Phy1000: introduction to accessible physics concepts  (Page 2/4)

Mathematics and equations

The language of physics is mathematics. Many blind students are fully capable of understanding mathematics and equations when they arepresented in a format that is accessible to the student.

Hundreds of equations

Each chapter in the textbook contains dozens and in some cases hundreds of equations. The equations in the pdf version of the textbook look OK to asighted person like myself. However, they mostly look like garbage when viewed by a blind student using an audible screen reader and a Braille display.

The Word version is worse

The equations are garbage when viewed by a sighted person using the Word version of thetextbook. I don't know what process was used to convert the pdf version to a Word version, but I do know that the equations weren't properlyconverted from pdf format to Word format.

Overcoming the barriers

The situations described above are just a few of the barriers that I will attempt to overcome in the modules in this collection. I will have more to sayabout this later.

Prerequisite requirements

Accessibility tools

In addition to an Internet connection and a browser, you will need the following tools (as a minimum) to work through the exercises in these modules:

• A graph board for plotting graphs and vector diagrams ( (External Link) ).
• A protractor for measuring angles ( (External Link) ).
• An audio screen reader that is compatible with your operating system, such as the NonVisual Desktop Access program (NVDA) that is freelyavailable at (External Link) .
• A refreshable Braille display capable of providing a line by line tactile output of information displayed on the computer screen( (External Link) ). While I understand that these devices are fairly expensive, you may not beable to work through the exercises without one.
• The ability to create tactile graphics as described here .

I will have more to say about the need for and the use of these tools later.

Prerequisite knowledge

The minimum prerequisites for understanding the material in these modules include the following.

• A good understanding of algebra.
• An understanding of the use of a graph board for plotting graphs and vector diagrams ( (External Link) ). I will have more to say about this later.
• An understanding of the use of a protractor for measuring angles ( (External Link) ). I will have more to say about this later as well.
• A basic understanding of the use of sine, cosine, and tangent from trigonometry ( (External Link) ). Once again, I will have more to say about this later.
• An introductory understanding of JavaScript programming ( (External Link) and (External Link) ). Ditto on more to say about this later.
• An understanding of the creation and use of tactile graphics as described here .

Supplemental material

I recommend that you also study the other lessons in my extensive collection of online programming tutorials. You will find a consolidated index at www.DickBaldwin.com .

Discussion

The following sections expand on the discussion from above.

Algebra

As I mentioned earlier, the language of physics is mathematics. In order to understand the material in this collection, you will need a good foundation inalgebra. If you have such a foundation, you will probably know that to be the case. If not, youmight want to work on that before embarking on a course in physics.