Accessible inline math

Context

Content producers, such as scholastic textbook publishers, frequently encounter scenarios where mathematical elements need to be seamlessly integrated within paragraphs of text alongside block formulas. In these cases, utilizing MathML for inline formulas can be a time-consuming process and may introduce formatting challenges, such as inconsistent line heights compared to the rest of the paragraph text.

Challenge

Content producers often resort to writing inline formulas as simple UTF-8 text with graphical formatting, typically in an italicized style. However, a significant issue arises because conventional assistive technologies typically do not interpret mathematical symbols (e.g., +, -, ⋅, etc.). As a result, users relying on assistive technologies are deprived of a complete understanding of the content.

Possible solution

By implementing the ARIA math role to tag content with mathematical symbols, we aspire to create a mutually beneficial scenario. Content producers can continue to compose inline formulas as plain text, incorporating the appropriate ARIA math role tagging. Meanwhile, users utilizing assistive technologies will gain the ability to fully engage with and comprehend the content, as these technologies will correctly interpret and convey all mathematical symbols.

Testing with screen readers

From the first tests we ran with the screenreaders, the results are varied. Some ignore content that has ARIA math role attribute altogether (NVDA + Chrome, VoiceOver + Chrome), some read it as plain text ignoring many characters (VoiceOver + Safari), some read it correctly (JAWS + Firefox). The support is therefore very partial.