you’ve used it and highly recommend it. I’ll be sure to try it out
> and spread the word to the other students.
> >
> > Thank you so much for the response, Kendra! Your input is appreciated!
> >
> > I will post the books that I find during my plunge into the unknown!
> >
> > Tucker Benson
> >
> >> On Aug 24, 2018, at 1:28 PM, Kendra Schaber <redwing731 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Tucker and all!
> >>  I’m going to take an algebra class in the winter so I totally know
> your concerns. Have you tried searching for math as a key word or other
> related math keywords like Algebra and pre Algebra? I thought that would be
> a good place to start. Also, since you are working with the blind, there is
> also an awesome app called Voice Dream which either they or you could
> benefit from. I heard that Voice Dream is the best app for Book Share
> users. The accessable brains in my network have informed me that Voice
> Dream works better than the app that often goes with Book Share. I find
> that ironic since more often than not, it’s normally the other way around.
> In any case, I thought I could at least give you a starting place. I also
> have to do my own math book search on Book Share myself. I only just joined
> up this month and have already found a gold mind of phenology and
> climatology books to explore. I also have a lot of Harry Potter and Harry
> Potter related books because I often like to dive into a new book service
> experience with one of my top favorite book or book serries, both to get a
> sense for the book app and service in question and also to use it to learn
> the ways of the newest book library in my book library repratire. What
> better way to start off exploring new book libraries with fun favorites. In
> the case of school like your query is, I think your concerns are totally
> valid and since you might want to translate or transcribe them into
> braille, I thought that I could at least start you off with a few search
> keywords to try along with an app recamendation in case they have a smart
> phone to expand their accessability to their textbooks.
> >>
> >>
> >> Thank you for taking the time to read this Email!
> >> Blessed be!!!
> >> Kendra Schaber
> >> Chemeketa Community College,
> >> 350 Org,
> >> Citizen’s Climate Lobby,
> >> National Federation of the Blind of Oregon,
> >> Capitol Chapter,
> >> Salem, Oregon.
> >> Home Email:
> >> Redwing731 at gmail.com
> >> Chemeketa Community College Email:
> >> Kschaber at my.Chemeketa.edu
> >> Phone:
> >> 971-599-9991
> >> “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”, Author unknown.
> >> Sent from my iPhone SE.
> >> Sent from my Gmail Email
> >> Get Outlook for iOS
> >> From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Tucker
> Benson via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> >> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2018 12:45:36 PM
> >> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> >> Cc: Tucker Benson
> >> Subject: [BlindMath] Bookshare Math Books
> >>
> >> Hello everyone,
> >>
> >> My name is Tucker and I’m the Assistant Accessibility Specialist at my
> college in Nevada. I have many assignments that I’m working on for the
> blind students wanting to attend higher education, but I would like help
> with this one if anyone can lend a hand.
> >>
> >> On Bookshare, are there any accessible pre-algebra, college algebra,
> and pre-calculus textbooks available? I believe there are some accessible
> books, but it would certainly be easier if someone here could provide me
> with titles rather than I go on a scavenger hunt.
> >>
> >> Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
> >>
> >> My regards,
> >> Tucker Benson
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> BlindMath at nfbnet.org
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> BlindMath:
> >>
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> http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>
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>

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