Accessible Math

Accessible math content ensures that all students — including those using screen readers, assistive technologies, or alternative formats — can fully engage with course material. This guide covers three practical tools for creating and sharing accessible mathematical content: Blackboard, Overleaf, and Mathpix.

Blackboard: Accessible Math in Your Course

Blackboard Ultra offers several pathways for presenting mathematical content. Choosing the right method depends on your comfort level with markup languages and the complexity of the expressions you need to display.

Using the Built-In Math Editor

Blackboard’s Rich Text Editor includes a built-in Math Editor tool that allows instructors to construct equations using a graphical point-and-click interface. This is the most accessible option for instructors who prefer not to write code.

How it works:
  1. Open a content area in Blackboard Ultra and begin editing with the Rich Text Editor.
  2. Select the Math Editor tool from the rich text editor (+) menu.
  3. Build your equation using the visual editor’s symbol palette and templates.
  4. Click OK to insert the expression.
Why it’s accessible:

WIRIS/MathType outputs MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) behind the scenes. MathML is the web standard for math content and is natively read by screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA when supported by the browser. Students using assistive technology hear the equation described in natural language rather than raw symbol strings.

Best practices:
  • Use the math editor rather than inserting equations as images. Images of equations are inaccessible unless accompanied by a thorough alt-text description.
  • If you do use an image of an equation, write a complete alt-text description of the full expression (e.g., alt=”the quadratic formula: x equals negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac, all divided by 2a”).

Adding LaTeX in the Rich Text Editor

If you are comfortable writing LaTeX, Blackboard Ultra supports inline LaTeX entry through the math editor. This is faster for complex expressions and produces the same accessible MathML output.

How it works:
  1. Open a Blackboard document and access the rich text editor.
  2. Type or paste your LaTeX expression (e.g., \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 – 4ac}}{2a}) directly in the rich text editor.
Tips for accessible LaTeX in Blackboard:
  • Use standard LaTeX commands. Non-standard or custom macros may not render or convert to MathML correctly.
  • Avoid using LaTeX-formatted text outside of the math editor (e.g., typing $x^2$ directly into a text field). Without the math editor processing it, this outputs as plain, unrendered text.
  • LaTex that breaks across multiple lines is not supported in Blackboard.

For advanced users, Blackboard Ultra allows you to embed HTML directly in Ultra Documents. This approach gives you the most control over how math is rendered and is particularly useful when you want to use MathJax — a widely used JavaScript library for rendering LaTeX and MathML in web browsers.

How it works:
  1. In Blackboard Ultra Documents, select the HTML content block option.
  2. Paste your HTML using MathJax script in the HTML content block.
Important considerations:
  • Embedding HTML requires familiarity with HTML syntax. Errors can break the display of your content.
  • Even when using MathJax, the underlying LaTeX or MathML output is accessible to screen readers that support MathJax’s accessibility extensions.

Overleaf: Writing Accessible LaTeX and Producing Accessible PDFs

By default, PDFs compiled from LaTeX lack the structural tags (headings, reading order, alt-text for figures) that assistive technologies rely on. A screen reader encountering an untagged PDF may read content out of order or skip equations entirely. Producing an accessible PDF from LaTeX requires intentional choices about packages and compilation settings.

Overleaf is a cloud-based LaTeX editor widely used in STEM fields for creating research papers, problem sets, and course notes. With the right setup, documents authored in Overleaf can be output as tagged, accessible PDFs.

Outputting to an Accessible PDF from Overleaf

  1. Write your document using the packages and practices described above.
  2. Set the compiler to LuaLaTeX in Overleaf’s settings.
  3. Follow Overleaf’s accessibility formatting recommendations.
  4. Compile and download the PDF.
  5. Run the PDF through an accessibility checker such as Adobe Acrobat’s Accessibility Checker or Blackboard Ally tool to verify tagging, reading order, and alt-text.

Update existing .tex files manually or by using an AI prompt to apply the formatting style recommended by Overleaf.

  • To use an AI tool external to Overleaf, consider providing the AI tool the following:
    • A reference .tex file that uses the desired Overleaf format
    • The Overleaf accessible PDF formatting guide
    • The .tex file that you would like to update
  • In Overleaf
    • Add the revised .tex file
    • Compile in Overleaf
    • Compiler: LuaLaTeX (required for MathML support)
    • TeX Live: 2025 or later
  • Run the PDF through an accessibility checker such as Adobe Acrobat’s Accessibility Checker or Blackboard Ally tool to verify tagging, reading order, and alt-text.

Mathpix: Converting Handwritten and Printed Math

Mathpix is an AI-powered tool that recognizes handwritten and printed mathematical expressions in images and converts them to LaTeX or MathML. It is particularly useful for digitizing handwritten notes, lecture boards, or scanned problem sets.

What Mathpix Does:

  • Takes an image (photo, screenshot, or scan) containing mathematical notation as input.
  • Uses optical character recognition (OCR) trained specifically on mathematical notation.
  • Outputs the recognized expression as LaTeX, MathML, or plain text.

This means that a photograph of a handwritten paper — which would be completely inaccessible as-is — can be converted into a machine-readable, screen-reader-friendly format.

Mathpix PDF Conversion: Mathpix can process entire PDF documents containing math, returning a LaTeX or Markdown document with embedded LaTeX. This can serve as a starting point for re-typesetting older course documents in an accessible format.

Mathpix Snip (Desktop/Mobile App):

  1. Download the Mathpix Snip app on your desktop or mobile device.
  2. Capture or upload an image of the handwritten or printed equation.
  3. Mathpix will display the recognized LaTeX in the sidebar.
  4. Copy the LaTeX and paste it into Blackboard’s math editor, Overleaf, or any LaTeX-enabled environment.

Tips for Best Results with Mathpix

  • Write clearly and use consistent symbol sizing when creating content intended for Mathpix conversion.
  • Ensure good contrast and lighting when photographing handwritten work. Dark ink on white paper in good light yields the most accurate results.
  • Mathpix handles most standard mathematical notation well but may struggle with highly stylized handwriting or domain-specific symbols.
  • Mathpix will retain charts, graphs, and other visualizations as images