[math-on-web] a11y TF minutes 2016-11-28

Hi everyone,

A few notes from the task force meeting this week.

We'll give an update at the next meeting.

Best,
Peter.


# CG a11y TF meeting 2016-11-28

* Peter: working on demos, https://codepen.io/pkra/pen/VmZLgZ
<https://codepen.io/pkra/pen/VmZLgZ?editors=1010>
  * works reasonably well in AT
  * required reading:
http://blog.jantrid.net/2015/12/woe-aria-surprisingly-but-ridiculously.html
* Dani's example (replicated at https://codepen.io/pkra/pen/dOVPVL)
  * ignoring MathML for now, just focus on a11y of output
  * two versions: simple and deep labels
  * math attribute: idea for keeping source alongside
  * title as idea for providing informative
  * aria-role="variable" as idea for math-specific roles
  * the problem of fraction lines
    * should be an element in the DOM
    * it's not bad but actually good for AT to have this
* Dani: we should work on a recommendation for doing mathematics in a
static way
  * Peter: +1. See the discussion following TPAC re MML media query
* Peter: about role math
  * we should suggest new definition (current: "all children are
aria-hidden").
   * Could help with Dani's title idea, i.e., help AT announce
"math/formula/equation" if user desires
  * AT could use it to change speech prefs, e.g., voicing punctuation.
  * Dani: these should still be easily controlled/determined by authoring
(software)
     * Peter: also manual (e.g., specialist reported requests to match
teacher's speech pattern)
* Volker: when do you expect to switch between descriptions and content?
  * Volker: maybe something like "replace anything non-alphanumeric"?
* Volker: how does navigation work
  * Peter: in my example, works already quite well. Just explore the DOM as
usual.
    * e.g., MathJax CommonHTML and HTML-CSS output  -- expected problems
with MathJax SVG due to optimizations.
* Dani: I like that it's not specific to mathematics. Just as well for
diagrams,
  * Peter: me too!
* Volker: back to navigation: is just tapping through?
  * Dani: should be just like any other content
  * Volker: cf. HighChart examples,
http://www.highcharts.com/docs/chart-concepts/accessibility.
    * Just tabbing through.
  * Peter: I just used regular screenreader navigation (by line/letter)
    * seems natural since that's how regular content is interacted with
    * tabbing for display equations might make sense though
* Peter: let's increase our meeting intervals