[Athen] Math for non-Braille readers

[Deborah Armstrong]

I linked to the wrong example; but one thing I see with many of the Khan academy exercises is that they have cards you have to drag and drop on their site to answer a question.

Lots of Khan academy does work well with a screen reader; I think my previous email gave the wrong impression. It's just that if you don't understand a concept at all it's too visual to follow without vision. But if you sort of understand a concept and just need a refresher it can work great for a screen reader user.

One of my low-vision students says that Khan academy on her iPAD saved her degree as she'd flunked all math courses until she discovered it!

Now we just need an accessible iPAD app that would let you work problems, as if you were using a pencil and paper.

--Debee


From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Deborah Armstrong
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2019 10:07 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Athen] Math for non-Braille readers

I get asked this every couple of years and wonder if people know of any new solutions?

A blind student who does not know Braille needs to take math classes to pass degree requirements. The student will probably need tutoring.

The student might be able to get the textbook from Learning Ally; the book even if it is on bookshare won't be fully accessible as bookshare isn't using Math ML yet. At least here, previous editions don't work so well because instructors typically use the textbook for its problem sets. Or they rely on MyMathLab whose accessibility is questionable at best.

But the biggest barrier will be finding a way for the student to work problems, show their work and interact effectively with a tutor. Even for students who know Nemeth, the tutor doesn't know Braille so that can be an issue as well.

And the college needs a few working ancient Braille writers if a student does know Braille; Braille displays don't work because they are only single line.

Our counselors typically suggest students use Khan Academy, which in my experience works great for low-vision students who  have difficulty seeing the board or are embarrassed working with a tutor. But the lessons do depend on visual information. Take for example this video on scientific notation:
                https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/pre-algebra-exponents-radicals/pre-algebra-scientific-notation/v/scientific-notation-old<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.khanacademy.org_math_pre-2Dalgebra_pre-2Dalgebra-2Dexponents-2Dradicals_pre-2Dalgebra-2Dscientific-2Dnotation_v_scientific-2Dnotation-2Dold&d=DwMFAg&c=WORo6LNFtQOb4SPVta8Jsg&r=K_2Yg4I05GGnHlSOevlp3QeE5-JEqtmoUnmP0YVj9ZM&m=7626B3n1LZPj6zl6JJg-AR6wlzn9iuB6ZWJHfSEsZB4&s=NgVaqq-PrwYMnGBTziTycXH9YB6DONnMcYrPTNPxpzI&e=>
He does a good job of explaining the theory but not every number he writes is actually voiced, nor can one do the practice exercises with a screen reader. Also it can be difficult to figure out what number he's pointing to.

Have their been any innovative developments lately that make the math learning process for blind students easier?

--Debee


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