Accessible Math and Equations

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Video Transcript


ACCESSIBLE MATH AND EQUATIONS IN CANVAS

Ball State's Canvas includes two options for creating accessible math and equations: EquatIO and the built-in Canvas equation editor . Both EquatIO and the Canvas equation editor can create accessible equations, but we recommend EquatIO as the easier and more fully featured of the two.

Creating an equation with EquatIO will create a fully scalable image of the equation that automatically includes appropriate alt text.

For example, consider:

x plus 1 equals y

This equation is a fully scalable image (meaning you can resize it), and it includes the alt text "x plus 1 equals y." For screen reader users, this provides an easy-to-understand representation of the equation.

In particular, EquatIO is much better than the Canvas equation editor at providing human-readable representations of complex expressions. Consider this nonsense expression:

mu lamda the fraction with numerator a. to the m-th power to the n-th power equals a. raised to the open paren m n close paren power and denominator 53 x

The alt text here is quite easy to understand: "mu lamda the fraction with numerator a. to the m-th power to the n-th power equals a. raised to the open paren m n close paren power and denominator 53 x."

Important Note

To make an equation accessible, you must use either EquatIO or the Canvas equation editor. Simply typing the equation into the editor without selecting one of these options will not create an accessible equation.

HOW TO BUILD AN EQUATION IN EQUATIO

To open the EquatIO editor, select the EquatIO icon in the Rich Content Editor . This will pull up a box where you can insert your equation.

Type out what you want for the equation. For special characters or common expressions, a dialog will open where you can select what to insert. For example, typing "sig" will pull up the options for sigma.

Dialog box indicating sigma (lowercase) and sigma (cap)

Along the bottom of the editor, you can toggle between the default editor and other options, including:

  • LaTeX Editor
  • Graph Editor
  • Handwriting Recognition
  • Speech Input

The EquatIO editor also comes with a variety of added features, including:

  • Change text color, bold, italics, and strikethrough for emphasis
  • Layout options, such as for matrices
  • Symbol selection (if you can't find what you want through the automatic dialog boxes)
  • Access hundreds of common formulas
  • Save an equation to your favorites for quick and easy access

Quick Recap

Use the EquatIO editor to write accessible equations in Canvas.

Further Reading