Math Societies Collaborate on Author Guidelines for Accessible Publishing

Four mathematical societies have worked together to address the challenges in publishing accessible mathematics content online, given requirements related to the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the update to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The American Mathematical Society (AMS), European Mathematical Society (EMS), London Mathematical Society (LMS), and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) have drafted a joint set of “Author Guidelines for Preparing Accessible Mathematics Content” to assist mathematics authors, who typically compose content using the LaTeX document preparation system.

Each publisher’s website will link to the guidelines, which will be hosted by SIAM’s website.

“As society publishers, our first commitment is to the mathematics community, so it was important to come together to work on these guidelines that take into account the needs of our authors and readers,” said Robert Harington, chief publishing officer, American Mathematical Society.

“While each publisher will adapt the guidelines slightly to fit their publication process, we believe it is important to provide our authors with consistent guidance as they begin work on their manuscripts, to avoid significant changes later in the production workflow,” said Simon Buckmaster, head of academic publications, London Mathematical Society.

“The heart of the idea is to avoid confusion on the authors’ side by establishing a unified baseline standard regardless of where they publish,” EMS Press CEO André Gaul said. “The guidelines help authors prepare their manuscripts efficiently while giving the publisher all necessary details to produce publications that are truly accessible to all mathematicians.”

In 2025, the publications offices of the four societies convened a cross-functional working group composed of staff from editorial, production, marketing, and sales, with the support of publishing leadership and society leadership. 

“Along the way, we gathered input from our colleagues, volunteers from our societies, and mathematicians with a visual impairment as the working group held regular conference calls to work through various aspects of the guidelines in detail,” said SIAM Publications Director Kivmars Bowling. “Accessibility is an incredibly nuanced subject and so we continue to welcome further feedback from the community now that these guidelines have been launched.”

In November, Bowling and Gaul discussed the guidelines during the Charleston Conference, an annual gathering of librarians, publishers, and resource managers held in South Carolina. 

“Math and figures are consistently cited as major barriers in conversations about accessible publishing,” said Katherine Klosek, director of information policy and federal relations at the Association of Research Libraries. “These guidelines will serve as a valuable resource not only for authors, but for the broader research and scholarly community," she said.