[nfbcs] latex benefits

[Greg Kearney]

Yes LaTeX and TeX are open source. As are the other parts af the system. There are also methods for generating tagged PDF files with it. 

Sent from my iPhone

Greg Kearney
Commonwealth Braille and Talking Book Cooperative

> On Jan 24, 2017, at 11:09 PM, Nicole Torcolini via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> BTW, is LaTeX open source? Maybe it could be done if someone tweaked the
> software.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Doug Lee via
> nfbcs
> Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2017 8:47 PM
> To: Nicole Torcolini via nfbcs
> Cc: Doug Lee
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] latex benefits
> 
> The point is just to avoid distributing an inaccessible document, no matter
> its method of generation. It would be way cool if using LaTeX to generate a
> PDF would happen to generate an accessible PDF; that's all.
> 
> But the answer does not surprise me, based on my memory of the formerly
> necessary .dvi format and its limitations against accessible rendering.
> 
> On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 08:37:40PM -0800, NFBCS mailing list wrote:
> There is not an easy way to get from LaTex to an output that works well with
> screen readers, at least not in my experience. Once in PDF form, you would
> need to find a way to get it back into word or whatever you wanted to use.
> There are several ways to do this:
> 1. Copy and paste the text (not a good idea) 2. If you have a gmail account,
> send the file to yourself and open it on the internet where the attachment
> will also be available as HTML 3. Buy Adobe Acrobat and save it as another
> format 4. Use JAWS to ocr the entire document (loses formatting) 5. Find one
> of the online services that converts PDF's to other formats Perhaps I missed
> something, but, if you want something that a screen reader can read and/or
> in another format other than PDF, why are you using LaTeX?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Doug Lee via
> nfbcs
> Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2017 8:14 PM
> To: Christopher Chaltain via nfbcs
> Cc: Doug Lee
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] latex benefits
> 
> Perhaps an ironic question, but a fair one nonetheless...
> 
> In my experience, pdflatex generates screenreader-readable text, but with
> the following problems. Any known way to address these?
> 
> 1. No PDF tags: Accessible PDF documents should have tags that indicate how
> assistive technology should render them.
> 
> 2. Ligature issues: Ligatures generate as low-numbered font characters that
> JAWS, at least, can call other things. For example, in a document I just now
> generated, "fi" in the word "figure" generates as character 12, which JAWS
> calls a space. "ff" in "different" generates as character 11, which JAWS
> calls "vertical tab." (For anyone who doesn't know, a ligature is a single
> character that represents two print characters in a more visually pleasing
> manner. Another common example is "ae.")
> 
> On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 09:02:52PM -0600, NFBCS mailing list wrote:
> When sharing a LaTeX file, I usually generate a PDF file and distribute
> that.
> That's what I do with my resume for example.
> 
> I haven't found a tool that does a good job converting a .tex file into a
> .doc file that you can then update in Word though.
> 
>> On 24/01/17 20:23, Ryan Mann via nfbcs wrote:
>> If you wanted to distribute a Latex document to somebody who uses 
>> Microsoft
> Word, would it be difficult?  When I checked years ago, it seemed like it
> would be.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jan 24, 2017, at 6:42 PM, Greg Kearney via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>>> 
>>> LaTex is a complex document processing and typesetting application 
>>> that is
> uniquely suited for blind users in my opinion. While the learning curve is
> steep the results you will get out of LaTex and it's parent TeX are without
> equal in quality.
>>> 
>>> It is perfectly possible to generate database diagrams, math 
>>> expression or
> even music scores in LaTeX/TeX. There are addin modules to do all that and
> more. IT is suited for blind users because it is a code based system in
> which one composes the work in a text editor and then processes the code to
> generate the PDF typeset file.
>>> 
>>> I have used LaTex since the 1970's and it has never failed me yet. 
>>> HArd to
> learn but well worth the effort.
>>> 
>>> Greg Kearney
>>>> On Jan 24, 2017, at 3:32 PM, Andy B. via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Someone recommended that I should start using latex. Is this true, 
>>>> and if so, what are the benefits?
> 
> 
> -- 
> Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
> SSB BART Group           doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com
> http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
> There is more freedom in knowing how to handle pain than in knowing how to
> avoid it.  (4/29/01)
> 
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