Where to Start with Math
The Priority Tasks below are based on the emerging and developing steps of the Electronic Accessibility Rubric. Completing the Priority Tasks will help you meet the universal design goal for STEM content involving math and other symbols. Using the rubric helps to prioritize the easiest steps with the goal of moving towards the advanced tasks.
The Advanced Tasks are necessary to make a document fully accessible.
Note: this page outlines the general recommendations on processes that make math accessible, but does not include step-by-step tutorials.
Priority Tasks
Alt Text for Images of Equations
If your equations are images, the first step is to add alternative text. This is a temporary measure until you can transition images into MathML.
Convert LaTeX to MathML or MathJax
Use Authoring Software
Use Canvas Equation Editor
The Canvas equation editor outputs MathML. Use the native equation editor instead of images or copying in your own code.
Advanced Tasks
Make Documents Available in HTML
It’s not possible to make equations accessible in PDF documents. However, MathML is natively compatible with HTML5. Consider making HTML your final output instead of PDF (or as an additional alternative).
Convert Images to MathML
If you don’t need to convert a lot of images at once, you can use a snapshot tool to capture one equation at a time.
If you have a lot of content with images, you may not want to have to author it all from scratch.
- InftyReader converts images of equations to code – it’s text recognition software for math. You still need to check the resulting output for accuracy using software such as MathType, but this is a good tool for bulk conversions.
Edit Results in MathML Equation Editor
Once you have the math recognized in a document using InftyReader, you need to edit the results using MathType.
The following video shows the process of using both InftyReader and MathType to convert images of math to MathML.