The LEAN Math Accessible MathML Editor

Abstract

This article describes the new LEAN Math application. LEAN Math will input MathML and convert it to an internal representation from which any number of accessible formats can be generated. It is useful for reading math, but its real importance is that it fills a void for blind people who need an efficient, usable tool to create, edit, and manipulate math equations in braille and/or audio. The first application of LEAN Math is as an editor for MathType equations in MS Word, the most popular scientific authoring system today. The editor can open and edit existing equations or create new ones. It also puts a word description or braille translation of the equation into the MathType alt text property. This alt text is read by any screen reader, making MathType equations in MS Word fully accessible. This paper gives a brief overview of its features.