The question needs some clarification. Do you have specific users that need to have access? Are you looking for a conversion process for math to Braille or audio? Or are you looking for a web based method of presenting math to anyone who clicks on the URL?
If it is the later, there are no complete answers. MathML and LaTex offers several possible solutions. Duxbury will convert some LaTex files. BUT there is no standard for writing MathML or LaTex to create an accessible files.
A completed conversion process is dependent on money, not ideas.
The short answer is that there is not an automatic way to do it. The most usable (quick and dirty) method of presenting symbolic information on the web is to use the same approach that is used with pdf files. Have the symbolic document in whatever, editor or graphic file you want and then include a second accessible format. An audio file of the symbolic information would work. It would be nice if you also had the information in Nemeth Code, but unless you are expecting the users to compute the information, audio would suffice.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Rebman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2002 5:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Making math equations accessible
Alan,
MathML implementation as far as browsers and accessibility are concerned,
is still in its infancy, and my guess is that it will be quite a while
(years?) before
this will be a viable solution to the math access problem.
In the mean time, the most accessible way I have encountered for dealing
with math on the web is the format used by the Drexel University Math Forum
site:
It is basically done with normal ASCII text, and while this can be tedious
to unscramble at times, it is better than nothing. There is a page on that
site that
describes the typographical conventions and gives examples of preferred
notation.
To make your graphics-based equations accessible I would probably consider
either something like the WGBH "D" descriptive link to an alternate,
text-only
page, or maybe a longdesc tag. I would also provide a link to a page
describing the typographical conventions, and even possibly, in the case of
complex
or unusual equations, some descriptive information right on the target page
itself.
Just in case you want to see what is going on with MathML, you can try the
W3C MathML pages:
http://www.w3.org/Math/implementations.html
Hope this helps,
Jim
------------
Jim Rebman
Center for Life-Long Learning and Design
Department of Computer Science
University of Colorado, Boulder
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more
violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the
opposite direction."
- E. F. Schumacher