Screen readers Windows
[Narrator:] In this chapter we will discuss screen readers using the Microsoft Windows operating system version 10. Please note that Microsoft updates and changes its operating system from time to time, so your screen or set of functionalities might look slightly different to the ones described in this course.
The Microsoft Windows built-in screen reader is called Narrator. Narrator is a lightweight screen reader that reads dialogue boxes and window controls in a number of the more basic applications for Windows. Microsoft recommends that people with visual impairments use a full-function screen reader for general computer use.
Let’s try Narrator. The fastest way to get to the Narrator settings is to press the Windows, Ctrl and N keys. This opens the settings app directly in Settings, Ease of Access, Narrator. You can also navigate the same path with the mouse.
Activate the switch to enable Windows Narrator. If you like, you can activate a keyboard shortcut to activate Narrator via the keyboard. Screen reader: Starting Narrator.
[Narrator:] After you enable Narrator, the QuickStart window opens, which gives you a brief description of how to use Narrator and introduces some functions and commands to get you started.
[Screen reader:] Narrator QuickStart, heading level 1. Welcome to Narrator QuickStart (1 of 13). This guide shows you the basics of using Narrator. Narrator reads aloud what's written on your screen so you can navigate your PC. To turn it on or off, press and hold the Windows logo key, then press Ctrl and Enter.
[Narrator:] It will pop up every time you start Narrator unless you click the checkbox. To silence Narrator at any point press the Ctrl key.
[Screen reader:] Every page in this guide will be...
[Narrator:] To close the QuickStart window, press the Alt and F4 key.
[Screen reader:] Settings window. Use Narrator on. Use Narrator to read and interact with your device. Toggle switch.
[Narrator:] Narrator works in different modes. The simplest mode for navigation and reading is the scan mode. Turn it on or off using Narrator and the space bar.
[Screen reader:] Scan off. Scan.
[Narrator:] In scan mode, we use the Down and Up arrow keys to navigate to the next or previous item.
[Screen reader:] Check Allow the shortcut key to start Narrator checkbox. Press the Window logo key + Ctrl + Enter to turn Narrator on or off. Learn Narrator basics with QuickStart link. Learn how to use Narrator link. Heading level 2. Choose when to start Narrator.
[Narrator:] When using the Right or Left arrow keys, Narrator will read the next or previous character.
[Screen reader:] A-R-R-A-T…
[Narrator:] Use the Tab and arrow keys to navigate between interactive controls such as buttons, checkboxes and links. Press Enter to activate or deactivate buttons, checkboxes and links.
[Screen reader:] Uncheck Start Narrator after sign in checkbox. Uncheck Start Narrator before sign in for everyone checkbox. Checked. Unchecked.
Heading level 2: Sync settings. Use current settings before sign in button. Personalize Narrator's voice. Choose a voice. Microsoft David - English (United States), combo box collapsed. Microsoft David – English (United States), 1 of 5. Selected. Microsoft Zira - English (United States), 2 of 5. Non-selected. Microsoft David – English (United States), 1 of 5. Selected. Choose a voice. Microsoft David - English (United States), combo box collapsed. Learn how to add more voices, link. Change voice speed. Slider at 9. Tool tip, 9. Current value, 9. Minimum value, 0. Maximum value, 20.
[Narrator:] To change the slider values, press the Space bar to increase the value, or Shift and the Space bar to decrease the value.
[Screen reader:] 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Learn how to add more voices, link. Choose a voice. Microsoft David – English (United States), combo box collapsed. Learn how to add more voices, link. Change voice speed 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9.
[Narrator:] Then use keyboard commands, such as D for the next landmark or H for the next heading. Use the keyboard commands with Shift to reverse the direction.
[Screen reader:] Narrator selected. Required selection contains 12 items. Navigation landmark, zero percent vertically scrolled. Search landmark. No previous landmark. Narrator selected. Required selection contains 12 items. Navigation landmark, zero percent vertically scrolled. Main landmark. Narrator, heading level 1. Use Narrator, heading level 2.
[Narrator:] You can configure several settings for Narrator. Turn on the shortcut to launch Narrator. Start and stop Narrator by pressing the Windows key, Ctrl and Enter.
[Screen reader:] Choose when to start Narrator, heading level 2.
[Narrator:] Start Narrator after sign in. Start Narrator automatically when you sign in to your PC. Start Narrator before sign in for everyone: Narrator runs on your PC before anyone signs in.
[Screen reader:] Sync settings, heading level 2. Personalize Narrator's voice, heading level 2.
[Narrator:] Choose a voice: Choose from the different Narrator voices available in your language. Speed: control the speed at which Narrator speaks. Pitch: adjust the pitch of the Narrator voice. Volume: adjust the volume at which the Narrator voice speaks. Select Narrator audio output device: Narrator lets you choose your default audio device.
There are many more settings. Please feel free to experiment with them to see if they can enhance your user experience.
Languages
Narrator is available in many European languages. In this English version of Windows, Narrator comes bundled with a voice in English. If we need more languages, then we need to install them. To install additional languages, enter Settings, Time & Language, Language. Click the option to add a language. A dialogue box will open that allows you to select one or more additional languages.
Languages that have a text-to-speech voice available have a Narrator icon next to them. Choose a language that has a text-to-speech voice available, and select Next.
Please note that the new voices need to be downloaded from the internet. Depending on the number of voices you select and the speed of your internet connection, it might take some time to download the data.
You can configure the default voice in Time & Language, Text-to-speech.
Narrator versus NonVisual Desktop Access
Although Narrator gets better with each Windows update, it is still limited in functionality. The NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) screen reader is a more powerful alternative and it is available for free. Please note that the voices we installed for Narrator can also be used by the NVDA screen reader.
NonVisual Desktop Access
NVDA is a free and open-source screen reader for Microsoft Windows. It is currently the most popular screen reader in the world. It can use the voices bundled with Microsoft Windows. Voices for additional languages can be bought from third-party suppliers.
To download NVDA, visit the NV Access website at www.nvaccess.org. The link is below the video.
Click Download. You can make a donation to support the development of this project. We will skip the donation for this demonstration.
Before you leave the website, make sure you read the user guide. You can find it under Get Help, Free user guide. After the download has finished, you can start the installer.
[Music playing.]
This will start a temporary copy of NVDA to support an audio-based installation. Follow the installation steps as advised.
[Screen reader:] NVDA Dialogue License Agreement grouping. License Agreement and it read only multi-line. NVDA License. I agree license not checked. Alt + A, space, checked. Install NVDA on this computer button. Alt + A, space, checked. Install NVDA dialogue. To install NVDA to your hard drive, please press the Continue button. Options grouping. Use NVDA on the Windows logon screen checkbox checked, Alt + L. Space, not checked. Create desktop icon and shortcut key, Ctrl + Alt + N. Continue button, Alt + C. Installing NVDA dialogue. Please wait while NVDA is being installed. Installing NVDA. Installing NVDA. Success dialogue. Successfully installed NVDA. Please press OK to start the installed copy. OK button.
[Narrator:] Once we have installed NVDA, we can start it either by pressing the Ctrl, Alt and N keys, or by choosing NVDA from the NVDA menu under programs in the Start menu.
[Screen reader:] Loading NVDA. Welcome to NVDA dialogue. Welcome to NVDA.
[Narrator:] When NVDA starts, you will hear a set of tones indicating the program has started successfully. On first program start, a dialogue box will open, which provides you with some basic information about the NVDA modifier key and the NVDA menu.
[Screen reader:] Most commands for controlling NVDA require you to hold down the NVDA button while pressing other keys. By default, the Numpad Insert and main Insert keys may both be used as the NVDA key. You can also configure NVDA to use the CapsLock as the NVDA key.
Press NVDA + N at any time to activate the NVDA menu. From this menu, you can configure NVDA get help and access other NVDA functions.
[Narrator:] Most keyboard commands consist of pressing the NVDA modifier key in combination with other keys. By default, the numeric keypad insert and extended insert keys are set as NVDA modifier keys. You can use the CapsLock key too.
NVDA has many different configuration options. A few of these options can be set when the starting dialogue opens.
[Screen reader:] Use CapsLock as an NVDA modifier key checkbox, not check, Alt + U. Automatically start NVDA after I logon to Windows checkbox not checked, Alt + A. Show this dialogue when NVDA starts checkbox checked, Alt + S. OK button. Desktop list. Recycle bin not selected (1 of 4).
[Narrator:] Other options can be configured using the NVDA menu. To get to the NVDA menu from anywhere in Windows, press NVDA and the N key on the keyboard. You can now navigate the menu using the arrow keys.
[Screen reader:] NVDA menu. Preferences, sub-menu P. Settings S. NVDA settings: General (normal configuration) dialogue. Categories' list. General (1 of 12). Speech (2 of 12).
[Narrator:] Use the Tab key to switch between interactive controls. Use the Space bar to activate or deactivate a checkbox. We cannot review every detail of the configuration, let’s just look into speech.
[Screen reader:] Speech property page. Synthesizer grouping. Synthesizer and it read only multi-line Alt + S. Windows OneCore voices. Change. Voice. Combo box. Microsoft David, collapse, Alt + V.
[Narrator:] Here we can configure which voice should be used by default and the rate and pitch at which the texts should be read.
[Screen reader:] Microsoft Hedda. Microsoft Zira. Microsoft Katja. Microsoft Julie. Microsoft Mark. Microsoft Paul. Rate: Slider 50, Alt + R. Rate boost checkbox not checked, Alt + T. Pitch: Slider 50, Alt + P. Volume: Slider 100, Alt + O.
[Narrator:] By default, the volume of the screen reader output is set to maximum. You can lower this value.
[Screen reader:] 90, 70, 60, 58, 50, 75, 7..., Automatic Language Switching (when supported) checkbox checked.
[Narrator:] When working with documents that offer content in multiple languages, the automatic language switching might be helpful for reading texts in the correct language. Please note that you have to have a corresponding voice installed for each language you want to use.
[Screen reader:] Automatic dialect switching (when supported) checkbox not checked. Punctuation/symbol level combo box, some collapse, Alt + L. Trust voice's language when processing characters and symbols checkbox checked. Include Unicode consortium data (including emoji) when processing characters and symbols' checkbox checked.
[Narrator:] Other parameters make it possible to fine tune the way texts are read, e.g. the punctuation or emoji characters. Feel free to experiment with the other options to test whether they improve your user experience.
Some basic NVDA commands
Press NVDA and arrow down to start reading from the current position.
Press the Ctrl key to stop speech.
Press the Shift key to pause or continue speech where it left off.
For single key navigation: Press D or Shift + D to reach the next or previous landmark. Press H or Shift + H to reach the next or previous heading. Press G or Shift + G for the next or previous graphic. Press T or Shift + T for the next or previous table. Press L or Shift + L for the next or previous list.
For text navigation, you can use the numbers on the numeric keypad. Press 9 or 7 for the next or previous line; 6 or 4 for the next or previous word; 3 or 1 for the next or previous character.
Press F6 or F4 to reach the next or previous object of a window.
To quit NVDA, press NVDA and the Q key.
Reading a web page
NVDA is an excellent tool to test a web page for accessibility. NVDA works with Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer. For our example we will use the Firefox web browser. After loading the web page, we would like to start reading the page. To start reading from the current position, press NVDA and the Down arrow.
[Screen reader:] Graphic collage of original illustrations from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, drawn by John Tenniel. Search landmark, enter a keyword for full text search and press return as it has autocomplete. Function Navigation menu, Navigation landmark, link. A small-sized text, link. A medium sized text, link. A large size...
[Narrator:] This gives us a lot of navigation information, but we would like to read the real content of the page. When a web page is designed with accessibility in mind, it offers landmarks. Landmarks collect multiple items of a web page into a functional group: for example, a banner area, a footer, a navigation block or the content. We can press the D key to navigate from landmark to landmark.
[Screen reader:] Main Content Navigation menu. Navigation landmark (list with 4 items). Lewis Carroll, link. The content of the page Main landmark Introduction, heading level 1. Contact info landmark. Contact info landmark. Copyright text extracts by Wikipedia.
[Narrator:] If we press Shift and D, we can reach the previous landmark.
[Screen reader:] The content of the page Main landmark. Introduction, heading level 1.
[Narrator:] We would like to continue reading here, so we press NVDA and the Down arrow.
[Screen reader:] Main content navigation menu. Navigation landmark, list with 4 items. Lewis Carroll, link. Link: Lewis Carroll. Link: About Alice. (List with 3 items). Link: Introduction. Link: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Link: Through the Looking Glass (out of list). Link: Resources. Link: History.
[Narrator:] As you can hear, the screen reader tells us about the list structure, such as how many items there are in the list and when we enter or leave the list. This also works for nested lists. Typical content begins with a heading. So we press the H key for headings.
[Screen reader:] Introduction, heading level 1.
[Narrator:] We jump to the first heading. We press it again to jump to the next heading.
[Screen reader:] Main characters, heading level 2. Language test, heading level 2.
[Narrator:] NVDA tells us about the heading and its level, so we can get an idea of the structure of the document. To go back we press Shift and H.
[Screen reader:] Main characters, heading level 2. Introduction, heading level 1.
[Narrator:] We jump to the next graphic by pressing G.
[Screen reader:] Figure: Alice in the shower of cards, graphic. Figure: The White Rabbit blowing his trumpet, graphic. Figure: Alice in the shower of cards, graphic.
[Narrator:] As we can hear, the image has an alternative image description, which can be read by the screen reader. Let’s check how NVDA presents a table.
[Screen reader:] Main characters, heading level 2. Heading level 2, main characters table with 5 rows into columns. A table with some characters of the novel. Row 1, column 1: Name. Column 2: Description. Row 2, name column: Alice. Description column 2: Alice is a child in the mid-Victorian era. Alice unintentionally goes on an underground adventure after accidentally falling down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. Ruth renamed, column 1, the White Rabbit. Description column 2: The White Rabbit appears at the very beginning of the book, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering “Oh dear! Bang! Oh dear! Bang! I shall be too late! Bang!”. Row 4, name column on the header.
[Narrator:] NVDA informs us about the structure of the table, such as how many rows and columns it has. If the table offers an alternative description, NVDA will read this for us. As you can see, there are navigation commands to jump between headings using the H key, landmarks
using the D key, tables using the T key, lists using the L key and so forth. Please consult the user guide for more keyboard combinations.
To get a quick overview of the structure of this document we can press NVDA and F7.
[Screen reader:] Elements list dialog tree view history, 13 of 13, level 0.
[Narrator:] A dialogue box will open presenting the elements list with links, headings, form fields, buttons and landmarks. We can use the elements list to navigate directly to any of these elements.
[Screen reader:] Type column, grouping, links radio button, Check out + K. Headings radio button, Check out + H. Form fields radio button, Checked out + F. Buttons radio button, Checkout + B. Landmarks radio button, Checkout + T. Buttons radio button, Checkout + B. Form fields radio button, Checked out + F. Headings radio button, Checked out + H. Tree view, level 1. Main characters (1 of 2). Level 0. Introduction expanded (1 of 1). Exit Introduction, heading level 1.
[Narrator:] Sometimes we want to navigate within a text to check single words or even characters. Let’s try to jump from line to line using the numbers 7 and 9 on the numeric keypad. Please note that if your keyboard does not have a numeric keypad, configure NVDA to use the laptop keyboard layout. You can have the same functionality using different keyboard commands.
[Screen reader:] Figure, graphic, Alice in the shower of cards. Out of figure, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland, is an 1865 novel, written by English author Lewis Carroll, the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson. It tells of a young… Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland, is an 1865 novel.
[Narrator:] Now we would like to jump from word to word using the numbers 4 and 6 on the numeric keypad.
[Screen reader:] Adventures in Wonderland, commonly Wonderland in Adventures.
[Narrator:] Using the numbers 1 and 3 on the numeric keypad we can read a word character by character.
[Screen reader:] d-v-e-n-t-n-e-v-d-a.
[Narrator:] Let’s try to read a multilingual text.
[Screen reader:] Main characters, heading level 2. Language test, heading level 2.
[Narrator:] The following lines are all in different languages.
[Screen reader:] Heading level 2, language test, list with three items bullet. This is a paragraph in English.
[Narrator:] The NVDA screen reader recognises the different languages and uses the correct voice for each list item. Please note that you need to have a corresponding voice for each language installed.
Reading a PDF
We open a PDF document in Acrobat Reader to read. Press F6 to navigate between the different function blocks until you reach your document.
[Screen reader:] Home Button, Toolbar Start this file button. Navigation pane grouping. Page thumbnails button. Document 1 of 3, heading level 1, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
[Narrator:] Press NVDA and the Down arrow to start reading the document from its current position.
[Screen reader:] Heading level 1, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland, is an 1865 novel, written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the...
[Narrator:] You can navigate within the document by pressing the H key to go from heading to heading. You can go back by pressing Shift and H.
[Screen reader:] Table of characters, heading level 2. Titles in other languages, heading level 2. Synopsis, heading level 2. Titles in other languages, heading level 2. Table of characters, heading level 2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, heading level 1.
[Narrator:] This is the same key we used to navigate within a web page. The other keys we used might work too, so let’s try jumping to a graphic with the G key.
[Screen reader:] Alice holding a bottle labelled drink me, graphic.
[Narrator:] This works. As we have heard, images can have alternative descriptions in PDFs too, which eases the understanding for people with visual impairments. Now we navigate between lists with the L key and tables with the T key.
[Screen reader:] List with 3 items. English title. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Table with 3 rows and 3 columns. Row 1, column 1, position.
[Narrator:] As you can see, there are a lot of similarities when it comes to navigating web pages and PDFs. Let’s try to bring up an elements list with NVDA and F7.
[Screen reader:] Elements list dialog tree view. www.alice-in-wonderland.net, 1 of 1, level 0.
[Narrator:] Voilà! We now have an overview of all the links and headings, which we can use for navigation.
[Screen reader:] Type grouping. Links radio button, Checked Alt + K. Headings radio button, Checked Alt + H. Tree view level 2, here comes another table, 2 of 13. Chapter 1, Down the rabbit hole, 1 of 13, level 2. Level 1, synopsis expanded, 3 of 3. Titles in other languages, 2 of 3, level 1. Demotech titles in other languages, heading level 2.
[Narrator:] We can see that the PDF offers bookmarks on the left side. Let’s open them. We press the F6 key until we reach the Navigation pane.
[Screen reader:] Find tools button. Home button, toolbar, Start this file button. Navigation pane grouping page thumbnails button.
[Narrator:] We use the arrow keys to go down to the bookmarks.
[Screen reader:] Bookmarks button.
[Narrator:] We open them by pressing the Enter key. Using the Tab key we enter the bookmarks.
[Screen reader:] Tree view Alice's Adventures in Wonderland collapsed.
[Narrator:] By pressing the arrow keys Up and Down we navigate between bookmarks. As bookmarks can be nested, we can expand and collapse them with the left and right arrow keys. Once we select a bookmark, we can position the NVDA reading cursor directly on the corresponding position in the document.
[Screen reader:] Expanded, Table of characters. Titles in other languages. Synopsis, collapsed. Expanded, Chapter 1, Down the rabbit hole.
[Narrator:] To switch back to the Document, press F6 again.
[Screen reader:] Document 1 of 3. Heading level 2, Titles in other languages. Heading level 1, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
[Narrator:] As seen when navigating a web page, we can use the numeric keypad to navigate between lines using the numbers 7 and 9, between words using the numbers 4 and 6, and characters using the numbers 1 and 3.
[Screen reader:] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland, is an 1865 novel, written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, d-o-d-g-s-o-n.
[Narrator:] Let’s try to read a multilingual text.
[Screen reader:] Table of characters, heading level 2. Titles in other languages, heading level 2. List with 3 items. English title Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
[Narrator:] This offers you a quick overview of how to use NVDA to check your PDF for accessibility. Feel free to learn more about NVDA and how to use it by reading the user guide.
Other screen readers for Windows
As previously discussed, there are commercial screen readers for the Windows platform. The world’s most popular commercial screen reader is Jaws, by Freedom Scientific. Jaws is short for job access with speech. According to a user survey by WebAIM, 40% of survey participants used it as a primary screen reader and 61% of participants used it often. Jaws is supported by all versions of Windows released since Vista. It offers different licence models based on personal or commercial use.
Other alternatives with a smaller market share are: Dolphin Screen Reader, by Dolphin. System Access, by Serotek. Window-Eyes, by GW Micro. You can find the links for more information about these screen readers below the video.
Where to continue?
For a detailed description of Narrator or the NVDA screen reader, please read the user guides of these products. You can find the links to these guides below the video.
In this chapter you have learned how to use a screen reader using the Microsoft Windows 10 operating system. Depending on your personal interests, you could continue with one of the following chapters:
- Screen readers – macOS
- Screen readers – Android
- Screen readers – iOS
[Automated voice:] Accessibility. For more information visit: op.europa.eu/en/web/accessibility.