LaTeX as an Inclusive Accessibility Instrument for Highschool Mathematical Education
Dragan Ahmetovic, Cristian Bernareggi, Marco Bracco, Nadir Murru, Tiziana Armano, Anna Capietto · 2021 · Proceedings of the 18th International Web for All Conference (W4A '21) · doi:10.1145/3430263.3452444
Summary
This paper reports on the design, implementation, and outcomes of a teaching activity in an Italian high school that used LaTeX typesetting language as an inclusive tool for mathematical education. The project was designed to support "Cristina" (pseudonym), a second-year applied science student diagnosed at age 7 with Stargardt macular dystrophy, an inherited retinal disease causing reduced central vision (visual acuity 20/100). Cristina used magnification and a screen reader but avoided specialized accessibility instruments because they highlighted her disability to peers. The project followed an adoption-centred participatory design approach involving focus groups with Cristina, her mother, her tutor, teachers, and researchers. The team evaluated several solutions for accessible mathematical content authoring — specialized math editors (Lambda), WYSIWYG editors, technical computing systems, MathML, ASCIIMathML, and LaTeX — and selected LaTeX because it represents formulae as plain text (accessible via screen readers and Braille displays), is widely used in higher education and STEM careers, and provides value to all students rather than singling out the student with a disability. The teaching activity was implemented in two stages across the school year: first introducing LaTeX mathematical syntax within the mathematics course using GeoGebra and LibreOffice with the TexMaths plugin, then teaching full LaTeX document authoring in the computer science course using the web-based Latex4Technics editor.
Key findings
The project produced mixed results that offer important lessons. On the positive side, the 27 sighted students responded enthusiastically to the LaTeX teaching activity despite it being ungraded and voluntary. Many students independently adopted LaTeX for laboratory reports and homework in other classes, motivated by its usefulness for future STEM education and careers. Cristina demonstrated technical capability — she could access and author mathematical formulae using LaTeX with magnification and screen reading, achieving the project's primary technical goal. However, the most significant finding was Cristina's low acceptance of the proposed solution. Despite participatory design efforts to involve her and keep her disability private from classmates, Cristina firmly resisted adopting any assistive technology, including LaTeX, because using such tools reminded her of her disability and she feared being seen as different. The researchers acknowledge they were unprepared for this level of resistance and lacked expertise in disability psychology. A second major barrier was teacher resistance: only the mathematics and computer science teachers (who participated in focus groups) actively supported the activity, while two other applied science teachers showed no interest in integrating LaTeX into their courses, possibly due to time constraints, lack of investment in the participatory process, and general resistance to change.
Relevance
This case study provides valuable — and refreshingly honest — lessons about the gap between technically sound accessibility solutions and their real-world adoption. For accessibility practitioners and educators, the finding that a technically effective inclusive tool can fail due to psychosocial factors is critically important. The student's rejection of assistive technology because it marked her as different highlights the need for expertise in disability psychology and identity when designing educational interventions, particularly for adolescents. The teacher resistance finding underscores a systemic barrier: even when inclusive tools benefit all students, institutional adoption requires buy-in from all educators, not just willing champions. The paper's recommendation to reframe accessibility activities as universally beneficial rather than disability-focused aligns with Universal Design for Learning principles. The comparison of mathematical accessibility tools (Lambda, MathML, LaTeX, ASCIIMathML) provides a practical reference for anyone working on STEM accessibility in educational settings.
Tags: visual impairment · math accessibility · education accessibility · inclusive design · assistive technology · braille · screen readers
Standards referenced: MathML