Accessibility: STEM

Why Is This Important?

Digital accessibility for science, technology, engineering and math promotes opportunity for all, expands and drives innovation, and supports learning for all students. This also helps reflect real-world accessibility in the classroom.

When To Use It
  • Before creating anything, ensure content, documents or lessons are "born accessible."
  • When updating content, ensure an accessible user environment is available to include all ideally with the appropriate web markup language such as MathML, LaTeXML.
How To Use It
  • Make content readable and structured.
  • Add alternative text to images, graphs, charts, maps, etc.
  • Provide captions and transcripts.
  • Ensure keyboard accessibility.
  • Use accessible color contrast.

Best Practices

There are different types of learning, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or reading and writing. To ensure that all types of learning needs are met, provide different types of learning formats. Ensure all alternative text is available for images, keyboard access is available, and provide captions or extra information if information is unclear.

STEM Applications

Commonly used applications at SDSU should meet digital accessibility standards.

LaTeX
  • Provide text descriptions for complex expressions or formulas.
    • Expressions example: "The matrix has four rows and five columns, and its transpose has three rows and five columns."
    • Formula example: "H2O" or "2 H2 + O2 = 2 H2O."
  • To add alternative text for images, use the following command before the "\includegraphics" line.
    • alt={Insert Description of Text}
  • To tag a LaTeX document:
    • Update LaTeX compiler before proceeding.
    • Place this text before "\documentclass":
      • \DocumentMetadata [uncompress, %only for debugging!! pdfversion=2.0, text phase={phase-111,math,firstaid} %load and activate tagpdf and uses all the phase-III code} \pdfinfo{ /Author (This Author Name is Added to the PDF file) /Title (This Titile is embedded in the PDF file) }
      • Note: This command will not work with all classes and packages. If needed, submit document to the university for remediation.
      • Visit for more information about tagging PDFs on LaTeX.
      • D2L Panorama supports tagging with Alternative Formats.
Autodesk Revit
  • Use keyboard shortcuts when possible to reduce mouse dependence.
  • Use clear naming conventions in models for easier understanding.
  • Provide clear and concise documents and annotations within models.
  • Adjust user interface scaling and display settings.
    • Note: Revit has limited accessibility features and heavily relies on visual interfaces, mouse navigation, and complex menus and toolbars. Consider providing alternative experiences, such as a physical model or a written description of the model's features and shape.
Computer Science
  • Always provide code examples as text rather than photos or screenshots.
  • Encourage adding comments to explain sections of the code.
    • This will help users understand the logic and encourage critical thinking skills throughout the course.
  • If students are expected to use certain applications or development tools, try to pick those known for accessibility.
    • Visual Studio Code has screen reader support, can be operated via keyboard and has high contrast theming.
    • If teaching web development, have students run accessibility checkers (such as WAVE or Lighthouse) and ensure they create pages born accessible.
  • For flowcharts, write out the sequence of steps or list out classes and relationships.
  • For databases, describe entities and connections.
Tips for Checking Accessibility
  • Alternative text, long descriptions and labels are key components into ensuring accessibility for all.
Trainings and Resources
Articles