Euromath: A web-based platform for teaching of accessible mathematics

Abstract

One of the main goals of students’ education is the acquisition of skills that will determine their functioning in the so-called community of knowledge and their success in the labour market. In 2006, the European Parliament (EP) described, defined, and issued recommendations concerning the acquisition of key competences in individual subjects and general knowledge by young people completing their compulsory education. Among the four subject-defined competences are those pertaining to mathematics and basic scientific and technical skills, as well as IT competences. The need to acquire mathematical abilities concerns amassing the aptitude to develop and use mathematical thinking in solving problems arising from everyday situations, with an emphasis on process, action, and knowledge. However, for many persons who are either blind or vision-impaired, there remains considerable barriers to equal participation in disciplines which rely on mathematical content. This paper describes the EuroMath project which has, over the past three years, developed a web-based solution to enable mathematical communication between teachers and students. Note that we do not stipulate whether the student or teacher is the individual with the visual disability. Rather, we assume that said individual can fulfil either role. To this end, the EuroMath platform has been designed to enable the person who is blind or vision-impaired to create mathematical content or acquire it from others.