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The State of Math Accessibility: Where are we and where should we be?

Scheduled at 3:15 PM in Mattie Silks on Wednesday, November 18.

#43248

Speaker(s)

  • Crista Earl, Principal Accessibility Consultant, Tech for All (TFA)

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: Beginner
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

We are all frustrated with the level of accessibility for producing and accessing mathematics in education. We will look at current tools for presentations of math, then move to review and demonstration of the tools to access math content and to do math. We'll discuss the gaps in accessibility and possible paths to close those gaps. • What tools and techniques are available now? • What should the level of accessibility be? • Where do we fall short now? • What can we do now to close the gap?

Abstract

The accessibility of content and systems has improved substantially in recent times, but math and its family of STEM topics have lagged. We will look at recent improvements in accessibility, especially in complex math for complex accessibility situations, and then look at the currently available array of tools for math producers, accessibility experts, and learners with disabilities to help make math more accessible. Third, we'll examine what is missing, and what we can do now and in the near future to improve the accessibility of math in education.

We'll look at a range of free and not-so-free tools that help close the gap. Participants will see examples of current processes for making math accessible, the state of that accessibility for screen-reader users, and some of the approaches learners can take to improve their access.

Examples of tools for math presentation we'll look at:

  • Microsoft Word
  • Adobe PDF
  • MathJax in HTML
  • Desmos Graphing in HTML All the above will be demonstrated and explored with screen readers, including JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver.

Some of the tools for math production we'll discuss:

  • MathML
  • LaTeX
  • EquatIO

How do users of assistive technology do math? Now that we've made the math display correctly, including the array of exercises ... what is the state of accessible math scratchpads?

Pitfalls we'll identify: • Math expressions in-line with text • Math expressions in forms (quizzes, assessments, knowledge checks, etc.) • math in tables • Doing math with a screen reader(scratchpad and related issues)

Keypoints

  1. Math accessibility is not where it should be, but there is a lot you can do now.
  2. There are numerous tools you can use to improve math and STEM learning for your students.
  3. Broadening student access to tools and tech skills improves their accessibility to math.

Disability Areas

All Areas, Vision

Topic Areas

Alternate Format, Assistive Technology

Speaker Bio(s)

Crista Earl

Crista is a senior member of the Tech for All (TFA) consulting team, leading non-visual accessibility evaluations of software, website, mobile, and integrated hardware and software products. She brings over 30 years of experience in design, development, and testing of accessible information and communication technology. Crista has helped organizations in a variety of industries, including higher education, finance, and publishing. In her previous role as Director of Web Operations for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), Crista oversaw a team of developers, database administrators, content managers, and social media professionals to develop and expand several accessible websites and software applications.