[Athen] [EXTERNAL] Re: Math Accessibility for Canvas

[Heather Mariger]

This is really helpful regarding Canvas and LaTex - I do have one question:

If you enter LaTex formulas using the Canvas Rich Content Editor, what
format does the screen reader output? Does the student need to know LaTex
or does the MathJax convert it to a different format?

I hope this makes sense - I am still trying to wrap my head around
accessible formulas...

Thanks,
H.

*Heather Mariger*
*Digital Accessibility Advocate*

*Pronouns: She/Her*

*Center for Academic Innovation*
*Chemeketa Community College*
*4000 Lancaster Drive NE - 9/126A*
*Salem, OR 97305*

503.589.7832

*****************
*Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to
dance. *
Verna Myers, author and speaker

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#chemeketacares.]




On Fri, Oct 22, 2021 at 3:01 PM Sean J Keegan <skeegan at stanford.edu> wrote:


> Hi Allison,

>

> Responding to your questions below -

>

> > What is the status of screen reader compatibility with LaTex, MathML,

> MathJax, etc?

>

> This is a rather broad question. In terms of LaTeX compatibility, LaTeX is

> presented as text in a LaTeX editor/interface and can be read with a

> screen-reader, if the editor interface is accessible. Some LaTeX editors

> are more accessible than others, but the actual LaTeX is just text. If the

> person is knowledgeable in the syntax, then it can be rather easy to read

> and understand with a screen-reader.

>

> I recall TeXnicCenter is a somewhat accessible LaTeX editor for Windows.

> Another possible editor that I heard of is the SZS Editor (but I have not

> tested it) - https://services.szs.kit.edu/szslatex/?page=download

>

> In terms of screen-reader compatibility with MathJax - Most browsers do

> not support MathML natively, which means you need something that will help

> with the rendering of that content in a browser. Without going into all the

> gory details, MathJax helps with the rendering of that math information

> (e.g., LaTeX code, MathML, or ASCII math) across different browsers.

> Screen-readers, such as JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver, can parse the generated

> markup content behind the visual rendering so the math looks good and is

> functional with assistive technology.

>

>

> > Should we be recommending browser / screen reader combinations that work

> better for math?

>

> For math expressions presented using MathJax on a static web page, we

> found the following screen-reader+browser combinations that work include:

> - JAWS+Chrome (and Edge)

> - JAWS and NVDA with Firefox

> - VoiceOver+Safari

>

> Note - we did not test all potential screen-reader and browsers

> combinations or all potential math symbols. Your mileage may vary.

>

> Second Note - we have also found good support for KaTeX (see

> https://katex.org/) as it also has MathML behind the scenes for

> screen-readers. At least one vendor we have engaged with is using KaTeX

> instead of MathJax and the screen-reader experience was similar.

>

>

> Regarding Canvas quizzes - one of our accessibility engineers, Clare

> O'Keeffe, did testing and found that NVDA+Firefox was the optimal

> combination in Canvas quizzes. Because there is an interactive component

> with the math and form input field, the screen-reader+browser combination

> is more specific.

>

> For example, for radio buttons:

>

> In browse mode, arrowing down, the radio button announces as "clickable

> radio button not checked" - no label text. You can then arrow down and hit

> the adjacent math, which announces as expected with "clickable" and the

> correct equation. You can hit enter on the math and step through it without

> inadvertently checking the radio button.

>

> When tabbing to the radio button you hear "radio button not checked 1 of

> 4" and arrowing through them works as expected to select one - auto focus

> mode works as expected. Each radio button announces with no label text. If

> you exit focus mode when on a radio button you can then arrow to the

> adjacent math, hit enter on it, and step through it.

>

>

> And for checkboxes:

>

> In browse mode, arrowing down, the checkbox announces as "clickable

> checkbox not checked" - no label text. You can then arrow down and hit the

> combined text of the non-math string and the math, which announces as

> expected with "clickable" and the correct equation. You can't down-arrow

> directly to the math, but can navigate by word (CTRL + right arrow) until

> you get to the math and then you can hit enter on the math and step through

> it without inadvertently checking the checkbox.

>

> When tabbing to the checkboxes, you hear a label from the combined

> non-math string and the hidden LaTeX string, so for the second checkbox you

> hear "clickable it can be represented as latex: ax 2 plus b x plus c equals

> zero checkbox not checked". You can tab to the math separately, hear it

> correctly announced, hit enter on it, and interact with it. Or you can

> browse by word to it.

>

>

> > Also, regarding the PDFs, will MathML generated by MathType

> > still be accessible once converted to PDF?

>

> Short answer is no. I realize that math support for PDFs is coming at some

> point, but I have not seen that support available today and do not expect

> it anytime soon.

>

> If the instructor is writing everything in LaTeX, then I would suggest the

> better direction is to provide options - rather than trying to make the PDF

> with math accessible, which will be difficult, then consider offering a PDF

> and HTML version of the file.

>

> The HTML version could be produced from LaTeX using something like Pandoc (

> https://medium.com/@hjhuney/how-to-convert-latex-into-html-a4334ffda3f4)

> or TeX4ht (https://tug.org/tex4ht/). ePub might be another option to

> consider.

>

> Also, if you are working in Canvas, then the instructor could copy/paste

> the LaTeX equation into the Canvas rich content editor to result in an

> accessible math equation in the Canvas page. Unless something has changed,

> that is how I created several math problems using LaTeX as the input along

> with the math editor in the Canvas rich content editor.

>

>

> Take care,

> Sean

>

>

> Sean Keegan

>

> Director, Office of Digital Accessibility

>

> Stanford | University IT

>

> 530-564–2385

>

>

>

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