Re: Math formula and accordian

MathML support has also been discussed (again) last week at the W3C TPAC in Japan. 

Any reading application that is based on the Webkit rendering engine or supports the Mathjax library is able to display MathML. This is the case for Readium JS and Readium Mobile iOS (*). And EDRLab will soon have MathML support in its new Thorium Reader (Windows, MacOS, Linux) thanks to MathJax.

To have an updated overview of the support of MathML in browsers (and reading apps based on these browsers), please read https://mathml.igalia.com/news/2019/08/28/mathml-and-browsers/#new <https://mathml.igalia.com/news/2019/08/28/mathml-and-browsers/#new>. You'll see here that MathML is well supported in Webkit (-> iBooks) and Gecko (-> Firefox based web readers).

Igalia (a Spanish company specialized in developing code for the big browsers) is developing MathML in Chromium (-> Google Chrome + the new Edge). You can even help financially https://mathml.igalia.com/ <https://mathml.igalia.com/>. With such support we can expect next year good support on MathML on the Android and Windows platform.

But be careful, MathML is a complex beast with two variants, presentation MathML and content MathML. From what Igalia engineers told us last week, their work is mostly on presentation MathML. Or more precisely MathML Core (https://mathml-refresh.github.io/mathml-core/ <https://mathml-refresh.github.io/mathml-core/>), which certainly is what publishers should embed in EPUB from now on, even if it's currently a draft.

> Otherwise render it to an image and include the image.
Warning; this is an accessibility killer. 

> The rendering in most readers is very poor, and the manufacturers are not interested in improving math.
Maybe for e-readers (as most of them develop their own rendering engine and choose their battles carefully), but as said above, not the case for reading apps using browser engines. 

> Readers can't even display simple CSS correctly,
Again, a clear separation must be made between e-readers (which don't support CSS in all its splendor) and reading apps using browser engines.

*: for those who think Readium is only a web application: Readium is an open-source initiative with multiple projects targeting mobile, desktop and web platforms.

Cordialement, 

Laurent Le Meur
CTO EDRLab

> Le 22 sept. 2019 à 12:23, Peter Flynn <peter@silmaril.ie> a écrit :
> 
> 
> On 22/09/2019 04:12, sirisha gubba wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>> I few questions about ePub:
>> The math formulas were created using wiris.com MathML editor. They
>> are showing fine in iBook but they not showing properly when ePub is
>> opened with Edge browser. 
> 
> This was discussed extensively in the EPUB3 class of the Hands-On Digital Publishing sessions at the XML Summer School last week.
> 
> MathML works in iBook but is unusable in other readers.
> 
>> Please see the example below  how the formula is shown in Edge
>> browser. Do you have any suggestions on how to make the formula work
>> in edge browser?
> 
> MathJax apparently works well in several readers.
> 
> Otherwise render it to an image and include the image.
> 
> The rendering in most readers is very poor, and the manufacturers are not interested in improving math.
> 
>> 2) I am trying implement accordion inside the ePub. It is working
>> fine in HTML page.
> 
> Don't bother. Readers can't even display simple CSS correctly, so the chances of them implementing accordion text are minimal.
> 
> Peter
>