Course: Math Subtest II Lesson: Course Introduction Topic: Display of Mathematics and Browser Issues      Page 1 of 1

Display of Mathematics and Browser Issues

The XML standard for display of mathematics in browsers is MathML, currently in version 2.0. We use a conversion software, ASCIIMathML that lets us design pages using calculator-style mathematical notation, while converting this notation to true (and accessible) MathML when viewed in a browser.

Firefox 2.0+ has built-in support for MathML, so if you use this browser, no separate plugin is necessary. See our notes below about special problems in Firefox.

As of Internet Explorer 7.0, no support is included for MathML. However, a separate, free plugin, MathPlayer, is available. If you are not sure whether you have it, you can check here. If you need it, you can download the plugin here.

Firefox issues: Square root signs that include both numerator and denominator appear to have the correct width, but not height, as in sqrt(2/3).

IE issues: Directly using MathML to avoid ASCIIMathML display limitations works in Firefox, but not in IE. Example: $\mathrm{cos}\left(x-\frac{3\pi }{2}\right)=\left(\mathrm{cos}x\right)\left(\mathrm{cos}\frac{3\pi }{2}\right)+\left(\mathrm{sin}x\right)\left(\mathrm{sin}\frac{3\pi }{2}\right)=\left(\mathrm{cos}x\right)\left(0\right)+\left(\mathrm{sin}x\right)\left(-1\right)=-\mathrm{sin}x$

When you're ready, begin Lesson 2: Parallelism and Euclidean Geometry by selecting it from the LESSON menu above.