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Re: Math Expressions

for

From: Giorgio Brajnik
Date: Jun 4, 2008 12:40PM

On Wednesday 04 June 2008 08:18:11 pm John E. Brandt wrote:
> Apart from the whole issue of markup and accessibility, it is my
> understanding that math expressions, or equations generally present unique
> challenges to people with blindness or visual impairments in that they (the
> equations) are hard to represent in Braille as well as in digital formats.
> I have been working with folks from our state's agency that provides books
> and services to the blind and visually impaired and this is apparently a
> very common and long-term complaint.
>
> There is a student in one of our state colleges who is a Math/Science major
> and apparently quite a bright individual with aspirations for advanced
> graduate training in this field. Trying to get advanced calculus texts for
> him in Braille, or any format, is apparently nearly impossible and, if
> available, extremely expensive since much of the translation needs to be
> done by hand and with special tools.
>
> I only share this because the issue of accessible markup is but a
> relatively recent subset of a larger issue that has been around for some
> time.
>
> Perhaps there are others on this list to have more experience with folks
> with blindness and visual impairments who can contribute more on this.
>

It's my understanding, and limited experience as well, that several
mathematicians that are blind know pretty well how to read and write in
TeX/LaTeX, which is a very detailed typesetting language suitable for math.
This does not solve all the problems, but is a possibility for somebody.


Giorgio Brajnik