<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Thanks! This is quite helpful in gauging the need. I have some
resources that I can place in a project like this one, but I need to
be able to justify it - no insult meant... but I should have sent it
only to you rather than the list - there are probably no-one (in the
list) here that can gauge the need, as well as you. I did not ask
for the sizes in order to be dismissive, I asked so I can't justify
it to the best I can.<br>
<br>
I do know DSP here in Berkeley very well and have interacted with
them in many occasions... but that does not help me know the numbers
of interested people.<br>
<br>
It is shame that there are no Braille drivers for TeX. In the
beginning of the 90's when there was a driver for every
printer/screen/computer around the world, it seemed that one was
going to pop up any day. It is also a task that does not seem very
complex, but people that understand way more than I do would have to
be consulted here.<br>
<br>
TeX4ht may not be the best forum for this one, I don't think that
technically (even given Eitan's interest, more on that later) there
is much of a symbiosis going between tex4ht and a Braille DVI
driver. At the same time, there is quite a bit of work already done
in the subject and one can find litter all over the web:<br>
<br>
<big><tt><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://">http://</a></tt></big><cite><tt><big><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.cs.usask.ca/faculty/eramian/Pubs/cs490.ps">www.cs.usask.ca/faculty/eramian/Pubs/cs490.ps</a><br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://userlab.usask.ca/GOTHI/Jurgensen%20-%20Powers.pdf">http://userlab.usask.ca/GOTHI/Jurgensen%20-%20Powers.pdf</a><br>
<br>
</big></tt></cite>TUG supports many specific project development
and this is certainly one that is well worth it. Some TUG directors
read this mailing-list, but this is better brought up with them
directly.<br>
<br>
On the specific issue of the ArXiV. Has anyone ever brought up this
issue with them ? They do have moneys and some of it strictly
dedicated to the issue of accessibility.<br>
<br>
Paulo Ney<br>
<br>
PS. The more I read about how Braille works, the more I get
convinced that the right way to do it would be to insert
micro-pieces of information on the DVI file that would guide the
translation, and the more I understand why Eitan was interested -
this was his court!<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/26/2011 12:36 PM, Susan Jolly wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:81BEA9D1CD95496DA1904CE0A0266EC0@SusanPC2009"
type="cite">Paulo,
<br>
<br>
I don't know how to estimate the number you asked for. There are
something like 50,000 blind and visually-impaired K-12 students in
the US and many many more in other countries, including much
larger numbers in China and India.
<br>
<br>
You might want to look at the archives of the international
Blindmath list to get a sense of the need.
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindmath_nfbnet.org/2011-October/date.html">http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindmath_nfbnet.org/2011-October/date.html</a>
<br>
However I should warn you that you could start a flame war if you
were to post your query to blindness organizations as it would be
considered as quite insulting.
<br>
You can also search on the term "math" in the profiles posted in
conjuction with the recent Braille21 international conference:
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.braille21.net/en/braille-ambassadors">http://www.braille21.net/en/braille-ambassadors</a>
<br>
<br>
Note that this question is somewhat of a chicken and egg
question. While there are many braille readers around the world
who would love to have better access to advanced technical
materials such as those on arXiv, there are likely a much greater
number of capable blind students who've dropped out of math,
science, and engineering courses because they could not get
accurate and timely braille transcriptions of needed materials.
(Here in the US it costs upward of $5000 to transcribe a single
technical book to braille.
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.atpc.net/index.php?Page=BFee&Action=SetToDefault">http://www.atpc.net/index.php?Page=BFee&Action=SetToDefault</a> )
<br>
<br>
Many college professors prepare course materials in LaTeX and many
braille-using students are reduced to reading LaTeX source rather
than braille math. I know that as a sighted person with a strong
background in math I find it very difficult to come to a good
mathematical understanding of math expressions in unrendered LaTeX
so I can only imagine how tedious it must be for a braille reader.
<br>
<br>
The fundamental point is not whether access to arXiv per se is
needed but that any solution to that problem would likely be a
solution to the more general problem of providing better access to
technical materials. You can read more about the general problem
here.
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.access2science.com/">http://www.access2science.com/</a>
<br>
<br>
Susan Jolly
<br>
<br>
P.S. Paulo if you are interested in helping with this problem I
suggest you start by contacting your UC Berkeley Disabled
Students' Program or find out what your own department is doing in
this area.
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://dsp.berkeley.edu/">http://dsp.berkeley.edu/</a>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Paulo Ney de Souza
University of California, Berkeley</pre>
</body>
</html>