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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Hi John,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The method Dr. John Gardner described is the most
practical way of crating math in audio format in U.S.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>You asked:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV>I would be interested to know if anyone can say to what level of math
sophistication this (kind of) new technological approach proves effective.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As a person who studied math and computer science as blind person in
Germany and U.S., and was involved in making math more accessible for blind
user, I have real doubt that audio math would be an effective way for learning
and interacting with math.</DIV>
<DIV>Math is not a passive science. You need to manipulate it and actively
interact with it in order to learn it and you can not manipulate math with audio
effectively and independently.</DIV>
<DIV>I believe the most effective way for learning and interacting with math for
a blind person is reading math with refreshable Braille display. there are
several math notations including European and GS notations that can be used to
communicate math with others.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hadi</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=JElmer@vcccd.edu href="mailto:JElmer@vcccd.edu">John Elmer</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=athen@athenpro.org
href="mailto:athen@athenpro.org">Access Technologists in Higher Education
Network</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 12, 2007 9:52
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Athen] Converting Math to
Audio</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV><FONT
face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size=2>
<DIV>While we have not had a need to use this technology since it has become
available, we have the requisite software and are ready if needed.
</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>In the days prior to this, we did have a blind student who took math
through intermediate algebra as well as statistics. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Our solution was to scan the book, OCR the text part, then go back in and
add all of the math, using written English, as if you were reading the text
out loud. This required explaining how this was going to be done with
the student and getting the student's input on how to best do so, while also
involving the faculty teaching the classes to determine how they were saying
things in class. </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>While the student did well in her classes, it was a nightmare to produce,
especially since it was, early on, just me doing it along with everything
else. I was fortunate, for the later, more complex books, to be able to
partner with the Alternate Text Production Center, a program of the Ca. Comm.
College system Chancellor's Office, which, conveniently, is located on our
campus. They are our single point of contact for getting e-text from
publishers and take care of our Braille needs, including Nemeth for math
books. BTW, they also do fee for service Brailling and have a catalog of
already transcibed books (including math). Already transcribe books,
are, as I recall, a real bargain, compared to having something
transcribed.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>You can reach them at: atpcnet.net. The phone # is listed on
the website, and the Braille person is Sandy Greenberg.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I would be interested to know if anyone can say to what level of math
sophistication this (kind of) new technological approach proves
effective.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=3></FONT><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>John F. Elmer<BR>Alternate Media Specialist<BR>Ventura College<BR>Educational Assistance Center (DSP&S)<BR>4667 Telegraph Road<BR>Ventura, CA 93003<BR>805.654.6400, x1278<BR>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT color=#990099>-----athen-bounces@athenpro.org wrote:
-----<BR><BR></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">To:
"'Access Technologists in Higher Education Network'"
<athen@athenpro.org><BR>From: "John Gardner"
<john.gardner@orst.edu><BR>Sent by:
athen-bounces@athenpro.org<BR>Date: 11/12/2007 04:18PM<BR>Subject: Re:
[Athen] Converting Math to Audio<BR><BR>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2> Hello Dan. Use the
MathType editor to put math into MS Word. MathType is the most common
math editor in the world, and most universities have site licenses. If
you need to buy it, the cost is something like $79 from Design Science, <A
href="http://dessci.com/" target=blank>http://dessci.com </A>.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2>From the MathThype menu, press the "publish to math page" option, and
select MathML as the way to represent math. Then you get an XML page,
which is XHTML for text and MathML for the math. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2>Install the free MathPlayer plug-in (from Design Science) in Internet
Explorer 6 or 7, and use any common screen reader to read the XML
page. The Math is spoken. This is the only way I know to
generate audio for math except by using a human being. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=156141300-13112007><FONT face="Segoe UI"
size=2>Good luck. </FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From: </B>athen-bounces@athenpro.org
[mailto:athen-bounces@athenpro.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Daniel Weems
<BR><B>Sent: </B>Monday, November 12, 2007 1:37 PM <BR><B>To:
</B>athen@athenpro.org <BR><B>Subject: </B>[Athen] Converting Math to Audio
<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Hello Everyone! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am researching the best methods for converting Math into audio.
I currently convert Math into Nemeth code but am lacking the process to
convert math into audio. Can someone help me out? </DIV><FONT
face="Default Monospace,Courier New,Courier,monospace"
size=2>_______________________________________________<BR>Athen mailing
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target=blank>http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org</A><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV></FONT>
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