Re: [Moderator Action] Qustion concerning mathml and mathcad

I Laura,

You wrote:

> I am wondering if mathml will create an html format that is
> considered 508 compliant.

I'm not sure what your question is. MathML is a standard file format,
and one of its uses is to be included in an HTML document for displaying
mathematical equations in a web browser.

I don't know if MathML is 508 compliant but it has certainly been
developed and reviewed by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. 
Accessibility of MathML is obvious compared to previous solutions 
for displaying Mathematics on the web (GIF images, DVI
files). Since the MathML file that is sent to the client is
semantically rich, it is easy to render it in various ways, either
graphically or using a screen reader or a Braille device. Feel free
to contact the W3C WAI activity to find out more about W3C and section
508 (http://www.w3.org/WAI/ or email wai@w3.org)
 
> Also, just so that I am completely clear, is mathml a program that
> may be used independently on an equation created in another math
> program, or is mathml a built-in supplied in math programs such as
> mathcad.

No, MathML is just a file format, like HTML, which can be either
output or rendered by a piece of software. Some of them can be
computer algebra systems that will save a formula as MathML, and
others can be Web browsers that will be able to read a MathML formula
and display on a screen or through a voice synthesizer.

> Essentially we are wondering if it is
> necessary to purchase mathcad if we are able to purchase mathml
> independently. Thank you in advance for your time and quick response. 

MathML is free. The document is available at
http://www.w3.org/TR/MathML2/ Of course you will have to pay for some
vendor implementations that use it, although many of them (browsers
and plug-ins mostly) come free as well. See
http://www.w3.org/Math/implementations.html for a list.

Hope this helps,

Max.

Received on Tuesday, 22 October 2002 05:02:00 UTC