[Athen] MathType Alternative?

[foreigntype at gmail.com]

My apologies to all for the mix up and what turned out to be misleading
information. Thank you to all who have corrected me for our greater
audience and everyone's benefit.

Wink Harner

On Tue, Sep 12, 2023, 6:44 PM Cervone, Gian Carlo (gcervone) <
gcervone at brockport.edu> wrote:


> Hello:

>

> Here is some information from the developer of MathJax:

>

> > Michael Cantino is correct, MathJax does not rely on MathType in any way

> (and never did).  MathJax will insert visually hidden MathML into the page

> where screen readers like NVDA, JAWS, Orca, and VoiceOver can find it and

> use that for voicing the mathematics, if they know how to do so.  Some of

> these tools use MathCAT to do that translation, but that is up to the

> screen reader, and is unrelated to MathJax itself.

> >

> > MathJax can also produce its own translation of the math into a speech

> string and add ARIA attributes that can be read directly by screen readers,

> even those that don't have the ability to understand MathML.  MathJax has

> an equation explorer where users can "set into" an expression and have

> smaller pieces of it read one at a time, so that a user can move around

> within the expression to read it at their own pace and level of

> granularity.  There are several voicing possible (MathSpeak, Clearspeak,

> and ChromeVox), and the speech has been localized into a dozen languages,

> plus Nemeth Braille, which can be sent to a Braille device for interactive

> reading.

> >

> > In versions 2 and 3 of MathJax, the interactive explorer and speech

> generation must be turned on by the reader using the MathJax contextual

> menu (available by right-click or command-click on any typeset expression),

> but in the upcoming version 4 (now out in beta release), the assistive

> tools will be turned on by default (and the old hidden MathML will no

> longer be inserted, though you can turn that back on via the contextual

> menu if you wish, or via the MathJax configuration that is part of the

> page).  The explorer in v4 is an improved version of the original, and

> should interact with screen readers more fluidly (the next beta version

> should include most of these improvements).

> >

> > The original question seemed to be about creating the equations.

> MathJax does not provide an editor for creating mathematical expression (it

> is only for display and voicing), but there are many such editors on line.

> MathJax can accept expressions in any of three different forms:  LaTeX,

> MathML, or AsciiMath.  Many mathematical editors can produce LaTeX or

> MathML formats (e.g., the Word expression editor can output either form, if

> I recall correctly), and you can past these into a web page and MathJax

> will be able to render them.  Nothing special needs to be done to make them

> accessible -- MathJax will take care of that for you.  LaTeX is a

> human-readable form that many mathematicians already know, so you can

> certainly use that without any special mathematical editor, as it is just

> linear text that describes the math layout that MathJax will produce (e.g.,

> $$x = \frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$$ should be easily enough entered into

> the web page by a page author) The AasciiMath format is intended for hand

> authoring as well, so doesn't need a special editor.  MathML is not meant

> for hand editing, but is used as an interchange format, so programs like

> Word, Mathematica, and so on, can generate this format, or accept

> expressions that are in this format.  There are a number of online editors

> that allow you type a document in Markdown syntax with embedded LaTeX or

> AsciiMath, and that show a live preview of what you are typing.  Google can

> help you find these.

>

>

> >> On Sep 11, 2023, at 3:06 PM, Michael Cantino <mcantino at nwresd.k12.or.us>

> wrote:

> >>

> >> Warning: Message from non-Brockport Email Server. Treat message, links,

> and attachments with extra care.

> >>

> >> Hi!

> >> I just wanted to quickly chime in about MathJax and screen reader

> compatibility.

> >>

> >> To my knowledge, MathJax does not require MathPlayer to make math

> content accessible to a screen reader, BUT NVDA does require MathPlayer or

> MathCAT. Basically, NVDA is not able to read math on its own, which is why

> you need an add-on like MathCAT (which is quite good). JAWS will read

> MathJax output without MathCAT/MathPlayer. VoiceOver will also read MathJax

> output, but not as well as JAWS or NVDA w/ MathCAT, at least in my

> experience.

> >>

> >> Michael Cantino (he/him)

> >> BVIS Technology Professional Development Specialist

> >> Northwest Regional Education Service District

> >> (503)614-1339

> >> Check out the BVIS Tech website to find helpful resources!

> >> _______________________________________________

> >> athen-list mailing list

> >> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> >> http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

> Best,

>

> -= G =-

>

> Gian Carlo Cervone

> Web Manager

> SUNY Brockport

> gcervone at brockport.edu • 585-395-5073

>

>

>

>

> > On Sep 11, 2023, at 3:06 PM, Michael Cantino <mcantino at nwresd.k12.or.us>

> wrote:

> >

> > Warning: Message from non-Brockport Email Server. Treat message, links,

> and attachments with extra care.

> >

> > Hi!

> > I just wanted to quickly chime in about MathJax and screen reader

> compatibility.

> >

> > To my knowledge, MathJax does not require MathPlayer to make math

> content accessible to a screen reader, BUT NVDA does require MathPlayer or

> MathCAT. Basically, NVDA is not able to read math on its own, which is why

> you need an add-on like MathCAT (which is quite good). JAWS will read

> MathJax output without MathCAT/MathPlayer. VoiceOver will also read MathJax

> output, but not as well as JAWS or NVDA w/ MathCAT, at least in my

> experience.

> >

> > Michael Cantino (he/him)

> > BVIS Technology Professional Development Specialist

> > Northwest Regional Education Service District

> > (503)614-1339

> > Check out the BVIS Tech website to find helpful resources!

> > _______________________________________________

> > athen-list mailing list

> > athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> > http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

> athen-list at mailman12.u.washington.edu

> http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list

>

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