Hi Jonathan: I have read some equations lately and working with things like multi-function equations is a major pain with a screen reader, one character at a time, one line at a time and trying to rearrange individual items and especially for things like substitution involving fractions or things like polar systems and complex functions etc... I dont think it practicle but just a way to read some equations and work, all be it very slowly and confusingly, through them if possible. For real world solutions I think braille is the best solution. Less problems with things like multiple line equations and all that jazz. I just never learned braille and am already 66 years old so a little long in the tooth for grade1, grade2, nemith, advanced nemith and then trying to learn to train my brain to work with tacticle images instead of visual and auditory would be too much along with the complexities of complex vector spaces and the complexities of advanced quantum physics me thinks - just too old and the brain not plastic enough anymore I fear. Rick USA ----- Original Message ----- From: Jonathan C. Cohn To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2014 9:17 AM Subject: Re: WE and Advanced Math and Science Symbols
One problem with math equations is that they are often two dimensional so you would need to interpret them in order. In terms of specific symbos I would expect that additions to character maps might help. Best wishes, Jonathan On Mar 8, 2014, at 6:46 AM, RicksPlace <[email protected]> wrote: Hi: What is it about screen readers where they have so much trouble reading advanced math and, or, science characters? For example, what about the Calcus symbols or the standard ones often used in describing the EM Field variables? Has anyone ever done anything trying to write a script for say either a book reader or even internet pages to make the equations read well? I have been looking at many sites lately related to quantum mechanics and light and found many, all?, sites using equations where either I get a line of characters that dont make sense to me or a blank space where a given symbol, image?, is located within the equations. I know there are third party packages that might, repeat might, work perhaps with braille but why cant a screen reader like WindowEyes with it's attendant dictionaries be used to read these pages or books? I am wondering if the pages or software could be scripted in some way to make advanced math and science equations readable with WindowEyes. Just a consideration at this point and not even a thought of being a scripting project but just the question of why it hasent been done by the screen reader companies and if anyone has ever tried to script something to enable it for WindowEyes in the past. Rick USA
