CD-ROM Access
MathView Access Summary

Table of Contents
Product description
Screen magnification
Screen reader access
Recommendations for improvement
Details by assistive technology

Product description

MathView is software for interactive exploration of math expressions and graphs. It can be used for algebra, trigonometry, and calculus. It includes a built-in outliner for organizing documents and produces typeset math for high quality printouts. It can be used to solve systems of equations and do cubic interpolation, and has a numeric ordinary differential equation solver and fast fourier transform.

Publisher: Waterloo Maple
Platform (Windows, Macintosh, Multi): Multi
Copyright: 1997
Grade level: Post-secondary
Subject: Math
Intended use (reference, interaction, tool): Tool

Screen magnification

MathView's performance with magnification is reasonably good on both Macintosh and Windows. Both platforms benefit from standard menus. The Windows program uses standard Windows Help, which works well. The Macintosh software uses standard Balloon Help, which is difficult for magnifier users to read. On-screen text, tables, and graphs magnified clearly. Text quality on the Mac is somewhat worse than in Windows.

The Math Palette, which is made up of graphic buttons used to enter math symbols, has poor quality graphics and enlarges badly on both platforms. Additionally, although equations and symbols can be entered from the keyboard, magnification software cannot track the I-beam as text is entered, making this process more difficult. Documentation of keyboard commands and shortcuts is very helpful but does not include all keys.

Screen reader access

Use of MathView with a screen reader is not possible because the math equations are not read properly. Entering equations from the keyboard is possible, but reading and editing the results is not. Graphs and tables are similarly difficult to use. A solution to this will require the creation of standards for math, table, and graph presentation which allow screen readers to access the underlying data and present it in an effective way.

Animations and their controls need to be better exposed as objects to allow screen reader access. MSAA is one way to do this. Also, the written content included with the product is difficult to use because the buttons needed to manipulate the outline format are inaccessible and no keyboard commands are available.

Recommendations for improvement

Math formulas: Implement a standard for math formulas which allows them to be read by screen readers. Provide adequate output to allow feedback for editing.

Graphing and tables: Implement a standard for graphing and presenting tables that allows use by screen reader users.

Dialog boxes: Implement more standard Windows dialog boxes with clear identification of prompts and controls. MSAA is one way to achieve this.

Animations: Expose the inputs, controls, and outputs of animations, using MSAA or another method, to allow use by screen reader users.

Keyboard interface: Provide a keyboard interface to the content included with the program to allow it to be manipulated by screen reader users.

Keyboard interface documentation: Be sure that documentation of keyboard commands includes all commands, and include it in on-line help for easy reference.

Macintosh help: Implement improved help for Macintosh. Balloon Help is difficult for magnifier users to read and impossible for screen reader users.

Palettes: Improve quality of graphics on the Math Palette or offer a text-based version, perhaps in a menu.

Text quality: Improve text quality for Macintosh to match that in Windows.

Focus tracking: Improve tracking of focus and I-beam.

Details by assistive technology

Click the links below for details on how a specific piece of access technology performed with MathView.
LPWindows version 6.1
inLARGE version 2.1
JAWS for Windows95 version 2.0
ScreenPower for Windows version 3.0 revision C
outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5

LPWindows version 6.1

• MathView works reasonably well under screen magnification. Its strength is its adherence to Windows design conventions. It has a standard menu design with key equivalents for all menu functions and a standard Windows Help system.
• Tables and graphs are clear when magnified.
• All text is good.
• It is possible to enter equations from the keyboard, but LPW cannot track the I-beam, making entering equations awkward.
• A list of keyboard functions is included but does not include all keys, such as the caret (^) used to enter superscripts.
• The Math Palette from which one can select functions and variables is difficult to use under magnification. The graphical images are very broken in appearance.

inLARGE version 2.1

• MathView works satisfactorily well under screen magnification. Its strength is its conventional Mac interface design.
• It is possible to enter equations from the keyboard but inLARGE cannot track the cursor making entering equations awkward.
• The graphical images in the Math Palette are very broken in appearance when magnified which makes it difficult to select functions and variables under magnification.
• Tables and graphs are clear when magnified.
• Text quality is acceptable but not great. It does not stand up well under higher levels of magnification.
• Uses Balloon Help which is difficult for magnifier users to read.
• Keyboard commands are documented in the manual but not within the program.

JAWS for Windows95 version 2.0

• Because formulas cannot be read properly, entering, editing, and reading output are all inconsistent and therefore impossible. Some characters, including parentheses and the variable 'x' are not read. Superscripts are sometimes read out of order and sometimes read in order but without indication of status.
• Navigation is inconsistent using the JAWS and PC cursors. Navigating through the content provided with the program, which is arranged as an outline, is difficult because it lacks keyboard commands.
• Graphs cannot be located at all, and no text from them is read.
• The Table tool dialog can be read by the screen reader using JAWS and PC cursors, however using the JAWS macro to read the entire dialog causes a system crash. Using the JAWS or PC cursors to read the dialog manually, it is difficult to understand the relationships between controls and prompts.

ScreenPower for Windows version 3.0 revision C

• Although a visually impaired individual using ScreenPower can identify and interact with some screen elements, this application is inaccessible.
• When information or equations are entered, there is no feedback and the entered characters cannot be identified by the screen reader.
• The MathView palette provides a toolbar of relevant operators, but the tool bar buttons cannot be located or consistently labeled by ScreenPower.
• The standard menu and the keyboard shortcuts listed there allow most commands to be executed, but the screens resulting from those commands are generally inaccessible.
• Large sections of this application are also inaccessible because of their reliance on charts, graphs, and other visual devices which cannot be interpreted by the screen reader and are not described in text.

outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5

• Because formulas cannot be read properly, entering, editing, and reading output are all inconsistent and therefore impossible. Parentheses are not read, and superscripts are sometimes read as part of the line with their change in font size noted, and other times read out of order.
• Graphs could not be translated into speech. Only the axis labels could be read. Buttons used to manipulate the graphs were not exposed to outSPOKEN.
• Animations can be located and activated but they provide no accessible output. Also, once the animation begins the object is no longer located by outSPOKEN so it cannot be clicked to halt the animation.
• Help is available only through Balloon Help, which is inaccessible to outSPOKEN.

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