Tools for Creating Accessible Math Content
Tools for Creating Accessible Math Content
Last Updated: July 7, 2026
My Workflow
For those interested, my pipeline for creating content for my students is: Markdown (authored in Obsidian.md) -> pandoc -> html -> LMS (D2L in my case).
My markdown often included embedded manipulatives from the activity creation sections below, primarily Doenet. You can see samples in my Calculus II notes on my teaching page, and other course note samples will be available after the Fall 2026 semester.
Authoring Languages
Most content authoring should start here by selecting a language platform for creating structured content. Optimal tools will focus on authoring well-structured, semantically meaningful content that can be read as abstract syntax trees and then converted to multiple output formats. The separation between content authoring and content presentation is important for accessibility, maintainability, and long-term sustainability of content.
Markdown is a lightweight markup language designed to make writing structured, readable documents in plain text both simple and portable. Originally created by John Gruber in 2004 (with contributions from Aaron Swartz), Markdown was motivated by the idea that writers should be able to focus on content rather than formatting syntax. It has since become a de facto standard for technical writing and documentation, with widespread use in platforms like GitHub, Jupyter notebooks, static site generators such as Jekyll, and academic workflows that rely on reproducible, version-controlled materials.
For content authors, it offers a low-friction way to write clean, structured content with minimal syntax to learn. The resulting material can be converted into a wide range of formats, making it well-suited for lecture notes, course websites, and computational notebooks where clarity, rapid authoring, maintainability, and accessibility matter.
In mathematical and accessibility-focused contexts, Markdown is especially useful because it can naturally integrate tools like LaTeX or include embedded HTML manipulatives. It serves as a bridge between informal drafting and structured, accessible presentation—making it a practical foundation for building inclusive digital mathematics content.
PreTeXt is a markup language designed to facilitate the creation of high-quality, accessible mathematical content. It allows authors to write structured documents that can be easily converted into multiple formats, including HTML, PDF, and ePub, while ensuring that the content remains accessible to all users, including those using assistive technologies.
PreTeXt emphasizes semantic markup, which means that mathematical expressions and structures are represented in a way that conveys their meaning rather than just their appearance. This approach enhances accessibility and usability, making it easier for screen readers and other assistive tools to interpret the content correctly.
The PreTeXt ecosystem includes tools for authoring, validating, and publishing documents. Authors can focus on the content itself without worrying about the complexities of formatting or accessibility compliance. The resulting documents are not only visually appealing but also adhere to best practices in accessibility and usability.
Overall, PreTeXt provides a powerful framework for creating educational materials in mathematics and related fields, supporting both authors and learners in achieving a more inclusive learning experience.
PreFigure is a markup language designed to facilitate the creation of high-quality, accessible mathematical diagrams.
It describes itself as “PreFigure is to figures what PreTeXt is to text,” emphasizing its focus on creating structured, semantically meaningful figures that can be easily integrated into educational or research materials. PreFigure allows authors to define mathematical diagrams in a way that is both human-readable and machine-interpretable, ensuring that the resulting figures are accessible to all users, including those using assistive technologies.
The industry standard for mathematical typesetting for many years.
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web.
Many of the authoring options generate structured, accessible HTML5 content.
Format Conversion Tools
Interactive Activities or Exercises
Hosting and Deployment Tools
Tools to Check Accessibility Standards
Accessibility checkers are tools that help identify and address accessibility issues in digital content, ensuring that it is usable by individuals with disabilities. These tools analyze web pages, documents, and applications to detect potential barriers to accessibility, such as missing alternative text for images, improper heading structures, color contrast issues, and keyboard navigation problems. By providing feedback and recommendations for improvement, accessibility checkers assist developers, designers, and content creators in making their digital products more inclusive and compliant with accessibility standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
The SiteImprove Browser Extension is a tool that allows users to evaluate the accessibility of web content. It supports filtering issues by WCAG 2.2 conformance levels (A, AA, AAA), best practices, and WAI-ARIA guidelines. Excellent tool, although some likelihood of false positives, but catches many issues that axe DevTools misses. I use it as a second pass for accessibility testing after axe DevTools, but it is also incredibly easy to use, so I often use it to check other websites besides the one I am authoring.
This extension integrated into a new panel in your browser’s developer tools, allowing you to run accessibility tests on web pages and applications. It provided detailed reports, seems to have few false positives, and is a good choice for identifying high-impact accessibility issues. I use it as my first pass for accessibility testing, and then use more stringent checkers for verification and to catch lower-impact technical issues.
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) is a free online tool that helps users evaluate the accessibility of web content. It provides visual feedback on potential accessibility issues and supports various web standards and guidelines. Gives good visual overlays of how screen-reader and keyboard navigation will “see” your website.
Student Data Collection
SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products. It defines how online learning content and Learning Management Systems (LMS) communicate with each other, enabling the tracking of learner progress, completion status, and assessment results. SCORM-compliant content can be easily shared and reused across different LMS platforms, making it a widely adopted standard in the e-learning industry.
LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) is a standard developed by IMS Global Learning Consortium that allows seamless integration of external learning tools and applications into Learning Management Systems (LMS). It enables educators to connect various educational resources, such as interactive content, assessments, and simulations, directly within their LMS environment. LTI facilitates single sign-on (SSO) for users, ensuring a smooth user experience while maintaining data security and privacy.
CSSplice (Standards, Protocols, and Learning Infrastructure for Computing Education) is a web-based platform that allows educators to create and manage interactive, accessible educational content. It provides tools for authoring, deploying, and tracking student engagement with learning materials. CSSplice supports various content formats, including HTML5, and integrates with Learning Management Systems (LMS) through standards like SCORM and LTI.