Overview

Punctuation that belongs to the surrounding sentence should remain outside the math delimiters. This improves readability and helps assistive technologies avoid speaking punctuation as part of the math expression.

Guidance

Bad Example

Don’t put sentence punctuation inside the LaTeX math delimiters:

The slope-intercept form is \(y = mx + b,\) where \(m\) is the slope.

Solve \(x^2 - 1 = 0.\)

If \(x > 0,\) then \(f(x)\) is increasing.

When a comma or period lives inside the math delimiters, a screen reader may announce it as part of the expression, e.g., “y equals m x plus b comma” which sounds like the comma is a mathematical element.

Good Example

Place the sentence punctuation outside of the LaTeX math delimiters:

The slope-intercept form is \(y = mx + b\), where \(m\) is the slope.

Solve \(x^2 - 1 = 0\).

If \(x > 0\), then \(f(x)\) is increasing.

Now the punctuation is announced naturally as part of the sentence flow, separate from the math.

Back to Ten Tips for Accessible LaTeX Math Expressions

LaTeX Reference Guides (Canvas / MathJax 2.7)

MathJax 2.7 TeX/LaTeX Support
One Mathematical Cat: TeX Syntax Reference
MathJax Basic Tutorial and Quick Reference