[nabs-l] writing and working out math and Chemistry problems

Ignasi Cambra ignasicambra at gmail.com
Wed Feb 22 18:00:07 UTC 2017


Hello all,
When I took math classes both in high school and later in college I decided to use the LateX programming language on my laptop. In high school I was using a PC, and later a Mac. LateX is a high level programming language (think of it as something relatively similar to HTML) that’s used to write scientific text. You can run LateX files through a compiler, which will give you a PDF or DIV file that anyone can easily read. In other words… You type your formulas in plain text after having learned how LateX works, and then you can print out professional looking documents that people can just read and grade if necessary. I know this sounds a bit complicated, but it was very efficient for me. After I learned the LateX language I could easily produce texts including complicated formulas for math, physics and chemistry classes. I didn’t need to worry about professors not being able to read my stuff, and instructors who were familiar with LateX could easily create documents for me. As a matter of fact when I was in college I took a class that required me to do exercises every week on a website which wasn’t accessible. It turns out those exercises were originally programmed using LateX, so my instructor was able to take them out of the website in LateX format for me. I also used JAWS scripts and later AppleScript to teach my screen reader basic LateX tags, and it would actually read formulas correctly for me. Finally another advantage of this method is that many science textbooks are actually edited using LateX, so sometimes I managed for publishers to send me LateX files with entire books, or at least parts of them.
For anyone who is comfortable with a little bit of programming I doubt there’s a more efficient way to do this. It would be nice if there was a completely accessible LateX editor that can interact with screen readers and automatically convert LateX language into Braille on a Braille display, and also do the opposite process by converting Braille text into LateX that could later be used by anyone. This is certainly possible, but as far as I know nobody has done it yet.
I hope this isn’t too confusing for everyone…!

IC
> On 22 Feb 2017, at 12:07, Ahbee Orton via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> So, basically, you all take notes on an electronic device and do your actual homework and tests and quizzes on the brailler. I use a Focus 40, a bluetooth keyboard, and an iPad when I take notes. I've been trying to work out problems in math and Chemistry on these devices. It has gotten harder lately to do these problems. I've been making up a code so that my teachers can read what I'm doing. That's not best practice, which I know, but I've done that for a while now. I'm thinking about switching to the brailler. Any thoughts on this? Am I doing it fine?  
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
>> On Feb 22, 2017, at 10:55 AM, Vejas Vasiliauskas via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Ahbee,
>> I am taking math right now. I use my braillenote to take notes in class, but I use my Perkins Brailler for everything else. I take quizzes and tests in a separate room so noise isn't an issue. I also use the Brailler for working with my math tutor. 
>> That's too bad that your TVI doesn't know Braille. But you can use the print book as a reference for them. For my math tutor, I bring the print book as well as the volume I am working on, so that they can then follow along.
>> Vejas
>> 
>>> On Feb 22, 2017, at 05:03, Ahbee Orton via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi All, 
>>> 
>>> I'm wondering, how did you do math and science in high school and now in college? I know that it's better on the brailler but it is noisy so it can be difficult for me or the others to hear the teacher. I would also wonder what I should do, because my TVI isn't so good at Braille. I'd have to tell her what the paper says. Any suggestions on completing math and chemistry assignments and doing the work the teacher's showing on the board as well? Thanks! 
>>> Ahbee  
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Sent from Ahbee's iPhone
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> NABS-L mailing list
>>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/alpineimagination%40gmail.com
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> NABS-L mailing list
>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ahbeeorton%40yahoo.com <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ahbeeorton%40yahoo.com>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> NABS-L mailing list
> NABS-L at nfbnet.org <mailto:NABS-L at nfbnet.org>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org>
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ignasicambra%40gmail.com <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ignasicambra%40gmail.com>



More information about the NABS-L mailing list