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Re: Math Expressions

for

From: Steve Noble
Date: Jun 4, 2008 1:50PM


This is a common problem, to which some states are promoting more
systemic change. From the K-12 perspective, the "braille bills" that
many states passed beginning in the 1990s began requiring textbook
publishers to submit electronic files in order to expedite the creation
of braille materials, but they often exempted math in the past. Of
course, now the whole K-12 process has been redesigned at the federal
end due to the NIMAS requirements that were passed in IDEA 2004. Under
NIMAS, math materials may be submitted by publishers using MathML. In
fact, the state of Kentucky has recently announced that the state will
give preferential procurement to math textbook publishers that submit
NIMAS-compliant files using MathML:
http://www.dessci.com/en/solutions/access/news.htm

On the postsecondary side, there is no national legislation comparable
to the K-12 NIMAS requirements. However, some institutions are doing
their own creation of MathML textbook materials using MathML for the
math expressions, and then burning the files on a CD to use with
synthetic speech applications. The ATPC of the California Community
College has a very streamlined program developed to do this. I was told
recently that they turned around a 500+ page statistics book with lots
of math in only 3 days. That wasn't braille, of course, but it is an
example of what one system is doing to get accessible math content to
their students. Here's an article describing their process:
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Stem/articles?400

Also, for an example of online math textbooks created with MathML, here
is a list of a few resources:
http://www.dessci.com/en/reference/webmath/resources.htm

That of course doesn't solve your immediate problem, but it shows you
what some others are doing.

Steve Noble
Director of Accessibility Policy
Design Science, Inc.
E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Phone: (502) 969-3088
Math Accessibility Resources http://www.dessci.com/accessibility
Making Math Accessible Blog: http://accessiblemath.dessci.com/


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of John E.
Brandt
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 2:18 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: [WebAIM] Math Expressions

Apart from the whole issue of markup and accessibility, it is my
understanding that math expressions, or equations generally present
unique challenges to people with blindness or visual impairments in that
they (the
equations) are hard to represent in Braille as well as in digital
formats. I have been working with folks from our state's agency that
provides books and services to the blind and visually impaired and this
is apparently a very common and long-term complaint.

There is a student in one of our state colleges who is a Math/Science
major and apparently quite a bright individual with aspirations for
advanced graduate training in this field. Trying to get advanced
calculus texts for him in Braille, or any format, is apparently nearly
impossible and, if available, extremely expensive since much of the
translation needs to be done by hand and with special tools.

I only share this because the issue of accessible markup is but a
relatively recent subset of a larger issue that has been around for some
time.

Perhaps there are others on this list to have more experience with folks
with blindness and visual impairments who can contribute more on this.

John E. Brandt
Augusta, Maine USA
www.jebswebs.com


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Shrirang
Prakash Sahasrabudhe
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 4:35 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] how to detect images having math expressions

Hi,
Is there any programmatic way of detecting use of math expressions
inside images?
How do existing accessibility checkers deal with it?
Something like looking at height and width?
"This error is generated for all img elements that have a width and
height greater than 100. "
http://checker.atrc.utoronto.ca/servlet/ShowCheck?check=135
Looking for pointers to related research.
Thanks.
Shrirang Prakash Sahasrabudhe
Accessibility specialist- Web 2.0 Research Lab Infosys Technologies Ltd-
Bangalore Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values


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