[BlindMath] Grind EQ to Translate LaTeX to Word

Wed Aug 25 11:28:26 UTC 2021

If you’re primarily converting from LaTeX, then TeX4ht and LaTeXML are more specialized tools designed for the purpose, either of which should give better results than Pandoc – especially if the document uses author-defined macros and various LaTeX packages.

If you’re writing Markdown, then I think Pandoc’s flavor of Markdown is relatively good, and it offers conversion to a variety of output formats (PDF via LaTeX, HTML, Open Document Format, Microsoft Word/Office Open XML, etc.).

From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of Aqil Sajjad via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at 02:33
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics' <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Aqil Sajjad <aqilsajjad at gmail.com>
Subject: [BlindMath] Grind EQ to Translate LaTeX to Word
I guess a more basic question is this. Does pandoc convert documents well enough that you typically don't have to do any editing of the LaTex code to render it in a form that can be easily read by NVDA or jaws? In other words, is it a matter of just running through one conversion step before you can read it. If that is the case, then learning how to install and use it might well be worth it. It depends.

Several years back when I was trying to use it, the documentation was poor. On googling, it does seem like there's some detailed documentation now. So that's progress.

 -----Original Message-----
From: White, Jason J <jjwhite at ets.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2021 3:36 PM
To: aqilsajjad at gmail.com; Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: RE: [BlindMath] Grind EQ to Translate LaTeX to Word

Pandoc is also available for a variety of operating systems. Under most systems, it's easy to install via a package manager (e.g., HomeBrew for Mac OS, Apt for Debian or Ubuntu, dnf for Fedora, pacman for Arch Linux, etc.).
Windows users will probably need to visit the Pandoc Web site and download an installer. I don't know whether it's available via Microsoft's Winget package manager. When I installed it under Windows, it was an MSI file available from pandoc.org.
After installation, it's a command line tool - and well documented in the user manual. If you find yourself writing lengthy commands to convert files, I would suggest creating a shell script to automate the process.
For my own work, I have created various makefiles that run Pandoc or LaTeX with appropriate options to generate HTML or PDF output from Markdown and LaTeX sources.
Those UNIX skills truly are invaluable.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Aqil Sajjad via BlindMath
Sent: Tuesday, 24 August 2021 17:03
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics' <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Aqil Sajjad <aqilsajjad at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Grind EQ to Translate LaTeX to Word

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Hi Elizabeth,

I have tried GrindEq in the past, and the results were not entirely positive. The software does convert LaTex to Math Type word, but it's often in a form that math player tends to struggle with. So instead of reading the equations correctly, it often gives some kind of error. I experimented with several documents or papers by different people and ran into the same problem each time. Basically, you have to manually edit the LaTex and make some changes to beat the document into a form that GrindEq will convert into a readable word document. That means a lot of extra work and plenty of trial and error figuring out what works and what doesn't. I also tried another conversion program and ran into some similar issues, but don't remember the name of that other software.

>From discussions on this list, my sense was that this is the case for pretty much any conversion tool. In fact many of the solutions that are bandied about aren't as good in practice as one might initially be led to believe.

As for Pandoc, I once wanted to give it a try but couldn't figure out how to use it and make it work. The instructions on exactly what to install and how to get it running weren't entirely clear. Is there anyone on this list who knows the exact steps and can share?

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Pyatt, Elizabeth J via BlindMath
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2021 1:04 PM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: Pyatt, Elizabeth J <ejp10 at psu.edu>
Subject: [BlindMath] Grind EQ to Translate LaTeX to Word

Apologies if this has been asked before, but we're working with instructors in a math course who have created PDF files from LaTeX. We'd like to convert the files to either Word with embedded equations in the Office format or to
HTML+MathML

I've seen the software GrindEQ mentioned and wondered if anyone had experience with it.

I have also heard of  Pandoc, but was wondering if anyone knew of a version of Pandoc that works natively in Windows or Mac. Our staff is not particularly skilled in Unix.

Any information is appreciated.

Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.
Accessibility IT Consultant
IT Accessibility
Office of the Deputy CIO
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questions) ejp10 at psu.edu<mailto:ejp10 at psu.edu>

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