Symbols
When it comes to adding symbols to course content, there are many available in the Special Characters menu in the Simple Editor. Figure 6 shows where to open this menu, and Figure 7 shows the menu when it is open.
Figure 7. Special Character Menu
Symbols can also be added by manually adding code in Source view. A number of code options are available for most symbols including the named, decimal, and hex entity versions. No matter which version of the code you use for each symbol, the result will be exactly the same.
For accessibility purposes, it is important to note that some screen readers and other assistive technologies cannot read certain symbols. Kurzweil simply says, "Question mark," for many symbols, while NVDA ignores some altogether, including various arrow symbols and others that are commonly used for math equations. Because of this, it is best to use MathML when you have large amounts of math content rather than using HTML symbols.
Tables 5–8 show some of the symbols found in the Simple Editor, their code equivalents, and how they interact with screen readers. Table 5 specifically shows the various arrow symbols. Note that the leftwards arrow and leftwards double arrow do not appear in the symbols menu and can only be added by code in Source view.
Arrow Symbols
Name of symbol | Symbol | Named entity code | Decimal entity code | Hex entity code | Read by a screen reader? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rightwards arrow | → | → | → | → | Yes |
Leftwards arrow | ← | ← | ← | ← | Yes |
Rightwards double arrow | ⇒ | ⇒ | ⇒ | ⇒ | Read by some screen readers, not NVDA |
Leftwards double arrow | ⇐ | ⇐ | ⇐ | ⇐ | Read by some screen readers, not NVDA |
Left right double arrow | ⇔ | ⇔ | ⇔ | ⇔ | Read by some screen readers, not NVDA |
Currency Symbols
Table 6 includes all of the currency symbols available in the Simple Editor. Other currency symbols can be added by looking up the code and adding it in Source view.
Name of symbol | Symbol | Named entity code | Decimal entity code | Hex entity code | Read by a screen reader? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cent sign | ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | ¢ | Yes |
Currency sign | ¤ | ¤ | ¤ | ¤ | No; reads as "symbol" |
Euro sign | € | € | € | € | Yes |
Pound sign | £ | £ | £ | £ | Yes |
Yen sign | ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | ¥ | Yes |
Other Symbols
Table 8 includes a collection of other symbols available in the Special Characters menu, most of which are compatible with screen readers.
Name of symbol | Symbol | Named entity code | Decimal entity code | Hex entity code | Read by a screen reader? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acute accent | ´ | ´ | ´ | ´ | Yes |
Black diamond suit | ♦ | ♦ | ♦ | ♦ | Read by some screen readers, not NVDA |
Black right-pointing pointer | ► | - | ► | ► | No |
Broken bar | ¦ | ¦ | ¦ | ¦ | Read by some screen readers, not NVDA |
Cedilla | ¸ | ç | ̧ | ̧ | Yes |
Copyright sign | © | © | © | © | Yes |
Degree sign | ° | ° | ° | ° | Yes |
Diaeresis | ¨ | ¨ | ¨ | ¨ | Yes |
Feminine ordinal indicator | ª | ª | ª | ª | Not correctly; reads as "superscript a" |
Masculine ordinal indicator | º | º | º | º | Not correctly; reads as "degrees" |
Inverted exclamation mark | ¡ | ¡ | ¡ | ¡ | Yes |
Inverted question mark | ¿ | ¿ | ¿ | ¿ | Yes |
Left-pointing double angle quotation mark | « | « | « | « | Reads as "left double angle bracket" |
Right-pointing double angle quotation mark | » | » | » | » | Reads as "right double angle bracket" |
Macron | ¯ | ¯ | ¯ | ¯ | Yes |
Micro sign | µ | µ | µ | µ | Reads as "mu" |
Middle dot | · | · | · | · | Reads as "dot" |
Not sign | ¬ | ¬ | ¬ | ¬ | Not correctly; reads as "optional hyphen" |
Pilcrow sign | ¶ | ¶ | ¶ | ¶ | Reads as "paragraph" |
Registered sign | ® | ® | ® | ® | Yes |
Section sign | § | § | § | § | Yes |
Trademark sign | ™ | ™ | ™ | ™ | Yes |
Underscore | _ | _ | _ | _ | Yes, each is read as "underscore," so do not use this to indicate a blank space in a document or quiz question. |
More information about mathematical symbols can be found in the Math lesson.