[BlindMath] College math questions

[Sarah Jevnikar]

Hi Carlos,
Check the Blindmath archives for confirmation, as this topic has been
covered a lot there.

For beginner LaTeX, try the following:
1. Practical LaTeX by George Grätzer (available on BookShare and other
sources I'm sure)
2. More Math into LaTeX (same author)

To use LaTeX accessibly you'll need a text editor (you can use notepad) and
something to compile it with (TeXnicCenter is free and accessible).

Also consider math player and Math Type. Both work well with NVDA in
particular. They're better for reading math with a Braille display or NVDA;
you'll need to know LaTeX to use them to write math in your Word documents
(this is very doable but takes practice).

If you have access to Duxbury, it now has a back translation feature to
convert Nemeth and UEB math to print though it's still in early stages of
success.

Start working on this now so you don't become overwhelmed in September. You
should be in touch with any math department at your college to pick your
courses and get textbook titles. Buy them and get them to your accessibility
services office for Braille translation to begin. If that's not an option,
contact the authors directly and ask for their LaTeX source files if they
have them. Copy your accessibility services councillor and your course
instructor on any emails you send so that they know you're a legitimate
student. You won't be able to read pdf files containing math: or at least
the math formulae themselves will be unreadable. Don't believe anyone who
tells you otherwise. If pdf is the only option, download InftyReader and
translate them to LaTeX. Throw these LaTeX files into Duxbury, translate
them to Braille, save as .brf, and read them on a Braille display or Braille
notetaker.

Meet with your instructors in person to come up with plans about how you
will read tactile graphics and how they conduct lectures. If textbook
translation is becoming slow, discuss getting a human reader. Sometimes
low-tech solutions are the way to go. If LaTeX is challenging and you`re not
sure how you will get your work to your instructors on time, get a scribe.
The main thing is to get the material into your head and demonstrate that
you know it. If this means that you have to cobble low-tech solutions
together for your first year, so be it.

This is a lot. Take it seriously and get started. You will likely have a
great experience with high-level math but if you're unprepared you'll be in
serious trouble. I speak from too much experience here lol...

Good luck, have fun, and contact the list (or me privately) should you need
more help.

Happy Friday!
Sarah


-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carlos
Garcia via BlindMath
Sent: July 5, 2018 10:38 PM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: Carlos Garcia
Subject: [BlindMath] College math questions

Hello,
My name is Carlos, and I will be starting to study math in college this
fall. Up until this point, I have used the standard braille writer  and
paper to do math. As I won't have access to a transcriber like I did in
High school, I'd like to begin using more computer-based resources. I use A
PC with NVDA as my screen reader. I am at the moment attempting to learn
LaTex, although I don't know where to begin in terms of programs to
download or tutorials to follow. Could any of you offer any guidance on
where to begin?
Besides that, are there any other resources I should look into?
Thanks in advanced,
Carlos
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