Project - DDMATH -- Digital Mathematics Education in Braille

Overview

DDMATH promotes the use of new technologies to support blind and visually impaired students in primary and secondary education, across mainstream, integrated, and special schools. The project aims to improve achievement in mathematics and science, both in the classroom and through distance learning.

Learning mathematics has long been a major challenge for blind students, limiting performance, motivation, and access to scientific studies. These difficulties have been intensified by digital and remote teaching, which requires educators to develop new methods and accessible digital materials to ensure effective inclusion.

While assistive tools such as the Lambda mathematical editor, along with software like TRIANGLE, Duxbury, and LaTeX, enable blind learners to work independently with mathematical content, gaps remain in teaching methodologies, guidance for educators, and the availability of digital Braille mathematics resources. Technology alone is not enough — effective, tested teaching models are essential.

DDMATH addresses this need by developing an inclusive teaching model for integrated digital education, supported by information technology and validated through pilot implementations involving teachers, students, and families. The project strengthens both student engagement and academic success while equipping teachers with new skills in accessible mathematics education, fostering collaboration across European schools.

As a secondary objective, the project also explores the use of the Lambda editor for learners with other disabilities, building on strong interest expressed by teachers during the 2020 period of school closures.

Alongside IN2, the project consortium consisted of the following organisations:

• Giuseppe Paccini Association, Italy (Coordinator)
• Polo Europeo della Conoscenza, Italy
• University of Toulouse, France
• Towarzystwo Muzyczne imienia Edwina Kowalika, Poland

IN2 is bringing in this project its expertise in accessible document processing and will develop a variety of conversion modules and a digital service to produce mathematical texts in Braille.