[BlindMath] NVDA with MathCAT not reading math

Thu Mar 26 12:56:28 UTC 2026

I very much appreciate everyone’s time and efforts!

Best,
Leigh

Leigh Mosley, MA, MLS, CPWA
Accessibility Coordinator
University of Tennessee Libraries
1015 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37996-1000
865-974-0011
lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu>

Schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/leighmosley

[The University of Tennessee Knoxville logo]

From: Neil Soiffer <soiffer at alum.mit.edu>
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2026 2:58 PM
To: Mosley, Leigh <lmosley1 at utk.edu>
Cc: Derek Riemer <driemer.riemer at gmail.com>; Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org>; Ryan McCleary <remccleary at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] NVDA with MathCAT not reading math

You don't often get email from soiffer at alum.mit.edu<mailto:soiffer at alum.mit.edu>. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>
You mentioned MathJax. That's something I should have suggested looking at. Some versions of MathJax have bugs in exposing MathML and some sites config MathJax in ways that don't allow for MathML (that would be something they need to change!). Also, you need to turn accessibility on for each browser and for each website. MathJax uses cookies to remember the settings and it can only do it per-website. Looking at the log you sent, that doesn't seem to be the problem though:

DEBUGWARNING - NVDAObjects.IAccessible.ia2Web.Math._get_mathMl (09:59:33.514) - MainThread (10848):
Error retrieving math. Not supported in this browser or ISimpleDOM COM proxy not registered.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "NVDAObjects\IAccessible\ia2Web.pyc", line 336, in _get_mathMl
  File "comtypes\_post_coinit\unknwn.pyc", line 404, in QueryInterface
  File "monkeyPatches\comtypesMonkeyPatches.pyc", line 33, in __call__
_ctypes.COMError: (-2147467262, 'No such interface supported', (None, None, None, 0, None))

That very strongly suggests a COM problem. I have not seen that problem for web pages, but I and a few others have run into a similar problem for PDF documents. The bad news is that we have collectively spent at least two weeks trying to solve it and never could. It was very frustrating! Once the problem hit, we couldn't make it go away although there were flashes that it started to work in some cases, but the bottom line was failure. As I said, this was for PDF which is a bit different. Something, somewhere messed up the handling of the COM call and no amount of running the regsvr and reboots could put humpty-dumpty back together again... and we never found out what caused him to fall in the first place...

    Neil

On Mon, Mar 23, 2026 at 9:03 AM Mosley, Leigh <lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu>> wrote:

Hello everyone!

I appreciate all of the thought all of you were putting into this over the weekend!  I have had some partial success this morning.

  *   Steps I have taken: Making sure all browsers (Chrome, Firefox, and Edge) are up to date, running NVDA COM tool, rebooting, right clicking “activate” on MathJax and refreshing page.

  *   Step I could not take: Updating Windows. Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2 is the latest approved version by our university IT dept. and that is what we are all running.

  *   Websites tested:

     *   https://accessibility.psu.edu/math/mathml/#test (MathJax v2.7.0)
     *   https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/cfsa/people/pastmembers/robinson/mathjaxtest/ (MathJax v2.7.1)
     *   https://intlpress.com/JDetail/1805889101985456129 (MathJax v3.2.2)

  *   Results:

     *   Firefox: Now working! NVDA/MathCAT correctly reads math from all three of the sites above.  "Sound when starting/ending math speech" is heard.
     *   Chrome: Now working, but only for the MathJax v3.2.2 site. "Sound when starting/ending math speech" is not heard, even on MathJax v3.2.2 site.
     *   Edge: Still not working at all for any of the websites above.  "Sound when starting/ending math speech" is not heard.

My own laptop, also running Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2, NVDA 2025.3.3 and MathCAT 0.7.5 - just like my student’s workstation - reads the math in all three of the above test sites in all three browsers perfectly. NVDA debug log attached (for Chrome and Edge), and thank you again!

Best,

Leigh

Leigh Mosley, MA, MLS, CPWA
Accessibility Coordinator
University of Tennessee Libraries
1015 Volunteer Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37996-1000
865-974-0011
lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu>

Schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/leighmosley

[The University of Tennessee Knoxville logo]

From: Derek Riemer <driemer.riemer at gmail.com<mailto:driemer.riemer at gmail.com>>
Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2026 1:56 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>>
Cc: Ryan McCleary <remccleary at gmail.com<mailto:remccleary at gmail.com>>; Mosley, Leigh <lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu>>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] NVDA with MathCAT not reading math

You don't often get email from driemer.riemer at gmail.com<mailto:driemer.riemer at gmail.com>. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>
Please go into the NVDA menu, then tools, then Run COM Registration Fixing tool... and run that tool, you will need admin access. This has fixed math for me in the past on occasion. What browser are you using?

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:15 PM Mosley, Leigh via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
[External email - use caution]

Hi Ryan,

He is running NVDA 2025.3.3 and MathCAT 0.7.5, both of which he has uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times.

Thanks!
Leigh

Leigh Mosley, MA, MLS, CPWA

Accessibility Coordinator

University of Tennessee Libraries

1015 Volunteer Boulevard

Knoxville, TN 37996-1000

865-974-0011

lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu><mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu>>

Schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/leighmosley

[The University of Tennessee Knoxville logo]

________________________________
From: Ryan McCleary <remccleary at gmail.com<mailto:remccleary at gmail.com>>
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2026 1:16 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>>
Cc: Mosley, Leigh <lmosley1 at utk.edu<mailto:lmosley1 at utk.edu>>
Subject: Re: [BlindMath] NVDA with MathCAT not reading math

You don't often get email from remccleary at gmail.com<mailto:remccleary at gmail.com>. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>
Hi Leigh,

What NVDA version is he using, and what version of MathCAT is he using? Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling? I'm happy to help troubleshoot.

Best,
Ryan

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:53 PM Mosley, Leigh via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org><mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>>> wrote:
Hello all!

One of my students has been unable to get his NVDA to read MathML/MathJax properly. His NVDA is updated, his MathCAT is updated, and all his NVDA and MathCAT settings look identical to those on my laptop (Clearspeak speech style and medium verbosity), but when his NVDA encounters MathML/MathJax, it just says "clickable" and moves past the equation.  Can anyone think of anything obvious I have forgotten? I installed my own NVDA/MathCAT so long ago that maybe there is something in the setup I have forgotten about.  He has tried Chrome and Firefox (and rebooted his computer about a hundred times...), but still no luck.

Thanks so much!

Leigh
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--
Derek Riemer
Improving the world one byte at a time!        ⠠⠊⠍⠏⠗⠕⠧⠬ ⠮ ⠸⠺ ⠐⠕ ⠃⠽⠞⠑ ⠁⠞ ⠁ ⠐⠞⠖
•    Accessibility enthusiast.
•    Proud user of the NVDA screen reader.
•    Open source enthusiast.
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•    Personal website: https://derekriemer.com

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