[BlindMath] Presenting Duxbury File Electronically

Tue Mar 25 23:00:55 UTC 2025

Hello Steve,

Thank you for the corrected link and your explanation about the various file
types.  Yes, the student would not have access to Duxbury.  I am familiar
with brf files, but forgot about turning off the braille translation.  I'll
take a look at the Perkins website and see if there is an easier method for
my student to read math documents.  Thank you for your assistance. 

Sharon  

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at outlook.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 4:21 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Subject: RE: [BlindMath] Presenting Duxbury File Electronically

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-stud
ent-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 
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