Creating braille from Word documents containing math just became a lot easier. Duxbury has just come out with v. 10.7 of their Braille Translator featuring direct import of mathematical equations in Microsoft Word documents. This will allow math materials authored using Word and MathType to be quickly converted to braille.
Please see our Press Release for further details.
It's been widely heralded and now it's officially here: Microsoft's
and DAISY's "Save As DAISY XML" Word add-in has moved from being a beta
to being official. You can get it from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=208610. DAISY's official press release will give you more details.
Now
that this release is out, Microsoft and DAISY have begun the
requirements process for what goes into version 2. They have already
said that supporting math is planned for the next version. Needless to
say, we're working with them to make sure support for MathType and
Equation Editor equations will be seamless and rock solid. Version
two probably won't be out until the fall, but I'm sure there will be
beta releases well before then.
Math in DAISY is encoded as MathML. The details for this are described in the MathML in DAISY Modular Extension that was approved last year by the DAISY board. With MathML, math is fully accessible. Download MathPlayer from our website and see for yourself what can be done to make math encoded in MathML accessible.
The math accessibility train is really chugging along.
It is always nice to be the bearer of good news. Well...I've got GREAT news today! The Kentucky Department of Education has announced that the state will grant preferential procurement status to math textbook titles submitted by publishers who use Mathematical Markup Language (MathML). That's right -- publishers who create digital math content using MathML will get a leg up in the competition over textbooks made the old fashioned way with graphic images. And the reason, of course, is accessibility. So, for all you advocates of math accessibility out there, here's a reason to celebrate!
Kentucky's move to promote math accessibility is something every state should put into place. So be sure to tell your state education leaders about Kentucky's progress on getting accessible math in the classroom. Will your state be next? With your help, it can be! Read more about this great development on our Accessibility News page.
I was pleased to be part of the First International Conference on Technology-based Learning with Disability (LWD-07), held July 19-20, 2007, at Wright State University. In my session, I explored the concept that making math accessible is as much a public policy issue as it is a technological one. You can read the synopsis of my presentation at Universal Design for Math Learning: Bridging the Technology and Policy Divide. For even more information about the connection of public policy and math accessibility, see our resource page What are the public policy issues involved in making math accessible?
On September 6, 2007, I was delighted to appear before the National Mathematics Advisory Panel to provide comments to this group. This panel was created by President Bush's Executive Order in 2006, with the purpose to advise the President and the US Department of Education on the best use of scientifically-based research on the teaching and learning of mathematics. Please see the panel's website for a copy of our public comments. For further information about the need to make math accessible, read Why is math accessibility important?
