[Trainer-Talk] Pearson MyMathLab

[The Brandts]

Trainers,

I recently worked with a student whose college uses MyMathLab.  This student
is taking Intermediate Algebra.  Because we weren't really able to get
things to work well, I had a couple of calls with Pearson.  There are
components to MyMathLab that are accessible, but many that aren't.  

In discussions and demonstrations with Pearson, we discovered that
instructors who use MyMathLab have to actually choose content that is
accessible; not all the content available is accessible.  The other content
may or may not be accessible.  Not all math concepts have accessible
content.  Also, the student needs to go to the link for Course Tools, then
choose the math book in HTML format in order for the book to be read by a
screen reader.  In 2014 and beyond, Pearson issued an HTML version of their
books in MyMathLab.  Pearson recommends that students use Internet Explorer
and JAWS for the best accessibility; Firefox with JAWS is also supposed to
work well.  Pearson states they are still in the testing phase on the Mac
platform with VoiceOver, so they do not recommend it at this time.
 
The other thing that students who use screen readers need to do when
answering questions in an edit box is to type the math operators, symbols,
expressions or Greek letters in a code documented by Pearson.  That code is
included in the document that serves as their Quick Start Guide.  
 
I suggested that Pearson begin including in their accessibility
documentation the instructor information about choosing accessible content.
Without an instructor knowing this, inaccessible content could very easily
and unknowingly be chosen, and a student would not be able to participate
fully in the class.  

I would urge you to let Pearson know of each portion of their content that
is not accessible, as it's important for all students.  You can contact
Pearson at disability.support at pearson.com.

Jan Brandt
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Trainer-Talk [mailto:trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Deborah Armstrong via Trainer-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2016 2:56 PM
To: Trainer-Talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Deborah Armstrong <armstrongdeborah at fhda.edu>
Subject: [Trainer-Talk] Pearson MyMathLab

This is software that runs in a browser (a web application) but also has a
component that needs to be installed according to its manual.

It seems like more and more math courses at our college are requiring
students use it and I've heard it wasn't that accessible.

I took a look at Pearson's accessibility information
 
https://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/mymathlab/accessibilit
y/

And it wasn't very comforting.

I have students using NVDA, JAWS, zoom-text and the Windows magnifier who
are all asking about it. You have to pay to get a log-in so I have no way of
testing it at this time.

Has anyone worked with this software? It takes over the whole homework
process, presenting you problems and letting them work through them at your
own pace. It also handles all the exams.

Must make it nice and easy for the instructors, but I'm concerned since so
many of our blind students fail math even without this extra complication.

--Debee

_______________________________________________
Trainer-Talk mailing list
Trainer-Talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/trainer-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Trainer-Talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/trainer-talk_nfbnet.org/djsabrandt%40gmail
.com