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Hi All, The issue here is browser support. MSIE up to version 9 supported Mathplayer, which displays MathML and works with Read & Write, Jaws and many other AT products. The most recent version of MSIE has broken this, so a new solution needs to be developed. Design Science, Texthelp and MathJAX are partnering on a solution currently that will work on Windows, Mac & Chromebooks. It should support MSIE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari on the relevant Operating Systems. It should also work on IPad and Android devices. It is a number of months away. Anyone who is interested in giving Beta feedback could contact me directly. In the USA the provision of math as MathML has been standardised and is a requirement in online assessment. MathML is called for in their APIP standard for assessment, and is recommended in their NIMAS ebook format. Hopefully the UK can get some of these standards in place across Education Publishers and Assessment companies so that students can get access to consistently accessible STEM content and assessment. Best Wishes, Martin On 14 March 2014 11:28, Michael Parry <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > that looks promising, but it won't install on my 32 bit win 7 machine, > unfortunately.. > > NB - many thanks to all who have contributed to this query, on and off > list, it's a really interesting area, and I've learned lots. > > From a DSA study needs assessment perspective, it seems that there may not > be a universal and straightforward technical solution at the moment, which > is useful to know. > > Mike P > > > > On 13 March 2014 10:07, Abi James <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> There is one other tool available at the moment that may be worth looking >> at - Central Access Reader http://www.cwu.edu/central-access/reader. It >> can read Word documents with equations created using the Word equation >> editor of MathType. >> >> >> >> Regards >> >> >> >> Abi >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* A discussion list for Assistive Technology professionals. >> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Michael Parry >> *Sent:* 13 March 2014 09:49 >> *To:* [log in to unmask] >> *Subject:* Re: text to speech for mathematical formulae >> >> >> >> Hmmm.. I tried reading these examples of maths rendered in a web font at >> http://www.mathjax.org/demos/mathml-samples/ (in MathML mode) first in >> IE9 with R&W vs11 (on Win7) and then with Chrome/Vox...as per Abi's >> suggestions, >> >> >> >> Given it's all quite hard to do : ) it's more than possible I didn't >> properly configured some aspect of the process, but anyway.. >> >> >> >> R&W failed to read some symbols (eg Nabla - the inverted triangle), but >> it would read out a complete string of symbols and numbers, which was good. >> >> >> >> Chrome Vox, on the other hand, was able to read out the names of the >> symbols if you clicked on them, but you couldn't read out a whole formula. >> If you tried to drag a box over the formula, it would begin to read out >> some hidden layout info.. >> >> >> >> Then I temporarily got excited about Microsoft Equation Editor 3.0 in MS >> Word, but that turned out to be a false dawn. >> >> >> >> #procrastination >> >> #backtowork >> >> >> >> On 12 March 2014 21:20, Michael Parry <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> Whoops - well, that explains why I got no joy from MathJax. (I just >> googled 'text to speech for mathematical formulae' and it came up..) >> >> >> >> Abi, I've just had a look at your link, and your project sounds very >> interesting. I take it the TTS tool is not ready to download yet? >> >> >> >> To answer your question - I recently saw a dyslexic electronic and >> electrical engineering undergrad. He's struggling to keep up with the >> course reading requirement. We looked at TTS in a general sense, and he >> thought it would help. But, he said, most of the reading has a lot of maths >> in it. He mentioned as an example, 'the formula for capacitive reactance', >> which we duly googled, and then tried ClaroRead on it, just to see what >> happened. It wasn't pretty. >> >> >> >> Suffice it to say, it struck me as a hard thing for TTS to do well. And, >> I guess for it to be genuinely useful for someone struggling to absorb this >> kind of information, it would have to be done very well, or it could end up >> being counter-productive. >> >> >> >> I gather the main types of maths associated with his discipline are trig, >> calculus and something called 'matrix algebra'.. There are obviously a lot >> of mathematical symbols, and not all of them presented in a linear way, >> possibly.. but I'm totally out of my comfort zone now. .. >> >> >> >> Most of the course materials are in the form of textbooks, or powerpoint >> slides. Although I presume all of the general formulae are available in a >> variety of formats, including via a browser. >> >> >> >> This student is keen to get support in place as soon as possible, with >> his rapidly approaching exams, but it's possible he could be interested in >> trialling your project, especially if there's nothing else out there that >> does this at the moment. >> >> >> >> Mike P >> >> >> >> On 12 March 2014 15:43, Abi James <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> Mathjax is a JavaScript rendering engines for MathML, LaTeX and other >> maths mark-up. It is usually embedded in web pages e.g. >> http://www.ianholden.com/how-to/how-to-use-mathjax/ and started to be >> embedded within ebooks to render the formulae. >> >> >> >> This doesn't provide speech support per se and currently the only tools >> to get speech from MathML/MathJax web pages are to use IE9 or earlier with >> Mathplayer or ChromeVox. IE9/Mathplayer will work with TTS programs like >> Read & Write Gold (but not on Win 8) while ChromeVox has speech and >> highlighting built-in. >> >> >> >> At Southampton we just started a project to build a concept maths TTS >> tool (www.stemreader.org.uk) so I would be interested to hear about what >> you are trying to achieve. We will be looking for students and individuals >> to trial the tool in the coming months. >> >> >> >> Best wishes >> >> >> >> Abi >> >> >> >> >> >> ====================================== >> >> Dr Abi James >> >> Assistive Technology Consultant & Researcher >> >> BDA NTC Chair (bdatech.org) >> >> Visiting Research Fellow, University of Southampton >> >> Email: [log in to unmask] >> >> Tel: 0161 818 2710 / 07941 465985 >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* A discussion list for Assistive Technology professionals. >> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf Of *Tim Symons >> *Sent:* 12 March 2014 14:56 >> *To:* [log in to unmask] >> *Subject:* Re: text to speech for mathematical formulae >> >> >> >> Interesting. >> >> >> >> I was aware that MathML and TeX integration with popular TTS AT was in >> development, but wasn't aware it was functional yet. >> >> >> >> I too am curious about this, if anyone has any further info. >> >> >> >> Thanks >> >> Tim >> >> >> >> *From:* A discussion list for Assistive Technology professionals. [ >> mailto:[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf >> Of *Michael Parry >> *Sent:* 12 March 2014 14:37 >> *To:* [log in to unmask] >> *Subject:* text to speech for mathematical formulae >> >> >> >> suggestions needed.. >> >> >> >> I tried MathJax but didn't manage to install it on this win7 32 bit >> machine... a run time error of some sort. >> >> >> >> >> thanks in advance >> >> Mike Parry >> Study Needs Assessor >> >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 2014.0.4336 / Virus Database: 3722/7183 - Release Date: 03/12/14 >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Regards >> >> Mike Parry >> Study Needs Assessor >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Regards >> >> Mike Parry >> Study Needs Assessor >> >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 2014.0.4336 / Virus Database: 3722/7188 - Release Date: 03/13/14 >> > > > > -- > Regards > > Mike Parry > Study Needs Assessor > -- -- Texthelp Ltd is a limited company registered in Belfast, N. Ireland with registration number NI31186 having its registered office and principal place of business at Lucas Exchange, 1 Orchard Way, Antrim, N. Ireland, BT41 2RU.