[Athen] Accommodating blind students in math

[Ali Steenis via athen-list]

Hi all,

Some overarching thoughts on these questions. For context, I am a blind disability services professional working in alternative formats at a community college.

If a blind or low vision student is struggling with learning how to do math without sight or with less sight than before, we may talk about a homework scribe hired to write work and answers as the student dictates out loud. Alternatively, if the student is comfortable using a screen reader, doing math in Word with the equation editor may work.

When we encounter a barrier based on lack of skill or training when it comes to learning braille, Nemeth, doing math in Word, or general screen reader knowledge, I sometimes have to have real conversations with my students around what they are ready for compared to what they want to be able to do now. Often this involves referring to other resources such as DVR or state services for the blind. This is often not the answer students want to hear because it means their degree or goal will take longer to reach. However, I think it is important to be realistic with our students and set them up for success as best we can. This obviously doesn't mean we would deny services if the student chose to continue despite our suggestions. It does mean that we have boundaries on what we can provide and what is outside our scope.

For transcribing nemeth braille work back into print, we have had a few third party transcribers agree to receive nemeth braille and transcribe back into print for us. This works best for exams that may have fewer instances throughout the academic term compared to daily or weekly homework. However, if you could arrange overnight shipping to the transcriber, this could work for homework as well.

For taking notes in class, we often have staff scribes taking notes for students for math. Our scribes write the notes using LaTex so the student can read with their screen reader. Alternatively, using a student volunteer notetaker who could submit their notes to be converted to LaTeX could work too.

I dream of a world decades from now when these new ADA Title II changes have thoroughly integrated in higher education and math classes are largely accessible for blind students with a screen reader. So much work to do to get there but what a better experience it will be!

In solidarity,
Ali Steenis
Pronouns: she/hers
Alternative Formats Access Specialist, Disability Resource Center (DRC)
3000 Landerholm Circle SE, Room U001
Bellevue, WA 98007

Phone: (425)-564-2605
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From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Deborah Armstrong via athen-list
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2026 10:17 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Athen] Accommodating blind students in math

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I'm always asked questions about this and I hardly have many answers. There are tons of websites on the subject but the target audience is teachers of the visually impaired in K-12.
I know the Microsoft Word equation editor is accessible and I of course know about MathML and the tools for reading it.
And I know a tiny bit of LaTEX and could learn more if needed. I know about the Nemeth Braille charts from NBP - they are wonderful!
But what are folks doing in the following situations:

  *   Student recently lost their sight and so doesn't know Braille. How are you helping them to learn how to show their work when they turn in assignments?
  *   Student wants to do all their work in Nemeth Braille, but how will it get transcribed for the professor grading the assignment?
  *   Student needs to be tutored but the tutor doesn't know Braille or the student doesn't know how to work problems because they did all their math education when sighted and they don't know Braille.
  *   Student needs to take remedial math but cannot see the whiteboard so is lost in class.

I can jabber all day about screen readers and Math-ML, Braille displays and such, but this is not the answer people need. We are a community college and get many students whose last math class was two decades ago when they had vision, or they "suck at math", need tutoring and failed most math in high school. And unlike other subjects, most instructors use highly visual methods to teach it.

I have found Khan academy works wonders for low-vision students who can take their time, magnify the videos and don't feel pressured. But it doesn't work for blind students as without being able to see the video you cannot easily grasp the concepts.

Also there are more and more publisher-supplied math labs without any real idea which ones are accessible and which are not. Is anyone grading these for accessibility? All are behind paywalls.

I wish someone working towards a masters in education would create a fully online, fully accessible remedial math course under a creative commons license. Then we wouldn't have to try to accommodate every individual need for every course with its changing editions of textbooks and each teacher having a different pedagogy.

I've played with the idea of writing a web-based "electric pencil" but maybe one exists already where you could enter equations with a simple interface allowing a blind student and sighted tutor to work easily together. That would be so cool and maybe I'll do it when I retire. Right now I'm often too tired after working and commuting all day to write much code.

--Debee


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