[Athen] JAWS with IE 9 and MathPlayer

[Sean Keegan]

I have had better success with creating DAISY math materials with MS Word+MathType+MathDAISY compared to using just MathPlayer and Internet Explorer. We built our MathDAISY workflow into our SCRIBE platform and have had solid success with that system (DAISY+MathDAISY books can also be created through the Sensus Access platform - http://sensusaccess.com). I have been able to use MathType 6.7 - 6.9 with similar results.

On the other hand, I have had less success when trying that same workflow from a desktop computer that is subject to installations, updates, etc. For whatever reason, once you get MathDAISY working, you almost have to leave the computer alone so it does not get corrupted. Depending on what version of MS Word you are using, you may have to uninstall, reinstall, or run repairs to get MathType and MathDAISY to work. While I have been able to get MS Office 2010 to work, Office 2007 seemed to have fewer issues.

So, at this point, I can create DAISY+MathDAISY books and they are playing reliably on both Read Hear and Easy Reader on the Windows platform with MathPlayer 3 installed. On the Mac platform, I have experienced frequent crashing with the Read Hear program and have been told an update is "coming soon." Trying to get MathPlayer 3 and Internet Explorer to work together has been far more difficult.

Right now, I think there are several different issues with MathType, but the major problems affecting document creation and playback seem more related to MathDAISY and MathPlayer 3 with Internet Explorer. I have been using several different versions of MathType to create files and the bigger roadblocks seem to occur when I include MathDAISY and MathPlayer 3. Using IE with MathPlayer 2.2 seems to be more reliable, but does not have the same level of functionality as MathPlayer 3.

Take care,
Sean


On Sep 24, 2013, at 9:31 AM, Teresa Haven <Teresa.Haven at asu.edu> wrote:


> I witnessed the same things, Julie, but once we had upgraded to the newer versions we found we couldn't downgrade again, which has left us stuck with no good solutions for our students.  

> 

> Bouncing off this discussion a little, has anyone tried using MathDAISY to produce a math-enabled DTB?  What have been the results?  And what playback equipment (ReadHear, EasyReader) has been tested with the output?  I'm thinking that if some of the problems are stemming from flaws in the more recent versions of MathType, then it won't really matter if the end user is accessing a DTB or a MathPage, the same types of problems will occur.  Any confirmation or evidence of this?

> Thanks,

> Teresa

> 

> Teresa LW Haven, Ph.D.

> Supervisor, Alternative Format Services

> Disability Resource Center

> Arizona State University

> 

> 

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Julie Balassa

> Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 7:21 PM

> To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

> Subject: RE: [Athen] JAWS with IE 9 and MathPlayer

> 

> Sean, I had to downgrade to MathType 6.7 and MathPlayer 2.2. Publishing to a mathpage using MathType 6.8 and 6.9 produced all kinds of missing math, even though it was all there in Word, and the consistent error message that the webpage is not responding and the option to recover the web page, which did nothing. It's true I'm using Word 2007 as it's more compatible with some alt format production processes but I think the issue is really with MathType versions newer than 6.7. I've just been having a discussion with Pearson about a math e-book they say is accessible but Jaws does not read several symbols. They argue that it's because I'm using MathPlayer 2.2 with IE 9 instead of v.3 as v.2 was supposedly made for IE 8 and earlier but I know that's not the issue. I think the issue is that DESSCI produces products they have not really tested with Jaws and to make matters worse, you have to argue with them to prove that the newer products don't work. Once you manage to convince them, they tell you you're the only one who has this issue and promise to send it to their programmers and you never hear another thing. Try creating the documents with MathType 6.7 and reading them with Jaws and Mathplayer 2.2 and I'll be surprised if your issues are not resolved.

> 

> By the way, I'm on leave from Valencia till the end of November and submit these comments as an alt media specialist, not as a rep of Valencia College.

> jkb 

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Sean Keegan

> Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 6:28 PM

> To: Alternate Media; Access Technology Higher Education Network

> Subject: [Athen] JAWS with IE 9 and MathPlayer

> 

> Hello all,

> 

> I am curious if anyone else has been having the following issues with JAWS and Internet Explorer+MathPlayer: When attempting to view an HTML document that contains math on the local computer, JAWS will only read the address bar and any open tabs. Further, when attempting to get into the main browser window, IE throws a notification saying that "The webpage is not responding"  and then provides a button to "Recover webpage."

> 

> Pressing the Recover Webpage button or trying to refresh the document do nothing but reload the webpage. Once this happens, we get a few seconds of functionality before the error notification happens again.

> 

> We are running JAWS 13 and JAWS 14 on two different machines with IE 9 and MathPlayer 3.0. The documents were created in both MathType 6.8 and 6.9 using the Publish to MathPage function. We are using the IE behavior export option.

> 

> Has anyone else encountered these issues with JAWS, IE 9, and MathPlayer?

> 

> Take care,

> Sean_______________________________________________

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