[BlindMath] We: Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

[Jonathan Godfrey]

Susan's points relate to a US-centric situation. This is not what happens internationally, or at least it is not consistent internationally, and from what I can gather, it isn't consistent in the US either.

My problem with this solution is that it shifts the onus of responsibility onto a structure that won't be there when the student leaves the comfort of the university. Most employers don't have an in-house disability support service. It is a solution that hopes to make sure the education provider as a whole delivers on its obligations, and it does so pragmatically, but dare I say it, very expensively.

By the time we get to the real world, blind people need solutions that work. There are far too many highly qualified blind people who are underemployed or worse unemployed.

If the way documents are processed is made simpler, the authors, whether staff or students, can generate accessible content at the point of production. Trying to do so as a student is a minefield, and perhaps there is a place for support from a DSS unit. I would hope that the DSS unit would be helping the student learn how to help themselves as much as doing it all for them, but I understand that the staff in these units are often unable to set time aside to make things better while they are drowning under time pressure and heavy workloads processing inaccessible content.

We will always be running to stand still until the tools that edit and process LaTeX offer the solutions of accessible content to the end user. Those tools must be as easy to use as the process that creates the pdf.

Success will come when it is easy to do the right thing and harder to do the wrong things.

BTW: it was Susan that gave me pointers to TeX4HT all those years ago.

Jonathan



-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Susan Jolly via BlindMath
Sent: Tuesday, 15 March 2022 6:59 am
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: Susan Jolly <easjolly at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [BlindMath] Ew: Current strategies regarding accessible mathematics

I don't have anything to add to Dr. Godfrey's comprehensive answer  as far as the current situation in accessible mathematics. However I do want to point out some general facts about accessibility in higher education here in the United States.

First, it is my understanding that it is primarily the responsibility of the DSS (Disability Services) office at a college or university, not of the professors, to supply materials in a special format such as braille. This issue is addressed in this article: 
https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washington.edu%2Fdoit%2Fpostsecondary-setting-who-responsible-provid&data=04%7C01%7Ca.j.godfrey%40massey.ac.nz%7C66227211bd374f06709e08da05e47a77%7C388728e1bbd0437898dcf8682e644300%7C1%7C0%7C637828776135559209%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=YvYBA5roI0%2B7EwxKoBtX%2B11fDfxKAeB1KGANxx%2B4ceI%3D&reserved=0
ing-braille-translation

Second, educators very likely do  have other professional and legal obligations to  support accessibility.  The DO-IT program at the University of Washington is an outstanding example of a program that supplies both background information and training. Their main page provides links to their guidance designed for Educators as well as their guidance designed for several other groups including Students: 
https://apc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washington.edu%2Fdoit%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ca.j.godfrey%40massey.ac.nz%7C66227211bd374f06709e08da05e47a77%7C388728e1bbd0437898dcf8682e644300%7C1%7C0%7C637828776135559209%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=Z6sqLX8yKShhmvd2umxl219mJeK7RfwBLRLBmOBtj10%3D&reserved=0

Susan Jolly


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