Making STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) content accessible remains one of the biggest challenges in digital publishing. In this session, experts from MTM – the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media present their work on a fully automated production process for creating STEM talking books with synthetic speech. By integrating the open-source tool MathCAT with commercial components, MTM is building a cohesive system to make complex mathematical and technical content accessible to all readers.
Key Topics Covered:
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Challenges in STEM Accessibility: Why math-rich content remains difficult to render in accessible digital formats.
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MathCAT Integration: How MTM is adapting and translating the open-source MathCAT tool into Nordic languages.
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Automated Talking Book Production: Building an end-to-end system to convert STEM content into high-quality synthetic speech.
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Future of Accessible STEM Publishing: Opportunities and technical milestones on the path toward fully accessible STEM books.
Speakers:
Tim Arborealis, Production Manager for talking books at MTM, with a background in astrophysics and a focus on making STEM content accessible. Over the past year, they have been translating and implementing MathCAT in MTM’s production process.
Karl Adam Tiderman, System Owner and Deputy Head of IT at MTM, responsible for the strategic planning and daily management of MTM’s production and distribution environment, including the integration of MathCAT into existing systems.
This session offers publishers, accessibility specialists, and technologists an inside look at cutting-edge efforts to automate and scale the production of accessible STEM content through synthetic speech.
