MathBraille; a system to transform LATEX documents into Braille

  • Authors:

  • Shunsuke Hara;Nobuyuki Ohtake;Mika Higuchi;Noriko Miyazaki;Ayako Watanabe;Kanako Kusunoki;Hiroshi Sato

  • Affiliations:

  • Tsukuba College of Technology, 4-12 Kasuga, Tsukuba-si, Ibaraki 305-0821, Japan;Tsukuba College of Technology, 4-12 Kasuga, Tsukuba-si, Ibaraki 305-0821, Japan;Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Ohtsuka, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan;Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Ohtsuka, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan;Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Ohtsuka, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan;Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Ohtsuka, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan;Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Ohtsuka, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGCAPH Computers and the Physically Handicapped
  • Year:
  • 2000

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Abstract

LATEX[1] is a very well-known document preparation system which is particularly useful to produce documents containing mathematical formulae. Many scientific articles are presented in LATEX. But raw LATEX document is not suitable for the blind to read in Braille; that is, to read LATEX command as a sequence of symbols and alphabets is not a good way for understanding LATEX text. It is desirable to develop a system which transforms mathematical formula expressed by LATEX notation into corresponding Braille.In Japan, there exist several softwares which transform electronic documents into Braille[2]. However, they can cope only with literal documents. Therefore, almost all of the scientific Braille texts have been produced by human power who knows Braille rule for mathematics. There are many organizations and volunteer groups which are keen to prepare Braille texts. Nevertheless, Japanese Braille rule for mathematics is so complicated that very few can produce scientific texts. This causes lots of trouble to the blind who wants to study sciences. Shortage of Braille texts in science and technology is one of the most serious problems for blind students at high school and university. Therefore, it is also desirable to construct an automatic transformation system with which scientific Braille texts are produced easily.The aim of this research is to resolve these two problems. We have developed a system MathBraille[3] which transforms JLATEX (an extension of LATEX that contains Chinese characters and Japanese syllabaries fonts for typesetting) documents into Braille. Furthermore, by utilizing this system, one can produce Braille text for mathematics without knowing Braille rule. To prepare the input file for MathBraille, one must have a basic knowledge of LATEX commands. Nevertheless, to learn basic LATEX commands is not so difficult as to master complicated Japanese Braille rule for mathematics. One can confirm the correctness of written mathematical formulae by previewer in LATEX instead of reading the mathematical formulae in Braille.In this report, the system MathBraille is explained. The programme for the system is coded using the programming language C and compiled by Microsoft 32-bit C/C++ Standard Compiler Version 10.00. MathBraille works on the DOS/V computers.