[UK-TUG] UK-TUG and accessible mathematics

[Jonathan Fine]

Hi

Lack of accessibility is the Achilles heel of LaTeX, particularly now that
so much learning has moved online. If not fixed, TeX and LaTeX will be
niche-only by 2050 (and I hope this present SGM squabble will be forgotten
by those still alive in 2050).

Accessible mathematics is not only a technical problem but also a social
problem. For example authors need to be motivated and trained to use new
technology, when it arrives. I'd like UK-TUG to participate fully in math
accessibility in the UK. Personal contact and word of mouth are important.

I have no confidence in the committee. I have some confidence in the
membership and even more in the users of TeX in the UK. I estimate there
are 30,000 TeX Users in the UK. At present we're deeply isolated from this
multitude.

Here's why I have confidence. In 2019 shortly before the UK-TUG AGM and
also in Oxford there was a meeting of 28 people (according to the signup)
to hear a talk about preparing a PhD using TeX.

The speaker, Ulrik Lyngs, was using the excellent R-Markdown system, which
is part of the R statistical computing environment. Last week at the TeX
Hour I was pleased to have Jonathan Godfrey as a guest. He also uses R.

Jonathan G is a senior statistics lecturer in Auckland, New Zealand. He got
up at 6:30am to join the TeX Hour. He shared with us this link
https://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/161221/lectures/ to lecture notes he has
prepared for his students.

These lecture notes are accessible. They have to be. Jonathan G is blind.
He can also via LaTeX generate PDF from R-Markdown. Here's an example
https://r-resources.massey.ac.nz/StatSoftware/Godfrey2013RJournal.pdf

Jonathan G is a blind user of LaTeX, producing accessible outputs and also
PDF, by using R-Markdown. The problem of accessible outputs along with TeX
to PDF can be solved. For Jonathan G it has been solved.

This is why I wish for UK-TUG to continue. Having it in place is not
necessary for our community to contribute to accessible mathematics, but it
will make it easier.

Here's the link to the R-meeting in Oxford, November 2019.
https://www.meetup.com/Oxford-R-User-Group/events/266042457/

Here's Ulrik Lyngs https://ulriklyngs.com/, and here's his PhD
https://ulyngs.github.io/phd-thesis/ in HTML and PDF, generated from a
single source.

Happy TeXing

Jonathan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://tug.org/pipermail/uktug-announce/attachments/20211024/ee77dd5d/attachment.html>