MathPlayer User Manual

This manual is intended for Internet Explorer users viewing web pages containing math displayed by MathPlayer. It describes MathPlayers features and how to use them to enhance your browsing experience. If you are interested in finding out how to create your own math web pages, see Authoring for MathPlayer and MathML.

What does MathPlayer do?
What is MathML?
Installing and Uninstalling MathPlayer
MathPlayer's right-click menu
Accessibility and Screen Readers

What does MathPlayer do?

MathPlayer enhances Internet Explorer to display mathematical notation. Just as HTML is the computer language in which web pages are written, the math in a web page is written in the MathML language. When you browse to a web page containing MathML, Internet Explorer gives it to MathPlayer to display as standard math notation such as you would find in a textbook.

What is MathML?

MathML is a new way of encoding mathematics using XML developed under that auspices of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), the group that sets the basic standards that define the Web. A growing number of software packages including browsers, editors, computer algebra programs and publishing software use MathML to communicate. Unlike other ways of putting math in a web page, such as images and PDFs, MathML provides ways to directly encode various interactivity properties of an equation, which makes it an ideal choice for dynamic math on the web. Design Science has played a leading role in developing this important new technology. Consult About MathML for more information and related resources.

Installing and Uninstalling MathPlayer

MathPlayer is available as a free download from our website. more> If you want to uninstall MathPlayer, use the Add/Remove Programs section of the Windows Control Panel.

MathPlayer's right-click menu

Almost all of MathPlayer's special features are accessed by placing the mouse pointer over an equation and clicking the right mouse button. This brings up MathPlayer's menu. Most of the commands operate on the clicked-on equation. In addition, there are commands to find out MathPlayer's version and to visit the MathPlayer web site.

Copying equations into other programs

The Copy MathML command puts the MathML description of the equation on the clipboard. The MathML text can be pasted into a text editor (eg, Notepad), an HTML editor (eg, Dreamweaver, FrontPage), or computer algebra system (eg, Maple, Mathematica). If your favorite calculation or mathematical program doesn't accept MathML, contact the publisher of that software package and request that MathML support be added.

Opening an equation in MathType or WebEQ

The Open with MathType command on the Commands sub-menu will open the equation in a new MathType window. The command will be grayed out if MathType is not installed on your computer or if the equation does not contain MathType information. The Open with WebEQ command will open the equation in a new WebEQ window. The command will be grayed out if WebEQ is not installed on your computer.

MathZoom/Unzoom

Choose the MathZoom™ command to get a closer look at the equation. This can be handy to view small scripts and accents. To bring the equation back down to normal size, choose Unzoom (the MathZoom command changes to Unzoom on a zoomed equation). A single mouse click in an equation will toggle the zoomed state. Clicking in a zoomed equation while holding the Shift key down will unzoom all equations in the page. Warning: If the equation contains interactive parts that respond to mouse clicks, zoom/unzoom can only be performed using the menu commands.

Speak Expression

The Speak Expression command causes the equation to be spoken through your computer's sound system using Design Science's math-to-speech algorithms. This requires that you have a MathPlayer-compatible text-to-speech engine installed on your computer. more>

Accessibility and Screen Readers

Visually impaired users of Internet Explorer use screen reader software packages that speak the words on the page. Many of the most popular Windows screen readers, such as Window-Eyes, JAWS, HAL, Supernova, Serotek System Access, MAGic, Read & Write, and BrowseAloud, will work with MathPlayer to speak the math in the page along with the words. more>

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