Forum Discussion
Looking for examples of alt text for math equations
Hi everyone, the Storyline team is currently exploring ways to support math equations and we've heard from several customers that accessibility, specifically screen reader support, is very important....
I would like to see an equation editor whereby we can create the equations natively in Storyline without a cumbersome process of inserting multiple text boxes, locating symbols, drawing lines, etc. For example, if I want to insert a square root symbol, I would like the top bar of the symbol to continue to extend to the right to match the length of the content within it.
Being able to create the equations within Storyline would not only save a lot of time from having to first create the equation in another program, and then export it as a graphic and import it into Storyline. As it is now, if the equation is created and saved using another tool and the exported graphic is raster in nature rather than vector, the visual clarity of the equation imported into Storyline is degraded.
Next, I would like the Alt-text to be generated automatically. It should be a detailed description of the equation but a description I can edit. When adding Alt-text for equations, I typically add a detailed description for the first occurrence of the equation but then use a short description thereafter.
In this example...
...a detailed description of this equation might be as follows (modified for correct pronunciation by the screen reader):
Q sub M equals row A C sub zero times the square root of 2 times G sub C P sub G divided by row plus G H sub L
But the next time the equation appears in the project, the Alt-text I would use would likely just be:
Equation to determine the liquid release flow rate through a hole in a tank
I would like the user to be able to navigate to the equation, giving it focus, and have the screen reader read the detailed description, but then allow the user to navigate to each variable and symbol (e.g., "Q-squared," "integral" or "square root") and have just that variable or symbol read aloud. I would like this all to be generated automatically as I create the equation in the equation editor rather than having to create text boxes for each element in the equation.
Keep in mind that the sample equation above is very basic. In chemistry, engineering and other fields, equations can be incredibly complex. If Storyline allowed us to create the equation directly in the software and have the Alt-text auto-generated, wow, that would be a huge time saver for the developer and a great benefit to end users.
