For most people reading this page, I’m sure that losing your vision is a dreadful idea. Unfortunately, partial blindness and complete vision loss are facts of life for many people around the world, even those who use the Internet regularly. In fact, someone with visual impairments could be reading this article right now. If you or a friend or family member are visually impaired, or you just want a screen reader, stick with me, and I’ll recommend the best screen-reading applications.
- Greetings all, my clinic has recently hired a visually-impaired user. Is anyone familiar with any screen reader software. Right now we are trialing JAWS.
- VoiceOver is the first screen reader to provide plug-and-play support for refreshable braille displays. Plug in or sync one of over 100 compatible displays, and the VoiceOver description is presented to you in braille. Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Enable accessibility features on Mac. In the Apple menu, select.
- Despite its small screen and keypad, several features built into Apple's iPod touch make it accessible to users who are blind or visually impaired. The iPhone's popularity among blind users makes the iPod touch—requires no phone plan yet supports most of the same apps —a cost-effective entry point for Mac users seeking the benefits of a.
- Learning to use a computer with a screen reader doesn’t have to be a daunting task! The American Foundation for the Blind is here to help with a set of free tutorials called “Learn NVDA,” which provide an easy-to-follow introduction to using Microsoft Windows with Nonvisual Desktop Access.
Make videos accessible to visually impaired and hearing-impaired users. Shapes and other visual elements, so that screen readers can read the text to describe the element to users who can’t see it. Select the element, for example, an image. To make your PowerPoint presentations accessible, ensure the following.
While you will have all that you need to be reading blind you have finished reading this article, you definitely shouldn’t be grabbing just any old screen reader off the Internet either.
Best Microsoft Windows Screen Reader: JAWS
What would this list be without Freedom Scientific’s JAWS? It advertises itself as (and is) the most popular screen reader on the market and for good reason. The company that makes it is also prominent for making other products oriented toward the disabled, including magnifiers, large-print keyboards and even digital braille-centered devices. If you already use Windows and Freedom Scientific’s other products, buying JAWS is a no-brainer. Though, therein lies its downside: unlike some other programs on this list, JAWS is not free, though it has a nice trial for anyone who wants to take it for a test run.
Best Mac OS X Screen Reader: Apple VoiceOver
Also available on iOS, VoiceOver is Apple’s free screen-reading solution made for Mac OS X, and it’s probably one of the best on this list. In addition to having very deep, OS-level integration, VoiceOver also has features like braille support and functions tailored specifically to Mac hardware like a “Rotor” function mapped to the touchpad and gestures. If you’re using a Mac or iPhone, there’s no reason not to grab Voiceover.
Best Chrome (OS) Screen Reader: Google ChromeVox
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the best screen-reading solution for Chrome and Chrome OS is the one developed by Google. ChromeVox is a Chrome (OS)-centered solution intended to make Chrome and Chrome OS more usable for the visually-impaired. If you’re using Windows or another desktop OS, you may want to consider using a screen reader that works on an OS level. Otherwise, you should definitely look into ChromeVox. It can be performance-taxing, but it’s a fairly solid screen reader offered for the low, low price of free.
Best Free JAWS Alternative: NVDA
NVDA is a prolific, free open-source screen-reading solution for Windows, and as far as competition with JAWS goes, it’s probably the best thing you can go for. Plus, it’s free. NVDA comes with a multitude of features, including braille display compatibility, being able to be run as a portable app and having developer-suited features like reading the command prompt. As far as features and free dev support on Windows goes, this is your best bet.
Closing
I took a few screen readers for a test run (aside from the Apple solution), and I walked away with mostly positive thoughts. What about you? Do any of you use screen readers or have better recommendations? Sound off in the comments, and let me know if you do!
It is not difficult for a sighted person to imagine how being blind or visually impaired could make using a computer difficult. Just close your eyes and you will instantly experience that even processing text is impossible – or impossible without additional software at least. Now a range of software is available that can help to make using a computer an easier, more enjoyable and more productive experience for blind or visually impaired users.
For in-depth insights on accessibility, we recommend the online course on Accessibility at the Interaction Design Foundation.
Essential Software: A Screen Reader
A screen reader is an essential piece of software for a blind or visually impaired person. Simply put, a screen reader transmits whatever text is displayed on the computer screen into a form that a visually impaired user can process (usually tactile, auditory or a combination of both). While the most basic screen readers will not help blind users navigate a computer, those with additional features can give people with visual impairment much more independence.
May 16, 2014 Looking for opinions on best RSS reader to work with my iOS devices and MacBook Pro. All equally important, however iPhone is where I'll normally check first. All I've ever used was Google Reader which was great in keeping an RSS update from. Best rss reader for mac and iphone. The best RSS reader for macOS Reeder. App Store $9.99. March 15, 2018. Reeder for Mac. The best RSS client for macOS is Reeder 3. Reeder should be a familiar name to iOS users. A reader's Mac and iPhone setup, a tip on using Siri Shortcuts with MindNode, and more. RSS Bot is a free minimalistic RSS feed reader available from the Mac App Store. It also has the ability to sync with Google Reader, however you have to enable it in Preferences -> General -> Enable Sync with Google Reader.
Whilst most screen readers work by having a synthetic voice that reads text aloud, others can also communicate data via a refreshable braille display. Such screen readers make use of crystals that can expand when exposed to particular voltage levels (thanks to a phenomenon known as the Piezo Effect), allowing visually impaired users to use their fingers to read the text that is displayed on screen. But while screen-reading software can be affordable, such hardware is usually very expensive.
Magnifying Readers For Visually Impaired
Free Software Makes ‘Universal’ Access a Reality
Many people could not afford the expensive price tag associated with some of the more sophisticated screen readers. Luckily for them, there are several screen reading software that are completely free. The following is a list of free screen readers that one can download:
Adobe Reader For Mac
NVDA (Windows)
NVDA has been designed by a blind software engineering graduate, James Teh, for use with Windows computers. This free and open source screen reader has a synthetic voice that reads whatever the cursor hovers over, and can be used directly from a USB stick, making it ideal for students.Serotek System Access (Windows)
This downloadable and complete screen reader can be used even outside your browser, thus making it one of the quickest ways of getting a screen reader up and running on your system. Serotek offers extended versions for a fee, although it is much cheaper than other screen readers.Apple VoiceOver (OS X)
Apple VoiceOver includes options to magnify, keyboard control and verbal descriptions in English to describe what is happening on screen. It also reads aloud file content as well as web pages, E-mail messages and word processing files whilst providing a relatively accurate narrative of the user’s workspace. This covers a wide array of keyboard commands that enable user navigation of the Mac OS X interface.ORCA (Linux)
ORCA is a Linux based screen reader which has also been evolving for the past number of years. Although it is not the sole Linux-based screen reader, ORCA is definitely the most popular. Recently it has been included with the Ubuntu installation CD, and with a couple of initial key presses it allows blind people to have audible interaction during the installation process.BRLTTY (Linux)
BRLTTY is a background process (daemon) which provides access to the Linux/Unix console (when in text mode) for a blind person using a refreshable braille display. It drives the braille display, and provides complete screen review functionality. Some speech capability has also been incorporated.Emacspeak (Linux)
Emacspeak is a free speech interface and that allows visually impaired users to interact independently and efficiently with the computer. Its technology enables it to produce rich aural representation of electronic information. Emacspeak offers audible interface of the different aspects of the Internet such as browsing and messaging as well as local and remote information via a consistent and well-integrated user interface.WebAnywhere (All OSs, Web browsers)
WebAnywhere is a web-based screen reader for the web. It requires no special software to be installed on the client machine and, therefore, enables blind people to access the web from any computer they happen to have access to that has a sound cardSpoken Web (Internet Explorer)
Spoken-Web is a Web portal, managing a wide range of online data-intensive content like news updates, weather, travel and business articles for computer users who are blind or visually impaired. The site provides a simple, easy-to-use interface for navigating between the different sections and articles. Using the keyboard to navigate, a person who is blind or who has a visual impairment can hear the full range of an article content provided in a logical, clear, and understandable manner.ChromeVox (Google Chrome)
Google ChromeVox is a Google Chrome screen reader extension for visually impaired users.ChromeVis (Google Chrome)
Google ChromeVis is a Google Chrome extension that magnifies any selected text on a webpage. The magnified text is displayed inside of a separate lens and preserves the original page layout. Users can change both the lens text color and the lens background color.
Sony Reader For Mac
Software for Work and Play
Such software is essential for blind users to read the content of web pages or communicate with friends and colleagues. As more sophisticated software has been made available to a larger audience, people have begun turning their attention to developing leisure programs that are designed with accessibility in mind. For example, the website blindsoftware.com has an accessible mp3 player to download and a selection of games.
Developing Software for Everyone
When it comes to universal access, several people with hearing or visual impairments or illnesses have found that it can become a barrier to using traditional software. The goal is to remove those perceived barriers and help them be able to achieve results beyond their imagination. This is why it is important that developers continue to work on making software as accessible as they can for a wide range of people, so everyone can benefit from the powerful tools computers offer.
Want to learn more?
If you’d like to brush up on Accessibility and get practical skills on the subject, then consider to take the online course on Accessibility. If, on the other hand, you want to go over the basics of UX and Usability, you could take the online course on User Experience. Good luck on your learning journey!
(Lead image: Depositphotos)