Re: [Axiom-developer] Re: MONET Axiom front end

[Bob McElrath]

Jason White address@hidden wrote:
> Page, Bill writes:
>  > Tim,
>  > 
>  > Here are some more example pages
>  > 
>  >   http://page.axiom-developer.org/zope/Plone/Members/billpage
>  > 
>  >   http://page.axiom-developer.org/zope/Plone/Members/billpage/AxiomCommands
> 
> Would it be possible to place something informative in the ALT
> attribute of each image, for example the LaTeX code of the equation,
> rather than "LatexWiki image"? People reading these pages with a
> braille or speech interface or with a text-only browser would then at
> least be able to read the LaTeX.

This will require a minor rewrite of how I substitute equations back in
the page.  The code is there but disabled.  In-line equations have an
appropriate alt tag.

> Of course, the real solution is to offer XHTML+MathML as an output
> format, which I am sure is on the development agenda at some point.

Please see:

    http://mcelrath.org/Notes/ITeXTest

Which is a working test-page of exactly that.  Right now browser support
is very poor, and is the limiting factor.  This page uses itex:

    http://golem.ph.utexas.edu/~distler/blog/archives/000374.html

which is a small lex/yacc program to convert a subset of latex to
MathML.  As such it cannot support style files, a latex template, or
some very complex equations.  I then run it through the
LaTeX/ghostscript part to generate images from anything that itex
missed.  More links on this subject can be found on my main LatexWiki
page:

    http://mcelrath.org/Notes/LatexWiki

I am still contemplating an overhaul that would use tex4ht instead, and
thus allow the use of latex style files.  But this is much more
complicated, and slower.

MathML adoption has been glacially slow due to the chicken and egg
problem between browsers and page creators.  I encourage the AXIOM
project to make use of MathML and help push this!  As far as I know,
Distler's blog (above) is the only site to use exclusively MathML on a
"real" site.  (as opposed to sites talking about MathML implementation
itself, or sites which have MathML toys but no mathematical content of
interest to mathematicians, physicists, or engineers)

--
Cheers,
Bob McElrath [Univ. of California at Davis, Department of Physics]
    
    It is unpatriotic to question the Kleptocracy.

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