[BlindMath] Seeking guidance for Discrete Mathematics

Tue Sep 1 03:49:57 UTC 2026

Arushi,
When you're in Thorium and within a book, if you go to settings, there is
an option that says enable MathJax. It is a checkbox, and it is close to
the bottom of the settings window. Maybe try toggling this setting and see
if the math reads.

Best,
Haylee

On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 8:20 PM avery ingram via BlindMath <
blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Thanks for giving me the ISBN. That was really helpful, and I just tried
> out the book. I might have to get on a call with you to know exactly what's
> going wrong, but I have some initial thoughts.
>
> There are at least two problems you're dealing with here, unfortunately.
> One is that the Bookshare book writes things like a subscript n as a space
> n, so no matter what settings are active, I don't think there's a way to
> read it 100% reliably with just audio. I actually think this is something
> you could get around with practice and math knowledge.
>
> The other problem is that JAWS doesn't read math as well as a human would.
> The best thing you can do in the short-term is to have someone look at the
> print book and help you understand what it should be saying. I might be
> able to help to an extent, if you want to call or email me directly. It
> will also help somewhat to set the JAWS punctuation to all. To do that, alt
> tab to JAWS, then press alt, go to voices, then voice adjustment, tab to
> punctuation, choose all, and tab to ok and press enter.
>
> You have a few options, probably even more I'm not considering. One is to
> have your VR agency hire a tutor for you. They might try to get you to
> accept a reader/scribe, but in fields like this, I'd argue that you need a
> tutor specifically because the material is so complex. In addition to that,
> don't hesitate to use other resources your college has, and ask if you can
> get extra office hours with your professor for help understanding the
> concepts. I don't know if you are already, but your university should be
> paying for you to get a course assistant while you're in class.
>
> Using AI for the print, electronic textbook is another option. I believe
> MathPix is the most accurate, but I haven't tried it out yet.
>
> This might seem unappealing, but it's worth considering, and I'm not
> necessarily saying you need to do this. You could explain the situation to
> your professor, VR counselor, and Disability Resource Office. You'd say
> that you tried your best, but can't complete the course now. Don't say it
> like you're blaming anyone, because then they'll get defensive. Ask what
> options you have, like withdrawing from the class, getting an incomplete
> for now, and if any exceptions can be made. The main reason this is worth
> considering now is that if you wait until you've received the grade after
> the course ends, it would be impossible or much harder to get that to work,
> so doing this sooner could protect your GPA.
>
> No matter which option you choose, I'd recommend learning more Braille and
> other codes as time goes on. Knowing Nemeth or UEB Math will make reading
> math and doing scratch work much easier. Learning computer Braille will
> make programming easier. Learning LaTeX will make a few things easier. It
> sounds intimidating, but I have no doubt you can learn them. Which codes do
> you know now? I also think just learning a few, basic Nemeth symbols now
> could help a lot with being able to read the discrete math book.
>
> Best of luck, and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have more
> questions. You should be proud of the effort you've put into the class,
> considering the access you've had to the resources you need. It takes
> everyone time to figure these things out.
>
> Best,
>
> Avery
>
> On Aug 31, 2026, at 7:00 PM, Aru M <sheratalmi at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 
> Hi Avery,
>
> Thank you! I really appreciate your willingness to help me out here.
>
> I have downloaded the book Discrete Mathematics and Applications by
> Kenneth Rosen (ISBN: 9781259731280) from Bookshare in Epub format and tried
> in the Thorium app but the Math content is not read correctly. Is there any
> setting on your machine that enables the Thorium reader to read it
> properly?
>
> Jaws many a times said Math content but never read any further, so your
> suggestions are really helpful.
>
> I have a APH Mantis Q40, but have not yet attempted to read the math
> content with this as I am less familiar with Nemeth.
>
>
>
> Best,
> Arushi
>
>
> From: avery ingram <avery8ingram at gmail.com>
> Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2026 4:59 PM
> To: M Aru <sheratalmi at gmail.com>
> Cc: blindmath at nfbnet.org <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Seeking guidance for Discrete Mathematics
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm very impressed by your level of dedication. Trying all the methods
> people recommended is a fantastic sign about your ability to succeed, and
> for people like me trying to help you, makes it much easier. Some people
> are too busy or do not have the knowledge to be able to do this, so this is
> not critical of them, but please feel free to reach out to me on or off
> list if I might be able to assist you in the future.
>
> Did you download Handbook of Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics, or
> the exact book your class is using? I downloaded the combinatorial one,
> since it's publisher quality, but I can test the other one out if that will
> not work.
>
> I tested out a few things in sections 3.4 and 3.5. Some numerical things
> say math content, and others don't, especially if they're more simple. If
> something says math content, you can press enter on it. After you press
> enter, using left and right arrows will make it a bit easier to understand
> the math that's being spoken. If you're using a Braille display that's 40
> cells or wider, that should be especially helpful for reading the Braille.
> If you don't have one, I'd recommend telling your college's disability
> resource office, or VR agency, like a commission for the blind, that you
> absolutely need them to buy you one in order for you to be able to access
> the materials necessary for your class, and to do coding with fewer errors.
>
> Publisher quality books are the best Bookshare has, and they tend to be
> great overall, but they vary and aren't quite as good as some books on
> OpenStax or in PreTexT in terms of a screen reader being able to read them.
> For example, the PreTexT books will probably give you the ability to hit
> down arrow to learn more about the smaller expressions in an equation, in a
> way that isn't quite working for this book. But if you need this book or a
> very similar one to line up with what the instructor teaches, this might be
> the best option.
>
> Best of luck with your studies,
>
> Avery
>
> On Aug 30, 2026, at 7:37 AM, Aru M <sheratalmi at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> I really appreciate the suggestions provided by all of you.
>
> I got the subscription for ChatGPT and will be looking forward to leverage
> it for my learning.
>
> I looked into the two books through the link in the email and they seem to
> be covering almost everything that may be taught as part of this subject.
> They are very much accessible and therefore, be tremendously helpful in
> learning the concepts.
>
> A sighted person looked into the textbook in Word format (opened in
> Microsoft Word) but the equations are in text format only and therefore,
> special Math notations are gone. I was hoping that the equations would be
> in Equation Editor then I can use it but unfortunately not.
>
> Thanks for suggestion about the Thorium app. I opened the EPUB version of
> the book in the app and it is also not correctly reading the Math content
> though the content is rendered correctly. I enabled the screen reader
> optimization for the book but it didn't helped. Is there any setting that I
> need to do to enable correct Math reading?
>
>
> Thanks
> Arushi
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of avery ingram
> via
> BlindMath
> Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2026 10:58 PM
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Cc: avery ingram <avery8ingram at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Seeking guidance for Discrete Mathematics
>
> Hello,
>
> I have a solution that might work. The book Handbook of Discrete and
> Combinatorial Mathematics, from the same author, seems to be publisher
> quality, so it should render a lot better. The book might be really
> similar,
> but you could ask a TA to tell you which parts correspond to your class's
> book.
>
> If you get the free Thorium app on your computer, and download the book in
> epub format, it should work especially well. I think this book has images.
> Whenever you're on an equation or image, you should be able to use picture
> smart AI with JAWS. To do that, have your cursor on the image, then press
> JAWS key with space, then p, then shift with c. It might not give you the
> best description, but if you ask it a follow-up question and include
> context
> you remember about the image or equation, it should give you a great
> description. Best of luck.
>
> Avery
>
> On Aug 29, 2026, at 3:51 PM, Aru M via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I am a sophomore at Purdue University studying Computer Science and seeking
> guidance in successfully navigating one of the subjects that I am currently
> struggling in.
>
> The subject is CS-182. Though, it says Computer fundamentals but it is
> essentially discrete math covering topics like Logic, proofs,  sets,
> functions, complexity, induction, recursive algorithms, finite automata,
> graphs. Semester has just started but I can feel the heat.
>
> The assigned textbook "Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications" by
> Kenneth
> H. Rosen is available on Bookshare.org but on downloading in all the
> possible formats available there, I find that none of them is truly
> accessible and even wonder if it shows the correct information. The Math
> equations are not read correctly.
>
> I rely completely on JAWS on the Windows laptop and haven't used braille in
> past many years. For the Math content, I use Equations Editor on Microsoft
> Word to read the problems and solve them.
>
> The DRC department at the university provides me the lecture notes and
> other
> related content in MS Word but I need something to read to understand the
> concepts like textbook in this case.
>
> I was wondering if anyone here faced something similar and found any
> workaround.
>
> Looking forward to any suggestions that you might deem helpful.
>
>
> Best regards,
> Arushi
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