[Blindmath] jaws and Mathplayer

Mon Oct 3 21:59:16 UTC 2011

Maria,

Thanks for your feedback.

WARNING:  the following is pretty technical and really doesn't have much to
do with math.  It's for the computer geeks on the list...

IE9 changed the way they handle namespaces, so the <math> tag is now (in
some sense) a different name than it used to be in previous versions of IE.
The way namespaces are dealt with in IE9 is one of several changes we had to
make with MathPlayer 3 (really, really soon to come out).  This means that
if JAWS is looking for a math tag and didn't update their code to deal with
IE9 changes, they won't find it in some cases.

I was about to say that your feedback blows my idea out of the water, but I
don't think it does.  Sina has a version of MathPlayer 3 for testing, and
because IE9 actually handles XHTML, we let it handle XHTML instead of
rewriting the XHTML into HTML as is done with MathPlayer 2.  So, the fact
that XHTML works for you with MathPlayer 2 is because behind the scenes,
MathPlayer has changed it to HTML and that is what IE9 sees when it starts
to parse it.

The problem with the version check is again due to a change in IE9 -- they
changed the string sent to us.  The version check code isn't finding the
right number anymore (it probably ends up getting that the version is 0 or
some such).  We are aware of the problem and are working on a fix.

We'll work with Freedom Scientific for a fix, but it never hurts to put
pressure on them and let them know that not working with MathPlayer is a
problem for you.

    Neil

On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 11:55 AM, Maria Kristic <maria6289 at earthlink.net>wrote:

> Hello, Neil.
>
> I do hate to muddy the waters, but I am running a 64-bit version of Windows
> 7 with IE9 and have a 64-bit version of the latest versions of both JAWS 12
> and the JAWS 13 Public Beta on my system, and I have gotten different
> results than those which you describe below.
>
> Regarding the link to the MathPlayer Version Checker, that page does not
> load in the Virtual Buffer for me with both JFW12 and JFW13B.
> Interestingly,
> though, it informs me that I am not running the latest MathPlayer version
> (I
> can read the page with the JAWS cursor) when in fact I must be running
> v2.2,
> seeing as I just downloaded and installed it earlier today for the first
> time since restoring my computer to factory settings not too long ago. The
> line of text which should be showing me my current version does not
> actually
> display a version number. Even more perplexing, when I click on the Sample
> Pages link from the Version Checker to be taken to the Equivalent Plane
> Strain Solution, this page loads fine in the Virtual Buffer, and the MathML
> content displays without a problem. For instance, equation (1) on that page
> is read as: cap u bar sub h, equals 1 minus exp of. Open. Minus, fraction 8
> cap t sub h over, mu, end fraction. close
>
> The XML file also seems to work fine for me! For example, I see: f cap l x
> sub 0 open x close equals f open x sub 0 close plus f apostrophe open x sub
> 0 close open x minus x sub 0 close as one of the equations which is located
> near the beginning of section 13.1.
>
> Someone posted being unable to access the MathPlayer menu. I am also able
> to
> do this, when I right-click on a MathML equation using the JAWS cursor.
>
> If it should make a difference, MathType 6.7 is installed on my system.
>
> I'm not certain as to what other information about my computer might be
> pertinent in helping you to solve this problem, but I'd be happy to provide
> you with anything else you would like to know, so feel free to ask.
>
> Apologies for posting this to both the list and to Design Science Technical
> Support, but I felt that I should also post it on list, seeing as I was
> having a different experience to what others were posting.
>
> This problem seems to be quite puzzling!
>
> Regards,
> Maria
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On
> Behalf Of Neil Soiffer
> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 8:04 PM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> Cc: Technical Support
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] jaws and Mathplayer
>
> I worked with Sina and narrowed the problem down:
>
> With JAWS 12 and IE9, html files work but xhtml files don't.  The same is
> true for the beta of JAWS 13.  Most files with MathML in them on the web
> are
> XHTML files, so this is a pretty bad problem.  I could use some help from
> the JAWS users out there to try and narrow this down more before reporting
> it to Freedom Scientific.
>
> Here's an HTML file:
> http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathplayer/check.htm
>
> Here's an XML file:
>
> http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/18/18.013a/textbook/MathML/chapter13/section01.xh
> tml
>
> If you have JAWS 12 and a version of IE other than 9, could you 1.  Verify
> that the HTML file works 2.  Tell me whether the XHTML works.
>
> If you have IE9 and an earlier version of JAWS, could you do the same
> thing:
> 1.  Verify that the HTML file works
> 2.  Tell me whether the XHTML works.
>
> FYI:  I did verify using an accessibility checker tool that MathPlayer is
> exposing the correct info for both HTML and XHTML files, so this is
> definitely a JAWS bug.
>
>     Neil
>
>
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