<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal">Hello!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1D1C1D;background:white">I am an Alternative Text Services Coordinator at a University who is advising a faculty member on making his environmental science course content
more accessible for blind students who do not know Braille or read LaTeX. Most of the course content currently exists in a large, untagged PDF which was generated from a LaTeX file. It contains charts, graphs, plain text, math equations, and chemical equations.
Our campus accessibility departments have recommended converting the course content into either a Canvas course (with MathML for equations) or Word Documents with MathML to make the content more accessible for screen reader use.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1D1C1D"><br>
<span style="background:white">The instructor countered these recommendations with a solution described here in a TeX forum: </span></span><a href="https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/454944/is-there-screen-reader-software-or-a-built-in-method-that-supports-latex-equat" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;background:white">Making
LaTeX Math Audibly Legible</span></a><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1D1C1D;background:white">. Is anyone here familiar with this specific method of making math accessible in a PDF? From what I understand about this method,
this tokcycle package allows you to attach tokens to visible PDF content (like math symbols). This token is where you would type in the spelled-out alternative to each symbol. The token isn't visible in the PDF, but it will be voiced by TTS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1D1C1D;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1D1C1D;background:white">If my understanding is correct, this solution would not allow a screen reader user to interact with the math in the same way that they can with
MathML. So I’m hesitant to approve it over our recommended formats.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1D1C1D"><br>
<span style="background:white">Does anyone know whether this method works? If anyone here has tried producing or reading math with this method, your feedback is very appreciated!</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Morgan<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D">Morgan Severeid | Document Conversion Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D">(She, Her, Hers)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D">Student Disability Services</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><br>
</span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#860018">The University of Chicago | Campus & Student Life</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D">5501 South Ellis Avenue | Chicago, Illinois 60637<br>
Phone: 773.702.6000 | <a href="mailto:msevereid@uchicago.edu">msevereid@uchicago.edu</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-add-space:auto">
<u><span style="color:blue"><a href="https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/SDSMSevereid@uchicagoedu.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/">Schedule a meeting with me</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>