Screen Reading Software

Desktop computer displaying a matrix of letters.
Photo by Josh Sorenson

Screen readers are similar to TTS programs, but in addition to reading out documents and web pages, they also read out information about anything that’s displayed on the screen, such as the title of the active window, menu items, and form controls. Many also have support for use with refreshable Braille displays.

Screen readers also add keyboard shortcuts and touchscreen gestures that aid in navigating the computer, such as switching between windows and tabs or moving between the headings on a website, which allows users to operate their computer without using a mouse or looking at the screen.

Screen readers are also a cornerstone of accessibility testing, and multiple programs are often used when testing a website or program, since each one may behave slightly differently.

Who can benefit?

  • People who are blind, have low vision, or get eye strain from using a computer screen
  • People whose manual dexterity makes using a computer mouse difficult, but can operate a keyboard
  • People whose learning style is better suited to auditory or bimodal learning

Below are some examples of screen readers used at the University of Illinois, as well as some free alternatives available to anyone. The free alternatives listed are by no means exhaustive, and many won’t have all the features available from paid programs. However, they do give a good example of the basic functionalities available, and may help determine whether it’s worth pursuing more feature-rich alternatives.

Disclaimer: DRES and the University of Illinois do not formally endorse or recommend any specific software programs. The programs listed below serve as examples of different categories of AT, with a focus on the software available to University of Illinois students registered with DRES with assistive technology as part of their accommodations. For vendors interested in having their AT programs featured on the DRES website, please contact us at dres-accessible-media@illinois.edu.


JAWS

Platform: Windows.

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) has been the world’s most popular screen reader for most of the decade. Developed by Freedom Scientific, JAWS is tested and guaranteed to work with the company’s other accessibility programs, including Fusion, OpenBook, and ZoomText.

Feature Highlights

  • Screen reading: Reads the text of documents and web pages aloud, as well as announcing the active window, menu item, form field, etc.
  • Keyboard shortcuts & touchscreen gestures: Control your computer, applications, and JAWS itself without using a mouse
  • Voice assistant: Control JAWS using natural language commands when you can’t remember a keyboard command
  • Typing echo: Reads back your words as you type, and buzzes on spelling errors so you know you’ve typed what you meant to
  • Text formatting: Can be configured to read out information about the text itself, such as font name and size, style, bolding, italics, etc.
  • Language switching: Switches smoothly between many common languages, with more available from downloadable voice synthesizers
  • Complete coverage: A talking installer and ability to run immediately from the Windows login screen ensures continuous support

See it in action

There are hundreds of videos on the JAWS company’s YouTube channel that show how JAWS works generally, and how it interacts with specific applications. We recommend starting with the JAWS Windows 10 Overview video to get a feel for its basic operation.


NVDA

Platform: Windows.

NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) is a free, open-source screen reader developed in response to the high cost of other commercial screen readers, and is currently neck-and-neck with JAWS in terms of popularity. The company aims to provide a fast, intuitive, and functional screen reader, developed by the blind for the blind.

Feature Highlights

  • Screen reading: Reads the text of documents and web pages aloud, as well as announcing the active window, menu item, form field, etc.
  • Keyboard shortcuts & touchscreen gestures: Control your computer, applications, and NVDA itself without using a mouse
  • Typing echo: Reads back your words as you type, and buzzes on spelling errors so you know you’ve typed what you meant to
  • Text formatting: Can be configured to read out information about the text itself, such as font name and size, style, bolding, italics, etc.
  • International: Supports over 55 languages
  • Complete coverage: A talking installer and ability to run immediately from the Windows login screen ensures continuous support
  • Portable: Can be run from a USB drive for instant use on public and shared computers

See it in action

Pope Tech has an excellent overview video for NVDA, and Deque University has a handy NVDA Keyboard Shortcuts page to help you get an idea for how NVDA works.


Free Screen Reader Alternatives

NVDA

Platform: Windows.
How to get it: Download NVDA here.

Windows Narrator

Platform: Windows.
How to get it: Narrator comes built into Windows.

Apple VoiceOver

Platforms: Mac, iOS.
How to get it: VoiceOver comes built into Mac and iOS.

Android TalkBack

Platform: Android.
How to get it: TalkBack comes built into Android.

Orca

Platform: Linux.
How to get it: Download Orca here.


For More Information

If any of these programs sounded useful to you, contact your Access Specialist or begin the accommodation process today to get an assistive technology program added to your accommodations. For questions or to request personalized AT training, email AMS at dres-accessible-media@illinois.edu and include “[AT]” in the subject line.