[BlindMath] Presenting Duxbury File Electronically

Tue Mar 25 20:20:40 UTC 2025

Sharon,

I took a very quick look at the link that Diane sent and it covers a lot.  NFBNET, the platform that hosts this list, is having some trouble and in my case it threw an extra =-sign into the link from Diane.  In case that is happening to you as well, I am copying you directly as well as sending this to the list.  The link that worked for me should be left in tact in the version of this email that you receive directly from me.  The link is
https://www.perkins.org/resource/digital-math-workflows-from-teacher-to-student-and-student-to-teacher/
in case the original link did not work for you.

This link covers a very large area including planning for accessibility.  Reviewing these pages to be sure that your approach is the best approach for your environment would be a good idea.  However, since your question was very specific, I want to try to cover it directly and hope to get a little help from others here as well.

There are some variables that would need to be known to provide an exact answer.  I am assuming that the students involved do not have the Duxbury software on their computers and that they cannot load files directly into their braille displays as a stand-alone device.

First, your aid would need to use Duxbury to create "BRF" files which are ready for embossing.  Files that have one of Duxbury's extensions, usually starting with "DX", contain information and commands that are intended to be processed by Duxbury.  These files would likely not work well on a braille display without the Duxbury software.

The "BRF" file created by your aid could then be opened in NotePad, but JAWS would try to translate it on top of the original translation.  This  would make it not useful.  Most braille displays have a JAWS command to turn JAWS translation off.  Translation would need to be turned off while examining the BRF file and then turned back on when finished.  You would need to find out the specific command used by the braille display being used, but others here may have that information.  There may be other ways of controlling the translation aspect as well.

Depending upon the format of the material being presented, it might be a good idea to make the line length of the BRF file the same as the line length of the braille displays being used.  While a 40-cell display can display 40 braille characters, there are sometimes options that reserve a few cells for status information, and that should be taken into account.

If a student has a braille display that can store and read files directly, downloading a "BRF" file into the display and using its reader would be another option.  This could allow the student to study with the braille display alone without the need for a laptop.

Finally, if a student uses speech and braille, a BRF file will usually not yield any useful speech.  If back-translation is used, text will be spoken, but the results of back-translating math in this context would be questionable.

This explanation is only intended as a broad overview and to get you started in the correct direction.  The progress that has been made to accurately display math within Word as well as in some other formats is probably well worth considering even though you have a path you would like to follow.  Without knowing more about the kind of mathematical documents you are using, it is very difficult to anticipate the best workflow.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Diane Brauner via BlindMath
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 9:37 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Diane Brauner <dianebrauner at me.com>; sharonjackson03 at comcast.net
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Presenting Duxbury File Electronically

Hi Sharon,

Here is a terrific K-12 resource that dives into the workflow for =
digital math. It does not specifically address using Duxbury with =
Scientific Notebook, but it does have resources for a variety of popular =
math applications to create accessible math documents for students and =
for students to complete math documents. The workflow discussion is =
on-going and ever-evolving, so we are definitely interested in keeping =
this post up-to-date and learning what others are doing successfully and =
what K-12 students should know to be successful in college level math =
courses.

Digital Math: Workflows from teacher to student and student to teacher =
<https://www.perkins.org/resource/digital-math-workflows-from-teacher-to-s=
tudent-and-student-to-teacher/>

Thanks,
Diane

> On Mar 25, 2025, at 7:13=E2=80=AFAM, Sharon via BlindMath =
<blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>=20
> Good Morning,=20
>=20
> I have an aide who knows how to use Duxbury with Scientific Notebook =
to
> create accessible math documents for my student.  Is there a way for =
my
> student to view these documents electronically using a laptop equipped =
with
> JAWS and Focus 40 braille display?=20
>=20
> Thank you for your assistance.
>=20
> Sharon=20
>=20
>=20
> _______________________________________________
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> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for =
BlindMath:
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om
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