The State of Accessible Math Neil Soiffer Design Science, Inc. 9th - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The State of Accessible Math Neil Soiffer Design Science, Inc. 9th European e-Accessibility Forum, June 2015 1

Outline • Math accessibility – big picture: • What is math accessibility? • Diagrams, Plots, Formulas • What works today? • Navigation: discussion and demonstration

Why Accessible Digital Math? • Every day, every child takes math • One of the three “R”s • STEM is important for jobs • Slow/Expensive to get accessible material • Not just for blindness • Dyslexic students: 2x error rates 3

Math Accessibility (1) • Calculators: ORION TI-84, ViewPlus AGC • Diagrams: tactiles, DIAGRAM project • Plots: • Tactiles • Tables • Sonification 4

Sonification (LinePlot)

Sonification (ScatterPlot)

Accessible Math: Equations • Images • works everywhere…if you are sighted        1 cos   cos 2   2

Accessible Math? Alt Text 8

Accessible Math? Alt Text 9

Accessible Math? Alt Braille? Text Magnification? Sync highlighting? Navigation? 10

Accessible Math! • MathML & Browsers • Firefox, Safari, • All w/MathJax • Most math applications • MathML & Assistive Technology • Mac: VoiceOver+Safari • ChromeBook: ChromeVox • PC: JAWS, MathPlayer+… 11

MathML In Standards • HTML5 • DocBook • DAISY 3 • NIMAS: K-12 Textbooks • eBooks: EPUB 3 (OEBPS) • PDF (?!) • PDF/UA support for Math

MathML on the Web • Wikipedia • Khan Academy • Stack Exchange, Moodle • Publishers • Pearson • Elsevier/ScienceDirect 13

Math Accessibility on the Web • Apple • Safari on Macs, IPads, Iphones • ChromeVox • Chrome everywhere (Android) • JAWS 16 • IE only (for now) • Windows • MathPlayer: works with your choice of AT 14

When You Create Math • Word As Hub Duxbury Embossed Large Word Braille Print ViewPlus TSS MathType/MathPage Web Page

MathPlayer 4 Design • Library that can work with all AT • Customizable speech • Braille • Synchronized highlighting • Navigation • Currently: • NVDA: Firefox, IE, Word, PowerPoint, PDF • Window Eyes: Word • TextHELP (unreleased): all browsers 16

MathPlayer 4 Features • Speech settings • Disability group • Verbosity/expertise 1 1 x  vs 1  1 x • 15 Languages • Subject-specific speech 17

Navigation • Zooming & moving around • Auto Zoom • Reading vs. describing • Placemarkers & “Where am I?” • Navigation modes

Bright Future • Many sites are now accessible • Many AT vendors support math • Still needs work: • Authoring, Solving, Touch • Images bad, MathML good: • Magnification, Speech, Navigation, Braille     energy 6CO 6H O C H O 6O 2 2 6 12 6 2