Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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I’m VI and losing vision slowly but would like to continue studying math. Would anyone be open to answer questions about how MathML, MathJax, etc and the best way to navigate them? (self.Blind)
submitted by tinyrobot_beep
Hey there! I’m in my late twenties and had to put some of my career on hold due to health and vision issues, but I would like to go back to school and pursue a degree that involves mathematics.
I’m able to navigate regular text pretty decently using JAWS 2019 and Microsoft ease of access settings and chrome settings (turning up the size of things, dark background, etc) and I’m almost done studying contracted braille so I can move up to computer braille.
But I know from experience that higher education math courses are a ton of just… lines and lines of equations.
And that’s why I loved studying it before, so that’s awesome! But I feel like I don’t know how to really tackle this going forward. I have some (painful) vision so I can get away with looking at the screen a bit if I’m looking for a button or link or folder, but squinting for hours at at endless lines of physics equations isn’t really possible anymore.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has been able to navigate higher level math courses using screen readers and braille with mathjax or mathHTML or whatever it all is. I’m going to be digging through articles this week to try and understand it myself, but I’d really appreciate any help or advice you guys have. Thank you so much! I hope you’re staying cool and healthy.
I’m able to navigate regular text pretty decently using JAWS 2019 and Microsoft ease of access settings and chrome settings (turning up the size of things, dark background, etc) and I’m almost done studying contracted braille so I can move up to computer braille.
But I know from experience that higher education math courses are a ton of just… lines and lines of equations.
And that’s why I loved studying it before, so that’s awesome! But I feel like I don’t know how to really tackle this going forward. I have some (painful) vision so I can get away with looking at the screen a bit if I’m looking for a button or link or folder, but squinting for hours at at endless lines of physics equations isn’t really possible anymore.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has been able to navigate higher level math courses using screen readers and braille with mathjax or mathHTML or whatever it all is. I’m going to be digging through articles this week to try and understand it myself, but I’d really appreciate any help or advice you guys have. Thank you so much! I hope you’re staying cool and healthy.
Criptedinyourcloset 5 points 2y ago
Braille displays, braille displays, braille displays. You need to go and learn UEB, and Németh math braille code. It is essential. Josh does a shit job at reading any sort of math, so you’re gonna have to rely on real space to help you. I’m serious though, you need to learn that. DM me and I can tell you some really good ones in my recommendations, but I’ve been having the same problem as you when I’m in middle school. We are just ways have definitely helped me, and you’re still learning the math braille code in general is a big help. Hope this helps you, and again DME if you want to talk more.
tinyrobot_beep [OP] 3 points 2y ago
Thanks, I will! I appreciate it.
Shadowwynd 2 points 2y ago
I will second the vote for Braille displays and Németh (8 dot) Braille.
There are several parts of mathematics in general that are accessible (or not). Reading equations, writing and working with equations (for your own use), writing equations for other people, actual number crunching.
Reading math on the web is the the most widely variable - some progress is made towards using MathML that is accessible to screenreaders - accessible mathematics has always been an afterthought on the web. Your mileage will vary drastically, many equations on the web are images or are inaccessible, PDFs are the same - most are not accessible.
LaTeX (mentioned by another poster) is typesetting software that is completely text-based and would work well for letting you share equations with other people; many math textbooks are produced using LaTeX.
For your own number crunching, I would strongly recommend learning the Python computer language; it can be very simple and very powerful, it can do a lot through the interpreter interface (without writing full programs) and works well in regards to accessibility/screen readers. R is a programming language designed for statistical mathematics (text based, but haven't tried it with JAWS/NVDA). MATLAB Online is something to look into as well. Maple works well with screenreaders (according to their webpage). Maple and MATLAB are general-mathematics software, able to do symbolic manipulation (e.g. solve equations as equations, not just as numbers) as well as evaluate numbers.
There are several parts of mathematics in general that are accessible (or not). Reading equations, writing and working with equations (for your own use), writing equations for other people, actual number crunching.
Reading math on the web is the the most widely variable - some progress is made towards using MathML that is accessible to screenreaders - accessible mathematics has always been an afterthought on the web. Your mileage will vary drastically, many equations on the web are images or are inaccessible, PDFs are the same - most are not accessible.
LaTeX (mentioned by another poster) is typesetting software that is completely text-based and would work well for letting you share equations with other people; many math textbooks are produced using LaTeX.
For your own number crunching, I would strongly recommend learning the Python computer language; it can be very simple and very powerful, it can do a lot through the interpreter interface (without writing full programs) and works well in regards to accessibility/screen readers. R is a programming language designed for statistical mathematics (text based, but haven't tried it with JAWS/NVDA). MATLAB Online is something to look into as well. Maple works well with screenreaders (according to their webpage). Maple and MATLAB are general-mathematics software, able to do symbolic manipulation (e.g. solve equations as equations, not just as numbers) as well as evaluate numbers.
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
[deleted]
Throwaway1588442 2 points 2y ago
Learn latex, it's like HTML for math and most high level uni stuff uses it
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
[deleted]
Throwaway1588442 2 points 2y ago
It's all just text so will work as text though it won't display in visual form on the Braille display
paneulo 2 points 2y ago
Join the blindmath discussion list.
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
[deleted]
blind_system 2 points 2y ago
Its a mailing list.
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
[deleted]
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