1. WashU Web Accessibility Users Group
Screen Readers
WashU Web Accessibility Users Group

2. Introduction
Screen readers are software programs that convert digital content to speech or a braille display. Some software can also magnify or zoom text.
Screen readers are used by people who are blind or visually impaired, people with cognitive or learning disabilities, and anyone who may prefer the audio version of digital content.
A screen reader is just one type of assistive technology. Thoughtful design using WCAG guidelines ensures that digital content is available to everyone.
WebAIM – Designing for Screen Reader Compatibility

3. Software For Mac iOS: VoiceOver – built in; free
For Windows & other operating systems:
NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)
Free, open source – from NV Access
Recommended browser: Firefox or MS Edge
JAWS (Job Access With Speech)
Cost ~$1,000 – from Freedom Scientific
Recommended browser: Internet Explorer or Chrome
Others: ZoomText ($), System Access (SA or SAToGo) ($), ChromeVox (free with Chrome OS)

4. Mobile Technology Built into the OS Apple – VoiceOver
Android – TalkBack
Windows – Narrator
Other mobile options
Mobile Accessibility for Android – from Code Factory
Mobile Speak – from Code Factory
Talks&Zooms – from Nuance

5. Configuration
Depending on the software, users can modify the settings to select:
Synthesizer
Voice, rate, pitch
A pop-up Speech Viewer (for sighted dev purposes) – displays each item as it’s spoken

6. Screen Reader Navigation
Via shortcuts, users can navigate through the following:
Headings, lists, menus
Buttons (e.g., search)
Links, “skip” links
Tables, graphs
Landmarks, sections
Paragraphs, lines, words, characters
Forms
and more...

7. “Skip” Links
According to the most recent WebAIM screen reader survey (July 2015), skip links (to bypass navigation) were reportedly used:
Response
% of Respondents
Whenever they’re available
18.3%
Often
19.5%
Sometimes
30.2%
Seldom
17.7%
Never
14.3%

8. Modes In some screen readers, users toggle between two modes:
Browse – for reading documents or webpages
Focus (also called Forms) – for user input
Example: In NVDA, “B” in browse mode goes to the next button, but in forms mode, it types the letter B.
Note: Mac VoiceOver only uses browse mode.

9. Super Users and Occasional Users
Not everyone with disabilities is a super user, able to navigate quickly through content using shortcuts.
Some people with disabilities are infrequent screen-reader users, so they may navigate a page from top to bottom.
You should test for both scenarios.

10. So many choices...
When testing for web accessibility, don’t let the breadth of choices in screen-reader software overwhelm you.
It’s better to test with one screen reader than with none.
Over time, you may want to test with an additional screen reader as you become more comfortable with them.

11. Questions?