Minutes_ MathML Full Meeting_ 20 Aug_ 2026

20260820

Attendees

  *   Neil Soiffer
  *   Louis Maher
  *   David Carlisle
  *   Paul Libbrecht
  *   Murray Sargent
  *   Moritz Schubotz
  *   Bert Bos

Regrets

  *   Damien (COVID)

Agenda

1. Announcements / Updates / Progress Reports

1.1 Horizontal Review for Security (Intent)<https://github.com/w3c/mathml/issues/584>

Neil asked David for a status update. David reported ongoing discussions in the W3C security review group, particularly around whether JavaScript URLs should be allowed in the <a> element. The group appears inclined to disallow them.
David has not yet completed his action item to draft language clarifying intent-related resource limits but expects to do so soon.

2. Deprecation of malignmark / maligngroup

The group discussed whether to remove malignmark and maligngroup from the MathML specification, since Microsoft Office no longer generates them.

2.1 Murray's Position

Murray stated he supports deprecating them as long as intent provides a way to round-trip alignment semantics, especially ensuring a consistent math axis across table cells.

2.2 Discussion

Neil and David clarified how alignment works in MathML tables and how baseline alignment should behave.
Chromium appears not to implement baseline alignment correctly.
Intent is needed for round-tripping aligned equations back to LaTeX.
The group agreed that browsers do not implement malignmark/maligngroup, and polyfills would be required for legacy content.

2.3 Consensus

Neil asked for objections to deprecating the elements. No objections were raised.
Decision: Deprecate malignmark and maligngroup in the MathML specification.

3. End of Summer Break / Meeting Scheduling

Neil announced he will be in Australia for four weeks and unable to attend meetings.

3.1 Meeting Coverage

David volunteered to chair meetings when available. Meetings will be held only if members request them via email.

3.2 Charter Status

Bert confirmed the MathML charter is approved; only the formal announcement remains.

3.3 Horizontal Review Timing

Bert stated that enough time has passed and no further action is required regarding outstanding horizontal reviews.

3.4 Next Scheduled Meeting

The group agreed the next regular meeting will be September 24, 2026, unless an earlier meeting is requested.

4. Additional Discussions

4.1 Wikipedia Math Rendering Transition

Moritz reported on Wikipedia's transition from Mathoid to native MathML + MathJax rendering. Key points:

  *   They aim to remove image-based rendering.
  *   MathJax SVG output matches TeX spacing better than HTML output.
  *   Polyfills currently fail under SVG output due to CSS assumptions.
  *   Moritz: Progress in Wikipedia https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T271001 there is quite a bit of resistance for everything that has only the smallest possible change.

5. Action Items Summary

  *   David Carlisle - Draft PR removing section 3.5.4:  removing malignmark/maligngroup from the spec.
  *   Neil Soiffer - File an issue regarding the need for a polyfill; may later attempt to write one.
  *   Meeting Scheduling - Members may request meetings via email during Neil's absence.
  *   Neil Soiffer - Contact Brian Kardell about scheduling the August 31 core meeting.