How to prepare PDF tables and formulas for read-aloud

Inspect the extracted cell order

Copy a small table from the PDF into a text document. Compare the result with the original: do values follow their rows, do column headings survive, and have neighboring cells become mixed? For example, product names may be separated from prices while units appear at the end. Even correctly copied numbers become ambiguous if listeners cannot tell which row and heading each value belongs to.

Turn essential rows into complete sentences

In a separate working copy, rewrite important rows as self-contained statements. For example, replace “A, 12, 15” with “Option A uses 12 liters and runs for 15 minutes.” Repeat units wherever leaving them out would create ambiguity. If you include only selected rows from a large table, say which entries you retained. A shortened listening version should not imply that it reproduces the entire original table.

Describe the relationships in a formula

Decide whether listening requires the exact formula or an explanation of its meaning. When the notation matters, describe operations, brackets, fractions, and powers in words. For example, “The area of a circle equals pi multiplied by the square of its radius” expresses a simple relationship without an image. Explain the variables, too. If you cannot verify a symbol or operation order, mark the passage for visual checking instead of guessing.

Verify signs, units, and qualifications

Check every transferred value against the PDF, including decimal separators, minus signs, percentages, powers, and units. Then read the table caption and footnotes. These may explain that a value is approximate, applies to a particular group, or depends on specific conditions. For example, omitting “thousand” changes a figure’s scale. Verify each number together with its label and qualifications, rather than checking the digits alone.

Test whether the description stands on its own

Read your prepared passage aloud without looking at the table. Can you identify the measure, the comparison, and the units? Save the text as TXT, upload it to TGRadio, select the book and voice, and press Play. Listen to the enumeration. If a long sequence of numbers becomes difficult to follow, divide it into shorter sentences in your external editor.

Keep the original PDF available for complex passages. If a diagram, proof, or layered table loses its meaning in a spoken description, state in the prepared text that the original needs visual inspection. Do not replace an omitted formula with an invented explanation. Judge the audio version’s completeness by the information you actually transferred and verified.