Fwd: Press Release: MathPlayer 2.0

A topic that George Kersher asserted (At the last DAISY meeting)
that WAI would be addressing: Looks like here's a start.

>Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 14:33:09 -0700
>From: "Bruce Virga" <brucev@dessci.com>
>To: hbingham@ACM.org
>Subject: Press Release: MathPlayer 2.0
>
>This press release should be of interest to the publishing industry,
>educational content developers, web browser makers and the accessibility
>community. This release and others are available on our web site at:
>http://www.dessci.com/pr
>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
>
>MathPlayer 2.0 Makes Math in Web Pages Accessible
>to Visually Impaired Readers
>
>LONG BEACH, Calif. -- July 22, 2004 -- Design Science announced today
>the release of version 2.0 of its free MathPlayer mathematics display
>engine for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.0 web browser. MathPlayer
>enables Internet Explorer to display, and now speak, mathematical
>notation embedded in HTML and XHTML web pages using MathML. Its new
>features include math-to-speech technology, compatibility with screen
>reader software used by the visually impaired to read web pages,
>increased cross-browser compatibility via XHTML support, and improved
>mathematical formatting. MathML is an XML-based language for
>representing mathematical notation standardized by the World Wide Web
>Consortium (W3C) in 1998.
>
>The accessibility of online content to visually impaired readers is
>already a requirement in many environments. Section 508 of the US
>Rehabilitation Act mandates that government web sites be useful to the
>visually impaired and accessibility is virtually required for online
>educational material. Visually impaired readers often use software
>packages, called "screen readers", to speak the content of the web page
>using a computer-synthesized voice. Until the release of MathPlayer 2.0,
>screen readers were unable to speak the math embedded in a web page
>because equations were often merely bitmapped images. Using Microsoft's
>Active Accessibility (MSAA) interface, screen readers can now take
>advantage of MathPlayer's math-to-speech technology to read web page
>text and math together, providing a seamless experience for the reader.
>Screen readers known to work with MathPlayer include JAWS, Window-Eyes,
>HAL, Read & Write, and BrowseAloud. Another MathPlayer 2.0 feature,
>MathZoom, aids partially sighted readers by providing an enlarged view
>of an equation whenever the reader clicks on it.
>
>MathPlayer 2.0 also includes better cross-browser compatibility by
>supporting the XHTML+MathML format also supported by the Mozilla and
>Netscape browsers. This allows online content providers to publish a
>single web page format for which a compatible browser is available on
>virtually all platforms, and eliminates the need for a special
>stylesheet to provide browser-compatibility. MathPlayer 2.0 also
>provides better math formatting than earlier versions and, with the
>addition of expression alignment, provides virtually complete MathML
>support. According to Paul Topping, Design Science's CEO, "With the
>release of MathPlayer 2.0, we have made it possible for scientific,
>technical, and educational publishers to have a powerful new way to add
>value to their online content. Not only will MathML-enabled content make
>it possible for the visually impaired to hear the mathematics in web
>pages, MathPlayer also allows engineers, scientists, and students -
>sighted or not - to copy math from a web page into MathML-enabled
>computational software packages."
>
>In an effort to accelerate the adoption of MathML in the math, science,
>and education communities, MathPlayer can be downloaded free from the
>MathPlayer product area (www.dessci.com/mathplayer) of the Design
>Science website. Anyone publishing web pages that include MathML can
>use the company's "Download MathPlayer" button on their web pages,
>linking their readers to the free software.
>
>About Design Science
>Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, Design
>Science develops software used by educators, scientists and publishing
>professionals, including MathType, Equation Editor in Microsoft Office,
>WebEQ, MathFlow, MathPlayer and TeXaide, to communicate on the web and
>in print. For more information please visit: http://www.dessci.com
>
>###
>
>PRESS CONTACT:
>
>Bruce Virga, VP of Sales & Marketing
>brucev@dessci.com
>562-433-0685
>
>http://www.dessci.com
>
>4028 Broadway
>Long Beach, California 90803
>USA
>
>Design Science, Inc. "How Science Communicates"
>MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

Received on Friday, 23 July 2004 09:38:50 UTC