What Accessibility features does Desmos offer?

Accessibility

Desmos Studio is a Public Benefit Corporation with a goal of helping everyone learn math, love math, and grow with math. We believe that everyone has an inner mathematician and that some people haven’t been given the opportunity, encouragement, or tools to discover theirs. Because of this, we prioritize equity and accessibility at every level of our work. Read about all of our accessibility features at desmos.com/accessibility.

 

Keyboard Navigation

Almost everything you can do with a mouse or trackpad in our calculators you can also do with a keyboard. When you open any Desmos Studio Math Tool, you start focused in the expression list where you can begin typing math expressions.

Open the keyboard shortcuts menu in the Desmos Graphing Calculator, Geometry Tool, and 3D Calculator at any time by pressing Ctrl + / or explore the shortcuts at desmos.com/graphingshortcuts.

 

Keyboard Navigation Example in Geometry

The Geometry tool offers a point-and-click interface that allows you to create geometric objects on the graph paper using the geometry toolbar. All of these tools can be accessed and placed using the keyboard. Let’s walk through how to create a circle with a keyboard.

A circle is defined by a center point and a radius point. To place a circle on the graph paper using the circle tool, start by either tabbing to the geometry toolbar or pressing Ctrl + Alt + M to focus the geometry toolbar.

Once the toolbar is focused, use the right arrow key to move over to the circle tool (the fourth tool in the geometry toolbar). Pressing enter to select this tool will then focus the graph paper and show a point, which will be the center of your circle. You can move the point with arrow keys and press enter when it’s exactly where you want it. Next, use arrow keys to move the second point away from the center before pressing enter to drop a second point to define the radius of your circle, which will cause the circle to be drawn on the screen.

To get out of the circle tool, press Esc or use the keyboard shortcut 1 to get back to the select tool (the first tool in the geometry toolbar).

If you want to place the center at a certain point in the coordinate plane, start by turning on the grid in the geometry settings menu so that the points will snap to the grid. You can reach the menu with Ctrl + Alt + G, tab to the Grid toggle, and press the spacebar to show the grid.

 

Text-to-Speech

When used with a screen reader, the Desmos calculators’ equation editor reads aloud expressions knowing the difference between reading “cosine” instead of “cos,” “x squared” instead of “x superscript 2,” “one half” instead of “1 slash 2”, and more. Need help configuring your screen reader on a PC, Mac, Chromebook, iPhone, or iPad? Learn more in our Screen Reader section of the Accessibility page.

 

Audio Trace

Audio trace is a powerful accessibility feature that allows users to explore a single equation or an entire system of equations through sound. When focused in an expression line, press Alt + T to activate audio trace mode and type H to hear the graph. Many commands are available both from the computer keyboard and via the on-screen keypad, including choices to adjust the graph’s volume and playback speed and move between points, points of interest, and curves. Audio trace mode can also describe the point, curve, and axes you’re investigating!

Listen to the video to hear \(f(x)=-2x+4\) audio traced from left to right. Notice how an overtone plays when moving from negative to positive \(x\) values (the independent variable) and static occurs when moving from positive to negative \(y\) values (the dependent variable). The pops occur when \(f(x)\) intersects with \(g(x)=x^2+1\).

Open the graph here and try listening to g(x).

 

Accessibility Settings in the Graph Settings Menu

Enlarge the Display

All of our math tools except for Desmos 3D include a setting to enlarge the display, which makes text and graphed curves larger and bolder. Access this setting by opening the settings menu found in each tool. This option is represented by a toggle with a smaller and larger “A” icon.

Turn on Reverse Contrast

In all of our tools, you can turn on reverse contrast mode, which inverts the colors of the tool. In 3D, reverse contrast inverts the colors of the background, expression list, and buttons while maintaining the color of points, lines, and surfaces.

Gif in the Scientific Calculator showing Enlarge Display, Reverse Contrast, and Braille Mode.

Use Braille Mode

The settings menu also contains options for configuring Desmos to work with refreshable Braille displays. We support the Nemeth and UEB math codes in all of our math tools except the Matrix calculator.

Check out our collection of Braille examples here: desmos.com/braille-examples.

Learn More

Please write in with any questions or feedback to support@desmos.com or accessibility@desmos.com