A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math

A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math for Online Math Software Sam Dooley, Pearson Susan Osterhaus, TSBVI Corey Fauble, Pearson

Math content is moving online (finally!) 1 Ø Online math technology always lags behind Ø Online math is complex, difficult, expensive Ø Online math presentation, authoring, and interaction each present unique challenges Ø Online STEM instruction and assessment have become important lines of business A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Online math content must be fully accessible Blind students need: 2 Ø A level playing field for STEM instruction Ø To read and write online braille math Ø To interact with sighted instructors and peers Ø To participate in online activities A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Braille math codes must be online ready Ø Accessible online math still lags behind Ø Software must be fully online, interactive Ø Software must be able to support the code Software development costs will pick winners and losers among online braille math codes. 3 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Braille math codes must support online use Ø 4 Examine two current braille codes for math Ø Nemeth Braille Code for Math and Science Ø Unified English Braille Code for Math Ø Identify features that impede online use Ø Advocate features that enable online use A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Other issues affect accessible online math 5 Ø Lack of technical support to go online Ø Speech input/output support for math Ø Codes for textual content (EBAE, UEB) Ø Combining text and math content Ø Spatial arrangements Ø Tactile graphics A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Accessible online math (demo!) 6 Ø Equation editor for online math entry Ø Fully accessible math output and input Ø Sighted user creates math for a braille user Ø Braille user creates math for a sighted user Ø Instant interactions with math content A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Braille features impact accessible online math 7 Ø Context Ø Ambiguity Ø Indicators Ø Flexibility Ø Extensibility Ø Uniformity A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Context 8 Ø Encoding rules depend on the surroundings Ø Context-sensitive encodings are expensive Ø Software testing/support is more complex Ø User encoding recall and accuracy decrease A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Nested exponents 9 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Nested roots 10 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Ambiguity Ø One braille symbol has more than one use Ø Each overloaded symbol incurs additional cost Ø Braille input software becomes more complex Ø User interpretation accuracy decreases 11 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Upper and lower cell numbers 12 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Indicators Ø One symbol modifies the meaning of another Ø Each braille indicator incurs additional cost Ø Smaller scopes are even more expensive Ø Special rules apply to each specific indicator Ø Special rules increase the user’s cognitive load 13 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Symbol, word, and passage indicators 14 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Flexibility Ø One structure can use multiple encodings Ø Each additional encoding is more expensive Ø More choices leads to less reliable software Ø More choices leads to less interoperability 15 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Spatial arrangements 16 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Extensibility Ø Existing rules can encode new symbols Ø Non-standard symbols incur additional cost Ø Users are unlikely to have encountered them Ø Content is less likely to be interoperable Ø Software must be coded for extensibility 17 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Spherical angle 18 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Uniformity Ø Encoding rules are used everywhere Ø Each special case rule increases cost Ø Consistency improves user recall, accuracy Ø Consistency decreases the cognitive load 19 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016

Simple numeric fraction General fraction

Conclusions Ø Accessible online math software is complex Ø Limited resources constrain what can be done Ø Codes that support online use will succeed Ø Codes that impede online use will be ignored Ø No braille code is without flaws to be fixed Ø Adjustments should continue to be made 21 A Comparison of Nemeth Braille and UEB Math 25 Mar 2016