Making STEM Content Accessible

A practical guide for instructors in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields who use equations, formulas, scientific notation, diagrams, or data in their course materials. Whether you’re using Microsoft applications, Blackboard content, web pages, or PDFs, this page guides how to ensure the content is accessible to users with disabilities, including those who rely on assistive technology.

How is your STEM content presented?

Assistive technology needs the meaning of your STEM content, not a flat picture of it. On a screen, almost every equation, molecule, circuit, or graph is presented in one of two ways, and only one of them is accessible.

• A Picture of the Content. A screenshot, a scan, or an image of an equation, chemical structure, or graph is just a mass of pixels. A screen reader can convey nothing to a blind user beyond whatever alt text the creator added, the image blurs when a student with low-vision magnifies it, and it cannot be turned into braille for those who rely on this format. This presentation style is not accessible.
• Text or Structured Content. When the same content is built as structure or paired with a real text alternative, assistive technology can read it, a student can navigate into its parts, it stays sharp when magnified, and it can be rendered as braille. This is a much more accessible presentation style.

Put it to the test!

For an equation or formula, try to bring your cursor into it, the way you would when editing a word. If you can select or edit its parts, it is structured. For a diagram or a graph, ask instead whether there is a text alternative that conveys what it means, not just a file named “figure1.png.”

Equations, Formulas, and Scientific Notation

Math equations, scientific notation such as 6.022 × 10²³, physics formulas, and chemical formulas such as H₂O all belong to the same family: their meaning lives in structure like superscripts, subscripts, fractions, and operators. Handle them the same way.

• Build them with an equation editor, which stores the structure rather than a picture. On the web that structure is called MathML. You rarely write it by hand, because the editors below produce it for you.
• Avoid pasting an equation as an image. If you already own a dedicated math tool such as MathType, EquatIO, or a LaTeX workflow, those export to accessible formats too.
• Simple formulas can be plain text. A chemical formula or an isotope label works with ordinary <sub> and <sup> markup in HTML.

$$x=\frac{-b\pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$$ A live MathML example (the quadratic formula). It is real, structured math, not a picture, so a screen reader can read it and a student can navigate into the square root or the denominator.

Inline Symbols versus Structured Expressions

You do not need the equation editor for every stray symbol. For a single symbol or a simple inline expression, such as “let x be greater than 0” or a lone α, β, or ±, type the actual Unicode character as text and it reads correctly. Reach for the equation editor when the expression has real structure: fractions, exponents or subscripts, roots, summations, integrals, matrices, or piecewise definitions.

Diagrams and Structures

A benzene ring, a circuit, a free-body diagram, a metabolic pathway, a phylogenetic tree, or an anatomical figure is not notation you can type into an equation editor. Its meaning is the arrangement, so structured math markup does nothing for it. These need a two-part text alternative:

• A short description that names what the figure is (for example, “structural formula of aspirin” or “free-body diagram of a block on an incline”).
• A long description or an equivalent alternative that conveys the actual content: the connections, forces, or relationships a sighted reader would take from the figure. Put it in the nearby text, in an expandable section, or on a linked page.

Chemistry has a shortcut!

Chemical structures can be written as plain-text line notations. SMILES and InChI encode a structure as a short string of characters that a screen reader can read and that converts to braille. Provide the SMILES or InChI string together with the IUPAC name and a brief description. Free structure-drawing tools (such as the PubChem sketcher) will generate these strings from a drawn molecule, and letting a student submit a SMILES string instead of drawing with a mouse is itself a recognized accommodation.

Charts and Data Visualizations

Charts and graphs are different again. The point of a chart is usually a trend or comparison, so describe that rather than reciting every data point.

Take a two-part approach:

• A short description that states the chart type and its purpose (for example, “line graph of reaction rate vs. temperature”).
• The underlying data or the takeaway, as an accessible data table near the chart or as a sentence stating what the chart shows. For exact values, a properly marked-up data table is often more useful to a screen-reader user than the chart itself. (Visit Accessible Tables for more information.)

Additionally, Label axes, legends, and data points clearly, and give the chart a meaningful title.

• Do not let color be the only thing that separates data series; students who are colorblind may not be able to distinguish color patterns, thus making any intended meaning unavailable. Add labels, patterns, or textures, and keep color contrast strong.

STEM-Wide Considerations

Color and Meaning: Don’t Rely on Color Alone

Across STEM, color often carries the meaning: series in a chart, regions of a heat map, bands in a spectrum, a pH indicator, or a colored pathway. Never let color be the only cue. Pair it with labels, patterns, shapes, or text so the content still makes sense in grayscale or to a colorblind student, and keep text and symbols at sufficient contrast. (Visit Color Contrast to learn more.)

Presenting Code

If you share code, keep it as live, selectable text in a code block, never a screenshot. Screenshots of code cannot be read by a screen reader, copied, or magnified cleanly. Make sure syntax coloring is not the only way meaning is conveyed.

Symbols and Notation

Greek letters, units, and operators are read unevenly by screen reader technologies. Real notation built in MathML or an equation editor carries its own pronunciation. For symbols in ordinary text, type the actual Unicode character rather than inserting a picture or approximating with punctuation.

Tool-specific Guidance

Microsoft Word and PowerPoint

• Insert equations with the built-in editor: open the Insert tab and choose Equation, or press Alt + = on Windows (Control + = on a Mac). Current versions expose that structure to screen readers, which is far better than an image with alt text.
• For a figure or chart, right-click or right-select it and choose Edit Alt Text for a short description, and put any long description or data table in the body of the document.
• If you inherit equations made with the legacy Equation Editor (retired in 2018), select each one, choose Convert, and then Convert to Office Math.
• Before you share the file, open the Review tab and choose Check Accessibility.
• For equations, structures, or graphs, avoid pasting as a picture. If right-clicking or right-selecting an equation offers “Edit Picture” instead of equation options, it is an image, so re-create it with the equation editor.

Blackboard Ultra

• Use the built-in math editor in the content editor toolbar. You can build equations visually, by handwriting on a touch device, or by typing LaTeX. It generates alt text automatically and tags equations so many screen readers can read the structure.
• For uploaded figures and charts, add a short alt description and provide the long description or data table nearby.
• Type math directly into pages, tests, assignments, and discussions rather than uploading images.

It’s worth noting that Blackboard’s math editor is image-based under the hood, and support is not perfect everywhere. Equations made with it may not read reliably for students using the VoiceOver screen reader on macOS, and very complex expressions can be uneven. For anything beyond simple equations, consider also offering the material as HTML with MathML or as a Word document.

Web Pages

• Publish equations as MathML. All current major browsers render it natively, and screen readers and read-aloud tools can speak and navigate it. You can paste MathML straight into a Custom HTML block. If your team authors in LaTeX, a MathJax plugin renders it and delivers accessible structure to assistive technology.
• For images and figures, fill in the <alt=””> field with a short description and place a long description or data table nearby on the page.
• Put code in a real code block so it stays selectable text, and never upload an equation, a structure, or a graph as an image when a text or MathML option exists.

PDFs

PDFs are the hardest format for STEM content. They have very limited support for structured math, so equations frequently end up as images with no underlying structure, and a tagging pass does not add structure that was never there. So:

• Generate the PDF from an accessible source, such as a Word document with native equations, rather than trying to remediate math inside the finished PDF.
• Use the “plus-one” approach: when you must distribute a PDF, pair it with one accessible alternative, either the Word document or an HTML page with MathML and described figures.
• Scanned or photographed math is a “re-create from source” task, not a quick fix. Optical character recognition (OCR) does not reliably reconstruct equation structure.

To Recap

Content type	Do this	Avoid
Equations and notation	Build with a native equation editor or MathML; use real superscripts and subscripts.	Screenshots or images of equations.
Diagrams and structures	Short alt naming the figure, plus a long description or equivalent; for chemistry, give the SMILES or InChI string and the IUPAC name.	A complex figure with a one-line alt, or none at all.
Charts and data	Short alt (chart type and purpose) plus a data table or a stated takeaway.	Relying on the image alone, or on color to tell series apart.
Code	Live, selectable text in a code block.	Screenshots of code.
Inline symbol	Type the actual Unicode character as text.	An equation editor for a single symbol, or a symbol saved as an image.

A quick self-check before you publish

1. Move your cursor into your equations. If you can select or edit the parts, they are structured. If one selects as a single block or is an image, fix it.
2. Check every figure and chart for a real text alternative that conveys its meaning, not just a filename.
3. Imagine it in grayscale. If color is the only thing telling parts apart, add labels, patterns, or text.
4. Run the built-in checker. The Accessibility Checker in Word and PowerPoint, and Blackboard’s content checker, will flag many issues.
5. When in doubt, ask. Complex or high-stakes content is worth a second look, especially before it goes to a large class.

Contact Us

Have questions or need assistance? Contact the ITS-Digital Accessibility Services team directly at accessibleIT@syr.edu or visit our virtual Digital Accessibility Office Hours.