Desktop things

Narrator is the integrated screen reader for Windows 10. The August 2nd Windows 10 Anniversary update introduces several new Narrator features, including a Narrator mode designed specifically for developers.

When keyboard access doesn’t work, the Jaws screen reader makes it possible to explore content using simulated mouse movements instead. This function is broken in Firefox, due to changes made (some time ago) in its graphics rendering engine. This post describes a workaround that has proved successful for some.

Windows 8 introduces several improvements to Narrator, its built in speech capability. Like VoiceOver in the early days, there is much that Narrator doesn’t do, but it already has many of the characteristics you’d expect to find in a screen reader.

Windows 8 is a big change from Windows 7. With features like the Metro start screen and charm bar, the interface has been completely reworked and the focus is on touch screen devices. That also means a whole new set of shortcut keys for keyboard devices too.

This post was updated on 8th July 2012, to reflect changes in the Windows 8 release edition. Windows 8 has several accessibility improvements. One of the most noticeable is Narrator, Windows’ built in speech capability. Narrator has grown up in Windows 8, and now comes with a lot more to offer.

NVDA is one of a new generation of access technologies for blind and partially sighted people. It’s given thousands of blind people a chance to use a computer, and it’s the darling of the open standards community, but on 19th January NVDA’s developers sent out an urgent SOS.