[BlindMath] Braille Input with NVDA

Wed Apr 29 07:13:00 UTC 2026

This is why I suggest 8-dot where for ASCII a 1-to-1 mapping is 
possible. Of course should someone be dealing with a context which can 
only handle 6-dots (eg. paper in a perkins) then this 1-to-1 mapping 
isn't possible and the Braille layer becomes more complicated.

Michael Whapples

On 28/04/2026 22:35, Bill Dengler via BlindMath wrote:
> Doesn't the efficiency of ASCIIMath also depend on the underlying language table or Computer Braille standard used (i.e. some computer codes use French numbers, some use dropped a–j)?
>
> Bill
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Neil Soiffer via BlindMath
> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 2:31 PM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Neil Soiffer <soiffer at alum.mit.edu>
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Braille Input with NVDA
>
> Accepting Nemeth, UEB, and other braille codes is on the long range plans for MathCAT, but there is nothing scheduled to do that, so it won't happen anytime soon.
>
> Michael's suggestion of using ASCIIMath is an option worth exploring. I wrote a paper (to be presented at ICCHP this summer) that looks at Nemeth, UEB, ASCIIMath, and LaTex. 8-dot ASCIIMath is very efficient (uses less braille cells) and thus might be faster to type and maybe faster to read.
> There are all kinds of caveats to that later statement. For 6-dot codes, Nemeth is clearly the most compact, coming close to 8-dot ASCIIMath. 6-dot ASCIIMath and UEB are comparable in their efficiency.
>
> Neil Soiffer
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 28, 2026 at 12:29 PM Michael Whapples via BlindMath < blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> My thinking on this may not be the way you were thinking. If the
>> student does not want to learn two codes, then I feel UEB or Nemeth
>> probably is not the way to go, instead learn ASCIIMath or a basic subset of LaTeX.
>> As for the reading, MathCAT I am lead to believe can output in
>> ASCIIMath or LaTeX, thus the single code to learn is ASCIIMath or
>> LaTeX. This will be useful in so many other places (eg. online wikis
>> and other tools) and will make the student more independent than
>> relying upon UEB or Nemeth would (no need for specialist tools to be able to communicate).
>>
>>
>> If number of cells is a concern, then in 8-dot Braille ASCIIMath comes
>> out really good, LaTeX not quite as good and UEB is pretty poor.
>>
>>
>> I know from my work with BrailleBlaster, transcribers seem to get a
>> mind block on LaTeX and it has a reputation for being difficult. I
>> have two responses to that: It can be difficult if you get into the
>> full LaTeX system and documents from various sources as all sorts of
>> commands and macros may be used, but a constrained subset is much
>> easier. Also those who know Braille already have shown the ability to
>> learn a pretty complicated encoding system in contracted UEB, so I
>> feel its some mental block stopping learning LaTeX.
>>
>>
>> I know may not be the answer you wanted to hear. I am very much pro
>> 8-dot Braille and would be quite happy to see Braille codes simplified
>> (eg. removing contractions). To me this feels such a logical way to go
>> with computers and refreshable Braille displays where size isn't an issue.
>>
>>
>> Michael Whapples
>>
>> On 28/04/2026 15:39, Matthew Horspool via BlindMath wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> A very rusty mathematician here! Nice to be part of the list.
>>> I'm supporting a high school student with NVDA and a braille
>>> display. We
>> are based in the UK where the Student Annual edition of JAWS is not
>> available, and the braille display cost them most of their budget for
>> the year, so JAWS isn't an option even though we would like it to be.
>>> Sticking with JAWS for a moment though: there is a really neat
>>> feature
>> in JAWS where you can be in a Word document, press a keystroke and end
>> up in a math editor. The QWERTY keystroke is JAWS key+space followed
>> by
>> shift+equals, and braille display keystrokes are usually implemented.
>> shift+You
>> can use the braille keyboard of your braille display to type in this
>> window in either UEB or Nemeth and, when you press enter, the braille
>> is converted into a Microsoft Word equation.
>>> We are looking for an equivalent option for NVDA. So far I have
>>> played
>> with the MathCAT implementation in NVDA 2026.1 beta and it does a good
>> job of outputting Word equations to a braille display correctly, but
>> so far, the closest I've come to being able to input from a braille
>> display is by brailing ASCII math and then using the context menu to
>> switch that from Linear to Professional. The student is tech literate
>> but not sold on math, so asking him to read math one way and write it
>> another is not something we really want to suggest and to be honest,
>> even if it's ultimately what we end up doing in this case, it's not a
>> particularly good indictment for braille or NVDA and I think it's in
>> our interest as a community to solve the problem properly.
>>> With this in mind, does anyone know of an existing solution or any
>>> work
>> which is already being done to produce one?
>>> Thanks and best wishes,
>>> Matthew
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