Solutions for the Accessibility Community

At Design Science, we believe math can and should be made accessible. The unfortunate reality, however, is that virtually all math in educational content and assessments is not accessible to many students with disabilities. We believe this is a problem that needs fixing and that it can be fixed. We are committed to working with the accessibility community to make math fully accessible in the next few years.

Why is math accessibility important?

The current state of math skills of the nation's 6.5 million students with disabilities has become a critical issue for America's public schools. Learn about the extent of this problem, and why math accessibility is important to solving it.

What is math accessibility?

The concept of accessibility to mathematical information for people with disabilities may be new to some. Learn about the basic concepts of math accessibility, and how it strives to make mainstream educational content universally designed to meet the needs of all students.

What are the technology issues involved in making math accessible?

Although making mathematics accessible may be more difficult than making plain text accessible, many of the issues underlying accessible math can be solved through using MathML technologies. Learn how MathML is an important technology in math accessibility.

How is Design Science making math more accessible?

Design Science is involved in a number of activities in this area: the World Wide Web Consortium, the DAISY Consortium and the NIMAS Development Committee, and our research and development activities supported by funding from the National Science Foundation.

How can Design Science products make math accessible?

Design Science has developed a number of products that can help make math accessible. Learn how to create universally designed accessible math content, how to allow people with disabilities to read and write math, product features that allow better access and usability, and access to product VPATs outlining product compliance with Federal Section 508 Accessibility Standards.

Which Assistive Technology Products Have Math Support?

There are a growing number of assistive technology applications that support accessible math. Find out about AT products that can help you access math.

What are the public policy issues involved in making math accessible?

Education policy needs to be developed which provides for full support of accessible math instruction and assessment. Learn about the need for math accessibility requirements in textbook adoption, assessment administration and software selection policy, and some of the legal mandates applicable to math accessibility policy.

Expanding Audio Access to Mathematics Expressions by Students with Visual Impairments via MathML

Design Science has partnered with ETS on a three year Institute of Education Sciences development grant to significantly improve accessibility of mathematical content in the classroom. The three main areas of focus are improved speech, the ability to navigate larger math equations, and to allow math to be read in Word documents. To learn more about these efforts and the progress we've made, see the grant status pages.

What can you do to help promote math accessibility?

Whether you are a classroom teacher, a school district or state education administrator, a publisher, an assistive technology vendor, a parent, or a person with disability, there are things you can do to help make math accessible. Learn how you can get involved in making sure that math accessibility solutions are available to everyone.

What is the latest news in math accessibility?

Here you will find announcements and news items that should be of interest to the math accessibility community.

What additional resources exist to find currently available accessible math technologies?

We have compiled a few of the most comprehensive resources for those who would like to explore additional information. Learn about other sources of information on the web about accessible math technologies and techniques.