Free Screen Reader for the Visually Impaired

There's a new software for those with visual impairments to gain greater access to digital media. NVDA is short for NonVisual Desktop Access, and is a "free and open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system." It is designed to allow individuals with visual impairments to access computers without incurring any costs than sighted individuals would have. The most common commercial product, JAWS from Freedom Scientific, costs $895 from their website.

However, NVDA's cost makes it an attractive alternative and has flexibility in it's installation. The software can be installed on a host computer or it can run entirely from a USB flashdrive or other portable media (such as an IPod) with out the need for installation on the computer which is being used. This means that an individual can carry their assistive technology with them and access it from any computer with a USB port. It is coupled with an open source text to speech software called eSpeak, a "free opensource multilingual speech synthesizer."The documentation notes that NVDA supports Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, and provides "basic support" for Microsoft products Excel, Word, Outlook and Internet Explorer.

Functionally, I found the program challenging to get started with. There is the option to use the mouse, and that it will read what ever is under the cursor. There is a beeping that orientates you to the location on the screen. The pitch increases as the cursor moves up the screen and fades left to right depending on where the cursor is. This feature would only be effective if you were using headphones, as monitor mounted speakers are likely too close together to allow the user to differentiate the movement left and right. I found the sounds distracting and interfered with the text being read. As a visual user I didn't need this option, and was able to disable it under the options menu.

A great asset is that this software can be put on a flash drive or cd and taken with the user and especially that that its free. As text to speech software, it's not wholly appropriate for those with learning disabilities as it does not provide a visual cue to indicate to the user what is being read like other speech to text software. This software was designed for those with visual impairments and achieves what it intends to do. Being open source, developers continue to work on this software and it will continue to change and improve. It is definitely worth loading a copy on a flash drive and keeping it with you if you need the assistance of a screen reader.

Techical requirements:
XP and Visa, and "may partially work on Windows 2000"
256 mb Ram