Installing LaTeX on Windows as a screen reader user

1. Install MiKTeX (the LaTeX system) MiKTeX is the engine that actually compiles your .tex files into PDFs.

Steps: • Open your browser and go to: https://miktex.org/download • Choose “MiKTeX Installer (64-bit)”. • Run the installer. • When asked whether MiKTeX should install missing packages automatically, choose “Yes”. This is important because it allows LaTeX to download any needed components without asking you. MiKTeX will then take care of updates on its own. 2. Install TeXnicCenter (the editor) TeXnicCenter is a keyboard-accessible LaTeX editor that works well with screen readers.

Steps: • Go to https://www.texniccenter.org/download/ • Download the installer. • Install it with all default options. You can open TeXnicCenter from the Start Menu after installation. 3. First-Time Setup (LaTeX Path Detection) When TeXnicCenter starts for the first time, it usually detects MiKTeX automatically. If it does, you don’t need to change anything.

If it asks you to provide the path manually, you will need to select the folder that contains pdflatex.exe. Common locations include:

C:\Program Files\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\x64 or C:\Users<your username>\AppData\Local\Programs\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\x64\

Your screen reader will read the files inside the folder, so you can navigate with arrow keys until you hear “pdflatex.exe”. 4. Create Your First LaTeX Document In TeXnicCenter: • Press Alt + F to open the File menu. • Press N to create a new file. You now have an empty document. Paste this simple text to test your setup:

\documentclass{article} \begin{document} Hello world! This is my first \LaTeX\ document. \end{document}

Save the file using Ctrl + S and name it for example “test.tex”. 5. Compile to PDF To compile: • Press F5. This runs the default “Build and View” command. MiKTeX will compile the file, and when it finishes, a PDF viewer will open automatically.

If nothing happens, switch to the PDF profile: • Press Alt + B for the Build menu. • Choose “Output → PDF”. Then press F5 again. 6. A More Accessible PDF Reader (Recommended) Many blind LaTeX users prefer SumatraPDF because: • it does not lock the .tex file, • it integrates nicely with LaTeX editors, • it is lightweight and quick to open. You can download it at: https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/download-free-pdf-viewer

TeXnicCenter usually detects it automatically. You can also now use the file we created in the post above.

Be careful to use the syntax we learned properly because even a small mistake can make LaTeX compilation to crush and then you do not get a pdf document at all. If your editor tells you there is a problem at line with number x you should know that the problem is always at line x and above. THis is a basic principal with all the programming languages and while LaTeX is not exactly one this principal is true here too. enjoy and do not worry you will break your documents countless times it is part of learning. These days you can give your LaTeX to a large language model like chat gpt GPT and ask it to find your mistakes for you. If you do this always try to learn from your mistakes do not just use the output it gives you go and correct them one by one. Do not take shortcuts this is the only way to real mastery.