A Systematic Mapping of MathML-Enabled Editors for Users with Visual Impairment

Abstract

The teaching and learning processes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pose challenges that are particularly hard to overcome when some part involved is visually impaired. Despite the fact that these areas tend to be generators of many jobs, people with this disability often prefer to study other careers, in which they do not require intensive use of STEM. This paper presents a systematic mapping of the technologies that have been proposed to solve this problem, usually in the form of editors that allow the inclusion of mathematical symbology. In addition, we introduce EULER (Editor of Universal Learning Resources), a software tool which allows for accessible editing and sharing of learning resources for mathematics in compliance with the standard MathML format, in order to easily exchange information between sighted and visually impaired people. EULER has been designed to allow it for adapting to areas other than mathematics, such as chemistry or physics. The results of this study show that most of the identified proposals have limitations, either regarding the lack of use of the MathML standard or they are not designed to grow towards other areas of STEM aside from mathematics.