[Athen] Noaki Inaba Math Puzzles

[Monica Olsson via athen-list]

Having trouble with sending links from Google today. Hope this one works:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qOD4d2TJoGYw9Z9x_Vl1h48S0XJ1sBmyFel_55NrMPk/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.rw8fzw1o7s6f



Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

•Email: molsson at sbctc.edu<mailto:molsson at sbctc.edu> • Phone: 360-704-3922



The power of the Web is in its universality.

Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.

Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web

________________________________
From: Monica Olsson <molsson at sbctc.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 6, 2025 2:19 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Noaki Inaba Math Puzzles

All,

A unique kind of Math puzzle was shared with me from faculty as an example of a fun assignment she likes to assign students: Naoki Inaba Puzzles<http://All,%20%20A%20unique%20kind%20of%20Math%20puzzle%20was%20shared%20with%20me%20from%20a%20Math%20faculty%20as%20an%20example%20of%20a%20fun%20assignment%20she%20likes%20to%20assign%20students:%20%20%20The%20idea%20is%20to%20look%20at%20the%20numbers%20and%20design%20of%20the%20connected%20circles%20to%20identify%20a%20pattern%20and%20then%20fill%20in%20each%20blank%20circle%20with%20the%20correct%20number.>.

The idea is to look at the numbers and design of the connected circles to find a pattern and then fill in each blank circle with the correct number. It reminds me of Sudoku.

We started chatted about how to make these accessible to AT users, and I must admit that I was stumped. I don't think alt text will provide an equivalent experience.

Some thoughts I had were - Would Desmos be helpful here at all to "listen" to patterns? I do not know enough about Desmos though, so I did not go down that route with the faculty. I asked her to explain the essential learning outcome of the assignment to me and asked if an alternate assignment could be offered. She was open to this idea, but also commented, "I don't want to remove all my fun assignments from the class."

What would you advise?

Thanks!
Monica


Monica M. Olsson (she/her/hers)

Policy Associate – Accessible IT Coordinator

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

•Email: molsson at sbctc.edu<mailto:molsson at sbctc.edu> • Phone: 360-704-3922



The power of the Web is in its universality.

Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.

Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
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