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Creating Learning Resources for Blind Students

posted by janrinok on Sunday January 19 2020, @07:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the and-the-blind-shall-see dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Mathematics and science Braille textbooks are expensive and require an enormous effort to produce -- until now. A team of researchers has developed a method for easily creating textbooks in Braille, with an initial focus on math textbooks. The new process is made possible by a new authoring system which serves as a "universal translator" for textbook formats, combined with enhancements to the standard method for putting mathematics in a Web page. Basing the new work on established systems will ensure that the production of Braille textbooks will become easy, inexpensive, and widespread.

"This project is about equity and equal access to knowledge," said Martha Siegel, a Professor Emerita from Towson University in Maryland. Siegel met a blind student who needed a statistics textbook for a required course. The book was ordered but took six months (and several thousand dollars) to prepare, causing the student significant delay in her studies. Siegel and Al Maneki, a retired NSA mathematician who serves as senior STEM advisor to the National Federation of the Blind and who is blind himself, decided to do something about it.

"Given the amazing technology available today, we thought it would be easy to piece together existing tools into an automated process," said Alexei Kolesnikov. Kolesnikov, a colleague of Siegel at Towson University, was recruited to the project in the Summer of 2018. Automating the process is the key, because currently Braille books are created by skilled people retyping from the printed version, which involves considerable time and cost. Converting the words is easy: Braille is just another alphabet. The hard part is conveying the structure of the book in a non-visual way, converting the mathematics formulas, and converting the graphs and diagrams.

The collaboration which solved the problem was formed in January, 2019, with the help of the American Institute of Mathematics, through its connections in the math research and math education communities.

"Mathematics teachers who have worked with visually impaired students understand the unique challenges they face," said Henry Warchall, Senior Adviser in the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation, which funds the American Institute of Mathematics. "By developing an automated way to create Braille mathematics textbooks, this project is making mathematics significantly more accessible, advancing NSF's goal of broadening participation in the nation's scientific enterprise."

There are three main problems to solve when producing a Braille version of a textbook. First is the overall structure. A typical textbook uses visual clues to indicate chapters, sections, captions, and other landmarks. In Braille all the letters are the same size and shape, so these structural elements are described with special symbols. The other key issues are accurately conveying complicated mathematics formulas, and providing a non-visual way to represent graphs and diagrams.

-- submitted from IRC

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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 19 2020, @08:19AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 19 2020, @08:19AM (#945225) Journal

    I guess genius happens often enough. And, genius takes different forms, of course. So, what happens when you're a genius, and lack the tools with which to communicate?

    Or, forget genius. You're just born lacking some of the tools necessary to contribute meaningfully. As a result, you spend much of your life just learning to exist and interact with the world around you.

    Just a reminder to be grateful for what you do have.

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19 2020, @01:48PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19 2020, @01:48PM (#945274)

    Here's one genius, nearly blind (2% vision) from birth:
        https://www.ieee.ca/millennium/braille/braille_his.html [www.ieee.ca] A sample of the longer article,

    The Converto-Braille:

    In 1961, his first major project came to him in a dream. Microcomputers had yet to be invented, and computers of the day cost a princely sum. There was only one solution: to build one from scratch that would transcribe written texts into contracted Braille, thus eliminating the need to know Braille in order to transcribe a book. For five years, he was gripped by this idea. He channeled his research and read, one letter at a time, until he developed arthritis in his shoulders. In 1966, he was ready to put his dream into action.

    His device, the "Converto-Braille", was a home-made electromechanical computer linked to a teletype machine which fed its memory. It scanned and translated texts into Braille at a rate of 100 words per minute. Today on display at the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, the Converto-Braille machine required more than 10,000 hours of work by Roland Galarneau and a small team including some friends, his wife, his children and especially Adrien Filiatreault, an invaluable associate.

    Once word of the invention spread, Jeanne Cypihot, a blind woman living in Montreal, offered him $12,000 to fund the project. This was back in 1970, at a time when computer chips did not yet exist. It took 1,000 relays and more than 100,000 connections before the computer operated properly. Everything was built with equipment on hand, including parts donated by Bell Canada.

    I saw this relay computer once, a college friend worked with Roland Galarneau c.1980, helping him build a microcomputer version. The relay machine was a monster, but it worked.