Design Science MathType and MathPlayer can be used to produce DotsPlus Braille math materials when using Tiger Braille Printers from ViewPlus. DotsPlus is a relatively new type of two dimensional braille format especially designed to express complex mathematical equations. DotsPlus Braille is commonly used by individuals who lose their sight later in childhood or as an adult, and is relatively easy for new braille users to master. Using MathType or MathPlayer to create DotsPlus Braille does not require the use of braille translation software or the knowledge of braille transcription techniques, and can be used by virtually anyone to create braille instructional materials for blind students.

Creating DotsPlus Braille with MathType

By using Microsoft Word with MathType even faculty members, teaching assistants, or student workers who know nothing about braille can author or convert extremely complex scientific documents into DotsPlus Braille that can be embossed on the Tiger. By choosing the appropriate Tiger style in MathType, you can easily author equations that will print properly on the Tiger. It is also easy to convert equations in existing documents to a Tiger style, by simply selecting the desired style and clicking the equation open and close afterwards.

Creating DotsPlus Braille with MathPlayer

Hard copy DotsPlus Braille can also be created when using Internet Explorer plus MathPlayer to read web pages containing MathML equations. To do this, just switch the font family to a Tiger font and the font size to 36pt. This can be done via a style sheet change, either within the web document where the Tiger font is specified only for printing, or for third-party websites by placing this information into your own style sheet by using the Internet Options dialog. On the "Tools" menu, click "Internet Options." Then, from the "General" tab, click the "Accessibility" button, then use "Format documents using my style sheet."

Further Information and Resources

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