Guide
Accessibility of common math worksheet formats
Are your math worksheets accessible? Why are some file formats better than others to access math content with a screen reader?
The math teacher shares digital worksheets with your student, who accesses each worksheet using a screen reader. Simple, right? Not always. Sometimes the screen reader announces the equations correctly, and sometimes it doesn’t.
It’s easy to create accessible text in digital formats, so why are math equations so challenging?
Creating accessible math equations is difficult because mathematical content is far more complex than standard text. While text follows a simple linear structure that screen readers can easily process, math involves intricate spatial and symbolic relationships that require specialized formatting. Here’s why math equations present unique challenges:
- Non-linear structure: Math expressions include fractions, exponents, roots and matrices—structures that rely on spatial relationships. Representing these in a linear format for screen readers is difficult.
- Special symbols and notations: Math uses unique symbols (e.g., ∑, ∫, √) and operations not found in standard text. These symbols require precise encoding for accurate interpretation by screen readers.
- Inconsistent standards: Formats like MathML and LaTeX make math content accessible, but they aren’t universally supported across platforms and tools. Many creators still use inaccessible formats like images or plain text.
- Graphical representations: Math equations are often shared as images or scanned PDFs, which screen readers cannot interpret without proper alt text or OCR.
- Lack of awareness: Educators and content creators often don’t know about the tools and standards for creating accessible math. As a result, they default to inaccessible methods.
The format used for math equations is critical to ensuring screen readers can interpret and announce them correctly. Educators commonly share math worksheets as PDFs, Google Docs or Word documents, but these formats can vary greatly in accessibility. PDFs are not fully accessible and math equations in Google Docs remain largely inaccessible to screen readers due to limitations in how Google Docs processes mathematical content.
To demonstrate, let’s examine one math worksheet shared in four formats: scanned, scanned with OCR, PDF, and the original Word document. In the video below, Sara Larkin highlights the challenges JAWS faces when reading math equations in each format.
Video: Demo of screen reader interaction
How compatible are these formats?
- Scanned: A scanned document is an image and not accessible with a screen reader
- Scanned filed, then ran through OCR:
- Text was announced correctlyDivision symbol was announced as “plus”
(ten to the fifth) was announced as “105”Times symbol was announced as the letter “x”
- Fractions were announced as “tilda”
- Text was announced correctlyDivision symbol was announced as “plus”
- PDF:
- Times symbol was announced as the letter “x”Division symbol was recognized
- Fraction five twelves was announced as 512
- Original Word document:
- Read everything correctly except the question mark within the equation was not announced
- However, if on the math equation with the question mark, use arrow keys to navigate thru the math content and the question mark is announced
- Read everything correctly except the question mark within the equation was not announced
The equations in the original Word document were created with the Equation Editor which is built into Microsoft Word.
Resource
Self-advocacy
Educators need to understand the importance of using the right format for math worksheets, but it’s equally important for students to recognize and explain how different formats impact accessibility.
Using a worksheet created by the student’s math teacher, engage your student in the following activity:
- Convert the worksheet to multiple formats: (e.g., scanned image, OCR-processed file, PDF, and Word document).
- Test accessibility: Have the student use JAWS to read the math content in each format.
- Demonstrate and explain: Ask the student to observe and explain to the general education math teacher how JAWS announces the math equations differently in each format.
This activity helps students develop critical awareness of accessible formats, empowering them to advocate for materials that support their learning needs.
By Diane Brauner
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