WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

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/