[BlindMath] BlindMath Digest, Vol 238, Issue 8

Sun May 31 16:26:26 UTC 2026

If people are wanting to help with a project. Brialleblaster does math. It has problems right now because of switching from Liblouis to mathcat and we are fixing thos e problems. Brailleblaster is now Open Source and we are slowly moving issues over to the github account.  You can find it at:

Github.com/aphtech/Brailleblaster

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Maylene Bird via BlindMath
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2026 11:39 AM
To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
Cc: Maylene Bird <maylenebird at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] BlindMath Digest, Vol 238, Issue 8

Nemeth Code is a complete math code.  The Equalize Editor by Lakeline’s Braille is interesting.

https://www.lakepinesbraille.com/aee/

On Sun, May 31, 2026 at 7:01 AM <blindmath-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Areas still to work on? (Ray McAllister)
>    2. Re: Areas still to work on? (Sukriti Suri)
>    3. Re: Areas still to work on? (Jonathan Godfrey)
>    4. Re: Areas still to work on? (Sukriti Suri)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 30 May 2026 22:30:22 -0400
> From: "Ray McAllister" <raymcal at att.net>
> To: "'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'"
>         <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [BlindMath] Areas still to work on?
> Message-ID: <000001dcf0a5$76137910$623a6b30$@att.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi, so, just wondering,  are there any areas in mathematics that still 
> need a lot of work for making them accessible to the blind?  Maybe 
> some new discipline or something,  or something, that, maybe it is 
> accessible, but very cumbersome, and so a better way would really 
> help.  Just wondering what’s left, and, well, maybe, I might put some 
> creativity to figuring it out, possibly. 😊
>
>
>
> Ray.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 10:36:40 +0530
> From: Sukriti Suri <surisukriti29 at gmail.com>
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Ray McAllister <raymcal at att.net>, blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Areas still to work on?
> Message-ID: <A5074530-9343-4C86-8DEC-52221692B938 at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> In my opinion, typing mathematics is still an area needing refinement.
> Latex though accessible is combersum and time-taking. While typing 
> through a braille display, UEB can transcribe everything else but 
> spatial symbols like fractions and subscripts. Softwares taking input 
> in Nemeth are still not many and even I wonder if there are any.
> Thanks
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 07:40:52 +0000
> From: Jonathan Godfrey <A.J.Godfrey at massey.ac.nz>
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
>         <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Areas still to work on?
> Message-ID:
>         <
> ME3PR01MB7030A8F894C429222772187993142 at ME3PR01MB7030.ausprd01.prod.out
> look.com
> >
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi all,
>
> I accept that every typesetting option for mathematical content is 
> slower than anyone who is able to hand-write.
>
> But this is a problem everyone doing math has, not just blind people.
> That's probably why so many sighted mathematicians are busy with pen 
> or pencils on  paper, or writing on black or white boards.
>
> It's also why I write in a personal shorthand code if I am having to 
> work things out using my screen reader.
>
> Setting aside the inability blind people have to read and/or write 
> like our sighted peers, The question for me is whether the choices we 
> make are in fact effective (100% accuracy) and then whether they are 
> efficient.
>
> The choice for me was clear. I learned LaTeX before I learned Braille. 
> I am now too long in the tooth to contemplate becoming proficient in 
> any Braille maths code so I am almost certainly going to remain a 
> person who reads his LaTeX in Braille.
>
> One thing I always found frustrating while I was doing my thesis was 
> the inability to find a decent LaTeX editor which would speed up my 
> creation of mathematical content. In the end, I used plenty of LaTeX 
> tricks like user-defined functions which were shortcuts. After all, 
> typing \SumOverAllK{x_k} was much easier than \sum_{k=0}^{K}{x_k}
>
> Even finding an editor which had hot keys for the Greek letters in 
> LaTeX proved so challenging that I developed my own editor which did 
> have those hot keys and many more.
>
> I still use a version of the editor today, over 15 years later. I've 
> tailored it to work better for the work I now do, which is 
> predominantly in some form of markdown. My markdown documents are of 
> course easily moved to LaTeX if necessary.
>
> In effect, I was addressing the efficiency problem and avoided the 
> effectiveness issues associated with Braille maths codes.
>
> At the risk of sounding like a heretic, I'm wondering if just for a 
> moment we imagined a world with no Braille math codes, and we had to 
> decide on the right way for blind people to write mathematical content 
> for a sighted audience, if we'd ever have chosen a code that was only 
> used by blind people.
>
> I know I can force my screen reader to receive input as If I was 
> typing on a Braille display or typewriter, and for the moment assuming 
> I was perfect at entering fault-free Braille math, I don't know if I 
> would be efficient as compared to what I am now doing.
>
> I guess my problem is that learning how to create fault-free Braille 
> math assumes the code itself has complete coverage. At present, it 
> seems to me that the various codes are able to generate a subset of 
> what is able to be created in LaTeX. Surely this means anyone hoping 
> to go onto advanced level maths will ultimately find themselves short 
> if they were restricted to a Braille code. At that point, they'd need 
> to know LaTeX to survive or they'd invent additions to the Braille code that only they understand.
>
> Imagine a world with no Braille mats codes and how we'd be doing. I 
> think we'd be fine, even if the length of the fully laid out LaTeX 
> equations might run off the page (in both directions).
>
> Of course, all this would be so much easier if the \ could be 
> represented in a single six dot Braille cell. <sigh>
>
> Jonathan
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sukriti 
> Suri via BlindMath
> Sent: Sunday, 31 May 2026 5:07 pm
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Sukriti Suri <surisukriti29 at gmail.com>; blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Areas still to work on?
>
> In my opinion, typing mathematics is still an area needing refinement.
> Latex though accessible is combersum and time-taking. While typing 
> through a braille display, UEB can transcribe everything else but 
> spatial symbols like fractions and subscripts. Softwares taking input 
> in Nemeth are still not many and even I wonder if there are any.
> Thanks
> _______________________________________________
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 13:47:33 +0530
> From: Sukriti Suri <surisukriti29 at gmail.com>
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [BlindMath] Areas still to work on?
> Message-ID: <491A9A80-781A-43B9-B8F7-B2791720853E at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>
> Agree with you on general inability to type math but would have a 
> difference of opinion about braille code in math. UEB currently has a 
> full braille code but not sure why the spatial representations like 
> fractions and subscripts are not output when given UEB command for 
> respective characters. As a braille user more than a technology 
> expert, I list some advantages of braille code over latex which are of 
> course not to deny your perspective but to add some nuance to the subject:
> 1. What I find useful about writing through a braille display is that 
> I can simultaneously read quickly in braille whatever I have written. 
> With latex, reading entire code instead of output symbols 
> simultaneously seems annoying while solving questions. Here, I wish to 
> emphasize on the fact that typing with maths is not just writing 
> something; it demands continuous introspection as various steps are 
> interdependent. Reading what I have written in braille is much more 
> comfortable than listening to entire code but there too the issue of single line display bothers a lot.
> 2. Another thing I have found annoying about latex editters is that 
> they do not accept direct symbols. E.g if I am writing in a latex 
> editter through my braille display and if I enter ⊂ symbol directly 
> through braille code, it will mark it inappropriate and I will be 
> forced to write \subset which is much more time consuming especially 
> when seen in terms of cumilitive effect.
> 3. Even if you are not using a braille display and know the braille 
> code, I think solving part can more comfortably be done on a brailler 
> and then steps could be transcribed in a latex code. This is of course 
> time consuming but at least cumbersome steps can be handled through 
> this technique. This may sound absurd but this gives one the joy and 
> comfort of doing maths the like of which sighted people have with pen and paper.
> Having said that, I do feel that I do recognize the utility of latex 
> for the advantages highlighted by you and also the fact that resources 
> to learn it and awareness regarding it is quite more and can be used 
> even by those not having braille display or not knowing braille for 
> some reason. At the end, it does depend upon the user and the 
> resources available but the area needs improvement is a fact for sure.
> Thanks
> Sukriti
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> ------------------------------
>
> End of BlindMath Digest, Vol 238, Issue 8
> *****************************************
>
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