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Re: Screen readers, math symbols, and Word

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From: Stephen L Noble
Date: Nov 17, 2010 3:06PM

For all the documents I create with math, including all the content I
create for students with disabilities in my research projects, I simply
use Word plus the MathType add-on. It is a WYSIWYG editor and one can
use a graphical UI with a mouse, or if one is fluent in TeX you can type
that directly into the doc and use MathType's TeX toggle function
(that's also a useful method for a blind user producing content). Then
one simply exports the page as XHTML+MathML, which takes all of two or
three extra clicks. So, not a big deal really.

In California they even train folks in the prisons to create content
this way:
http://www.washington.edu/doit/articles?400

You can also get MathML "into" and "out of" PDF documents. MathPlayer
can read it, but Adobe needs to work on the authoring end to make this
easier. I am sure Andrew can address that issue...

Best regards,

--Steve

------------------------------------
-- Steve Noble
Chair, National Technology Task Force
Learning Disabilities Association of America
<EMAIL REMOVED>
502-969-3088

--------------
Disclaimer: The opinions and comments made in email are those of the
author, and do not necessarily represent the official position of any
organization unless explicitly stated.


>>> Cliff Tyllick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 11/17/2010 3:54 PM >>>
I appreciate that MathML is the preferred solution, but I'm concerned
that there seems to be a pretty significant learning curve -- the page
you pointed to is quite a bit to digest.

And we will need an even more significant cultural change before we can
adopt MathML as the standard for producing these documents. After all:

- The many authors who contribute to these documents do not know markup
language, so training would be needed.

- The people who review them during production are used to using Word's
tools for reviewing, revising, and commenting. There is no ready
solution I'm aware of for doing the same thing in markup language -- and
even if there is, we're back to that need for training.

- Some of the people who receive these documents after they are
published want them in Word.

- These documents are a relatively small part of a production scheme
that involves Word and PDF -- in part because of relative ease,
familiarity, and availability; in part because they meet our need for
all forms of the document to have a uniform format.

- These documents are fairly lengthy and are heavy with text. The math
is interspersed in various places -- in fact, in many cases, the "math"
is simply a character next to a value in a table. So are we supposed to
have everyone learn a new technique of producing, distributing, and
digesting documents, just so they can insert the occasional mathematical
symbol?

- And what if we have a series of 20 related documents, and only one of
them needs mathematical symbols? Must we use MathML for the whole bunch?
Or have a unique production method for just the one?

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not sure how we would get there
from here.

Cliff

Cliff Tyllick
Usability assessment coordinator
Agency Communications Division
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-4516
<EMAIL REMOVED>


>>> On 11/17/2010 at 11:50 AM, in message
< <EMAIL REMOVED> >, Stephen L Noble
< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
The preferred solution is to use web documents using MathML (i.e.,
XHTML+MathML). At this juncture, native accessibility to mathematical
content within a Word document has not been solved.

For a broader discussion, see NCAM's Accessible Digital Media
Guidelines:
http://ncam.wgbh.org/invent_build/web_multimedia/accessible-digital-media-guide/guideline-g-math

Technique G2.1 / Use MathML to provide access to scientific and
mathematical expressions
"MathML is the best choice for a markup language for expressing math.
The advantage of MathML is it provides mathematical information in an
open, standard format that can be exploited by a wide range of
assistive
technologies."

Best regards,
--Steve Noble

------------------------------------
-- Steve Noble
Chair, National Technology Task Force
Learning Disabilities Association of America
<EMAIL REMOVED>
502-969-3088

--------------
Disclaimer: The opinions and comments made in email are those of the
author, and do not necessarily represent the official position of any
organization unless explicitly stated.


>>> Cliff Tyllick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 11/17/2010 11:55 AM >>>
One of our authors who has tested Word documents in JAWS 9 has
doscovered that the "greater than or equal to" symbol (Unicode
character
2265) is announced as "greater than."

In some cases this might be a minor annoyance, but the difference is
important in documents that tell people how to comply with
environmental
regulations. Is there a good solution to this problem?

If not, we're thinking of just replacing the character with an inline
graphic of the same size with appropriate alt text. Thoughts?

And is this just a JAWS thing, or do other screen readers do the same?

Cliff


Cliff Tyllick
Usability assessment coordinator
Agency Communications Division
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
512-239-4516
<EMAIL REMOVED>