Accessible Math Problems

Hi everyone,

I work for a cyber school and we are working hard to make sure all of our
instructional materials are accessible. The one area we are really
struggling with is math materials. Our school uses Schoology as our LMS on
a Mac. Since we use Mac we often use the Apple Native Apps (Pages, Numbers,
and Keynote). I am aware that they are not the most accessible programs to
use.

We have a middle school teacher that likes to do escape room
style activities using tables in a Numbers file. The tables are accessible,
but the issue is equations. If we type equations into a cell (like in lock
#2) Voiceover will read it, but reads it incorrectly. Since it is text it
does allow students to highlight the text and use spoken content to have it
read aloud, which is helpful for students who need that. If we use the
insert equation option, it turns the equation into an image and we cannot
place that in a cell to be read inside the table. Our workaround to that
was to put the equations outside the table (like in lock #1). Turning the
equation into an image also takes away the ability for students to have it
read to them using the spoken content tool. So, which of these options is
more accessible? Or is there a better method to make sure math equations
are accessible?

I should note that if we added equations to our LMS in a quiz, it does the
same thing and turns them into images, so that isn;t a great fix.
Additionally, these activities are super popular and the completion rate by
students is high, so we are hesitant to get rid of them completely. We are
open to other programs that would help us ensure math equations are
accessible.


[image: Screenshot 2025-09-26 at 7.40.20 AM.png]
Thank you!
Christina
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Christina Houck
*21st Century Cyber Charter School* <http://21cccs.org/>
Special Education Content Developer
*Direct*: (610) 514-6216 • *Main*: (484) 875-5400

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