[BlindMath] Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

Sun Mar 13 21:31:40 UTC 2022

Hello David,

Correct, there is no one way for anything. Multiple ways to author, multiple formats to read, multiple screen readers being used, with and without braille. I suggest though that a blind person being able to (independently) create content is proof that it can be read as well. I created a gold standard for access several years ago on this basis. See https://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/help/goldstandard.html

LaTeX is not preferred. HTML is preferable to many, but many of us make use of the source files (yes, including LaTeX source) because the end product is not useful.

Personally, I'd rather read raw markdown than raw LaTeX, and in today's world, that means I'd rather author content using markdown than LaTeX. I'm still hugely pleased that I did gain LaTeX skills when I needed them because I now have a choice. I might even manage to create an MS Word file with math content in MS Word today, but I won't know until I try. While I have two choices for creating content though, I won't use up time chasing the Microsoft rainbow.

I do still read LaTeX source, but this only proves necessary when I can't process it into more readable HTML.

I do not see us being able to change the habits of the people creating educational material. Asking them to just switch to/from LaTeX to/from MS Word or even markdown is nonsensical. Making sure their workflow uses the best features that improve accessibility is more achievable, but will still require some work unless they are happening to use the tools that build access automatically.

Rules for you to share:
1. No pdf documents. Black and white with no room for discussion.
2. If authoring in LaTeX, convert to HTML not pdf. Find the right tool at the producer's end. Do not put this on the student by supplying source files.
3. If MS Word, be warned that legacy material might and might not be accessible. Attempt conversion to most modern version of MS Word and pray the math content becomes readable. Strong advice in favour of MathType for equation editing over the old MS Word equation editor. Seek advice on outcomes from current equation creating tools in current MS Word.
4. If author uses markdown, check that they take it to HTML not pdf, and then praise them, value them, and make sure others know markdown is delivering accessible HTML with MathML and MathJax.

It is unusual to see comments about other ways of delivering content, but I don't even open a power point file sent to me anymore, whether it has math content or not. One day I hope I get a pleasant surprise and learn that this file format is working well for someone on this list.

I might be a bit unpopular for saying so, but far too often, the claim that something is not accessible boils down to the blind person not having the tools needed by blind people, or not knowing how to use the tools they do have. There is also a lack of comfort with new things that occasionally interferes with a blind person's claim that something is not accessible. Some software options are difficult to get into for everyone and being blind doesn't make it all that much harder really if the software is truly accessible. For some reason though, we had a time when blind people would say something was inaccessible because that's what they thought; they were used to blaming themselves and their software, even if it was just that the new software was fundamentally different to their other experiences.

In summary, the work done to improve our access is quite limited in recent years. The successful tools like MathJax are working for us because the authors don't have to do anything to give us the same access as sighted readers. The article might have been written in 2015, but it wouldn't look all that much different if it were written today. There are only a handful of papers written on teaching STEM subjects to blind students where the article is more than a case study of supporting a single student. We were fortunate to get our paper published, in part because it was a natural contrast with one such case study.

The way we are teaching has changed quite a lot in the last two years though. We are more reliant on online teaching environments instead of classrooms for example. The use and usefulness/uselessness of a wide range of online tools being used by educationalists creates a mixture of joy and despair. Your original question was about document delivery though so I won't take this comment any further.

Our access to various software options is another topic we could discuss. I'd point out that my opinions about statistical software haven't changed in the last seven years either (R or SAS or some amount of suffering) but there does seem to have been some movement in the access of math software. The amount of discussion on software has diminished on this list, when once it was quite a dominant subject.

HTH,
Jonathan

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of David Engebretson Jr. via BlindMath
Sent: Monday, 14 March 2022 9:23 am
To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics' <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: David Engebretson Jr. <accessible.engineering at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

Yikes.

So, as far as I can see from your response (and thank you for the detail in your response):

* there's no one preferred method of authoring accessible mathematics for blind folks
* there's no one, preferred,  way to accessibly read mathematics with a screen reader

I'm not sure why but I'm hesitant to share 7 year old documents/studies with our professors. Are there studies that are recent regarding authoring and viewing LaTeX? I'm assuming LaTeX is the best way for blind folks to access mathematics...

Thanks again,
David

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Jonathan Godfrey via BlindMath
Sent: Sunday, March 13, 2022 12:51 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jonathan Godfrey <A.J.Godfrey at massey.ac.nz>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

Hello David,

On the basis that the authors you're working with aren't using something obscure, there are really only two options being used widely in mathematics departments, being MS Word or LaTeX. I'd observe that there are also a growing, but still quite small, number of people using markdown, especially in Statistics departments, but that their eventual documents for distribution are often fed through a standard LaTeX process. There are also Open Office users, but I can't comment on whether that approach has any merit.

In brief, the delivery file/mechanism  is the critical point in the process.
If the right file type is used, and built using current practices no legacy documents (MS Word in particular) the usefulness to the blind end-user is looking pretty good. The problem I have is that this brief summary might provide a false sense of security if the devil in the detail isn't noted.

I have learned that the harder it is to get things set up, the less likely it is that a solution will be taken up and therefore successful. I do not use any add-ons for my screen readers (JAWS and NVDA) because I want to see/feel the raw experience felt by users of my tools. In my view, providing add-on tools that only get used by screen reader users is the digital equivalent of asking every wheelchair user to carry around their portable ramps to get up small sets of steps.

A pdf is next to useless to us. Some attempts have and are being made to deliver a pdf that does have the right features to provide access but the consistency of the end-user experience with these tools is not yet good enough to suggest their implementation. That cuts out all documents made using a standard LaTeX process, including anyone starting with markdown.
This has always been the case. While a pdf of a modern MS Word file is quite readable, the math content therein reduces its usefulness to us. There has never been any good logic for taking a file and making it a pdf and hoping access remains as good as for the source file.

MS Word documents differ markedly in their access. This depends heavily on the vintage of the document, and the version of MS Word that was in use at the time. Many authors using MS Word also had Math Type (which does create useful content) but other relied on Microsoft's equation editor (useless to us). More recent editions of MS Word have a new tool for creating equations and math content. I have not initiated a document in MS Word for more than five years, so I need to leave discussion of that space to others.

Markdown documents are best rendered into HTML and can therefore have the best use of the tools that generate readable math content used automatically. HTML is a very useful delivery file format because screen reader software accommodates HTML (as long as it conforms to W3CAG) well, including handling math content. Rendering of math content in MathML or MathJax (preferred in my opinion) creates access at the producer's end, not the consumer's end.

LaTeX files can be converted to HTML too, but most LaTeX authors don't know how to do it. Not all LaTeX documents come out well though. This variable outcome often depends on the level of customising being done by the author as against using standard practices. Add-on packages and user-defined commands are the two main sources of variable outcome in my experience.
There are a variety of tools to take LaTeX source and create HTML. I've had good use from TeX4HT but others can point you to other solutions. Searching the list archive might also be a good source of information.

Finally, I'd suggest looking at 

@article{GodfreyLoots-JSE,
author={A. Jonathan R. Godfrey and M. Theodor Loots}, title={Advice from blind teachers on  how to teach statistics to blind students}, year={2015}, journal={Journal of Statistics Education}, month=Nov, volume=23, number=3, url={https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amstat.org%2Fpublications%2Fjse%2Fv23n3%2Fgodfrey.pdf&data=04%7C01%7Ca.j.godfrey%40massey.ac.nz%7C5f829441a74543d51b2208da052f8406%7C388728e1bbd0437898dcf8682e644300%7C1%7C0%7C637827998896559164%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=4Q3DgEK6%2FzmMlkx4r8Ih7DKLP1ISliZcK0V6Z%2BvwEoM%3D&reserved=0},
pages={1-28}
}
Even though we wrote this paper over five years ago, the rate of change in improved access to stats and maths classes has slowed in my opinion. There have been some really nice tools created, but if they don't get made part of mainstream tools, they are at risk of falling off the radar once their main proponents have run out of energy.

Happy to discuss further.
Jonathan

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of David Engebretson Jr. via BlindMath
Sent: Monday, 14 March 2022 7:42 am
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: David Engebretson Jr. <accessible.engineering at gmail.com>
Subject: [BlindMath] Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

I'm hoping to dig into the expertise on the list regarding what you do to ensure math is accessible to blind students, and current techniques to accessibly read mathematics with screen readers.

To explain:

*	I'd like to ensure our professors know how to produce accessible
documents with mathematics in them
*	And be able to show others how to read "accessible" mathematics
documents with screen readers

Thanks for your help!

David

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