Wiris

Documentation

  • Demos
  • Visit our website
  • Contact us
  • MathType

    • WirisQuizzes

      • LearningLemur

        • CalcMe

          • MathPlayer

            • Store FAQ

              • VPAT for the electronic documentation

                • MathFlow

                  • BF FAQ

                    • Miscellaneous

                      • Wiris Integrations

                        • Home
                        • MathPlayer
                        • MathML 3
                        • The big changes
                        • The big changes

                        Elementary math

                        Reading time: 1min

                        MathML has long been useful for notations used in algebra and higher math, but describing the two-dimensional layout used in elementary math required tedious layout using mtable, with each digit in its own column and clever tricks to get the lines to come out correctly. This was both difficult to do and the result was inaccessible. MathML 3 adds support for a wide variety of notations used in lower grade math for:

                        • addition, subtraction, and multiplication (with carries/borrows)
                        • long division
                        • repeating digits in decimal numbers

                        Here are some examples:

                        subtraction with borrows long division (US, etc., style) repeating decimal

                        The support for these notations is very flexible in MathML 3 to handle the wide variety of notations that are used around the world. The flexibility allows for:

                        • different positions for the operator in addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems
                        • different positions for the carries
                        • different styles of cross-outs
                        • control over the length, position, and thickness of lines
                        • different notations for long division
                        • different notations for showing repeating decimals

                        For more examples, including a video showing how MathPlayer will speak these for accessibility, see our elementary math examples page. For complete details about the elements and attributes used for elementary math, see Section 3.6 of the MathML 3 recommendation.

                        Was this article helpful?

                        Give feedback about this article

                        Related Articles

                        • Arithmetic
                        • The four basic operations
                        • Examples
                        • Bidirectional layout support

                        Empowering STEM education

                        MathType

                        • Office Tools
                        • LMS
                        • XML
                        • HTML

                        WirisQuizzes

                        Learning Lemur

                        Integrations

                        Solutions

                        • Education
                        • Publishing houses – platforms and interactive
                        • Publishing houses – Print and digital
                        • Technical writers

                        Pricing

                        Downloads

                        Blog

                        • Success stories

                        About us

                        • Careers
                        • Partnership

                        Contact Us

                        Contact Sales

                        European union (European Regional Development Fund) and 1EdTech (TrustEd Apps Certified)
                        • Cookie Policy
                        • Terms of Use
                        • Privacy Policy / GDPR
                        • Student Data Privacy
                        • Compliance
                        • Cookie Settings

                        © Wiris 2026

                        Expand