[BlindMath] New to LaTeX

[peter.julien.rayner at gmail.com]

For what it's worth I work in LaTeX i.e that's my internal format. I
develop and notate my maths content in it, resorting to braille only
when my memory can't manipulate the equations. I process to pdf only
to communicate visually. markdown would probably do the same job. I've
come to rely so much on LaTeX features like the extraordinary
diagram-drawing environment tikz/pgf and haven't convinced myself
equivalent functionality is available elsewhere. pdf/LaTeX also allows
me split screen presentations where I have my notes on a braille
display and the projector/conferencing application has the
presentation. I've not found another way to do this though it must be
possible in browser-based methods. My own summary is that markdown is
an easier tool to grasp, LaTeX probably a better toolkit and you won't
go far wrong learning either of these. Personally I'd start with
markdown and, by the time you've done that, you've learned most of the
hard stuff from LaTeX anyway.
cheers
Peter

Jonathan Godfrey via BlindMath writes:
>Hello,
>
>Yes, the most common end-product for LaTeX documents is the dreaded pdf.
>
>It doesn't have to be that way though, but the tools to create HTML are not well-known to authors.
>
>I recommend thinking about using markdown instead. You use the same commands to generate equations and mathematical symbols, but you don't need to learn all the stuff that LaTeX includes.
>
>You will need a program called pandoc to process the markdown file into HTML. You edit the markdown file (just a plain text file with a different extension) in your chosen text editor.
>The hardest part is the command to process the file into the HTML.
>
>I have not used any specific markdown editors, but I do understand some have been reviewed by notable blind people.
>
>I hope others share their views.
>Jonathan
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Dana Ibrahim via BlindMath
>Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 9:38 AM
>To: 'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics' <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>Cc: dana.mohsen.azim at gmail.com
>Subject: [BlindMath] New to LaTex
>
>Hello all,
>
>I hope everyone is doing great.
>
>I recently heard about the concept of LaTex, but I want to learn more about it.
>From what I've heard, you can type math symbols using letters. For example, typing a fraction would mean that one would type "frac."
>
>I also heard that one can compile these LaTex files into a PDF file, but I also know that math PDFs are terrible with screen-readers.
>
>So, what are your experiences with LaTex? How do you read it? What are the most accessible applications one can use?
>
>Sorry for the long email.
>
>Best,
>Dana
>
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-- 
Peter Rayner (he/him), Honorary Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne
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