Essentially, "accessible" means that any course materials you distribute to your students (whether in-class or online), and which are essential to the student's success in class, must be usable by all students in your class. In this case, usable means providing the benefits of the educational program in an equally effective and integrated manner.

The latest release of MyMathLab for School is compatible with the JAWS screen reader*, enabling print-disabled students to read selected multiple-choice and free-response problem types, and interact with them via keyboard controls and math notation input. For low-vision students, MyMathLabfor School works with the ZoomText enlarger. Our accessibility design is guided by the three-pronged functional definition of accessibility provided to post-secondary institutions by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education. Under their interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all students "must be afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services." MyMathLab for School incorporates such opportunities to the extent feasible. In instances in which the technology does not yet exist or is not readily available to provide an identical user experience, --then a substantially equivalent ease of use is warranted.

*The mobile-enhanced (HTML5) player supports JAWS 15 and 16. The standard (FLASH) player supports up to JAWS 14.

The DOJ and DOE refer to substantially equivalent ease of use as a concept to apply when the opportunities described above do not provide a student with a disability with identical ease of use, compared to the ease of use of students without disabilities. In these instances, the student must be provided with accommodations or modifications that "ensure equal access to the educational benefits and opportunities afforded by the technology, and equal treatment in the use of such technology."

Of course, many different situations may occur. We designed the educational benefits and opportunities provided by MyLab Math, and will share our expertise with you to help identify accommodations or modifications that will provide substantially equivalent user experiences.

Nonetheless, Pearson's accessibility team is working to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the need for substantially equivalent ease of use in favor of the more preferable "identical ease of use."

Most videos in MyLab Math have closed captioning.

Yes. Accessible instructional technology is a dynamic and ever-changing field. While we have succeeded in achieving the basic premises of accessibility, there is always room for additional innovation and even greater improvement in ease of use.

For example, ongoing accessibility development focuses on graphical and tabular problem types, allowing access via both JAWS screen readers and, for a subset of non-algorithmic items, Braille translation software/embossers. We are working closely with advocacy groups and accessibility consultants to determine the most effective ways to present highly visual content in non-visual forms.

We rely on a variety of resources—in-house specialists, advocacy groups, accessibility firms, independent consultants, and students—to evaluate our products and to gain insight into the effectiveness of our accessibility efforts.

Many of our leading math textbooks are now offered as “HTML eBooks" for students using assistive technology to access course materials. Compatible with JAWS and other Windows screen readers, HTML eBooks are national mathematics texts published in HTML and MathML to offer students

• complete core content, including text and images, in single column presentation.
• alternative text descriptions for all important figures and photos.
• enhanced navigation support, including interactive table of contents, go-to-page functionality, and keyboard access.

HTML eBooks are provided on the MML site so that all students can access needed texts at the same place, at the same time, and at the same price.  Students with a Windows screen reader need only to download the free Design Science MathPlayer.

To learn more about HTML eBooks, contact your Pearson sales rep.

For texts and related materials not in the HTML eBook format, Pearson can provide PDFs of your textbook or eText, Student Solutions Manuals, Graphing Calculator Manuals, and other ancillaries, which can then be used with such accessibility technologies as screen readers and Braille displays. You can also convert the PDF files into another format, such as a printed Braille book. You can make requests for the PDF files at https://order.superlibrary.com/Comergent/en/US/adirect/pearson?cmd=DisabilityRequestForm. General inquiries should be directed to alternate.textbooks@pearson.com.

A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) is used to assist Federal contracting officials, agencies and buyers in making preliminary assessments regarding the availability of accessibility support in products like MyMathLab.  A VPAT for MyMathLab is available upon request.  A VPAT for MyMathLab is available upon request by emailing disability.support@pearson.com.

You can contact your Pearson sales representative, or email disability.support@pearson.com.