Definitely good to know what others are doing - both for knowledge, and to recommend where appropriate :)

I’m not familiar with Zoomit - is this it? https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/zoomit

In any case, always good to have multiple tools to choose from, as you say.

It’s always tricky to get questions like this right for everyone - particularly where people may be coming from completely different places like end users with disabilities - or sighted developers testing for accessibility - but where they may also overlap (a blind developer who uses a screen reader themselves but ALSO tests for accessibility with it. We find the same thing with the yearly NVDA satisfaction survey we run. So credit to WebAIM for their efforts with this survey :)

Please note: We are aware of issues using SAPI 5 voices with this beta. This will be rectified for Beta 7 early next week. In the meantime, if wishing to use this beta, please use a different synthesizer, such as Windows OneCore or eSpeak-NG.

FIrstly thanks for helping your friend! I’m sure he appreciates you.

Unfortunately there is no linux version. It would be technically possible, and indeed, Orca does use some of our code. However, screen readers work at a lot lower level than many other programs - simplifying dramatically, but as an example, porting a word process between operating systems for instance, mostly requires making sure the system interfacing parts (like saving or printing) work and much of the internals can stay as they are. Most of what NVDA does is interfacing with the operating system to find out what is going on, where the cursor is, what has focus, what has changed, etc so it can present useful information to the user. In order to create a linux version, we’d actually have to rewrite the vast majority of the code. At this stage, we feel our efforts are best spent continuing to improve the experience on Windows, BUT should that ever change, we will be sure to publicise it widely. For now, Orca is the main screen reader I’m aware of on Linux, though I admit I have not looked lately.

An update to this, the Intopia survey has been extended and is now open until March 6th: https://t.co/xKQU1TcHHO

NVDA 2025.3 Beta 3 is now available for download and testing.

Changes introduced in Beta 3:

• Updates to translations
• Bug fix for SAPI 5 where NVDA did not announce certain gestures

See the release announcement for full changes and download: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-3beta3/

For sending a message, as others have noted, control+enter is the keystroke you want. Alt+s should also work.

Navigation in Outlook seems… a little flakey - if you press TAB, it inserts a tab stop into your email. If you press SHIFT+TAB immediately after pressing TAB it removes that tab stop.

If you press SHIFT+TAB at the top of the body of a message, it usually moves back to the subject then to fields. If you press shift+tab at other points in the body of the message, it sometimes moves to the subject and sometimes does nothing. Moving back to the top of the message then pressing shift+tab does seem to work more reliably.

F6 and SHIFT+F6 do move between parts of the window… just not the parts you might expect (Message body, ribbon, somewhere else in the ribbon, navigation bar, message list, then back to the body.

Control+tab seems to move from the message body to the navigation bar to the message list then back to the message body.

If you have the message open in a new window, rather than the reading pane, then control+tab doesn’t seem to do anything, and F6 only moves between the body of the message and the ribbon.

With NVDA not running, most of that still works the same, although shift+tab does seem to move reliably move from the body of the message to the subject regardless of where in the body you are. Not sure if that’s an NVDA bug, but happy for someone to write up an issue on that, or anything else :)

Hi everyone, NVDA 2025.3 Beta 2 is now available! https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-3beta2/ Updates include:

Bug fix for responsiveness issues with SAPI 5. We think we have fixed most of the SAPI 5 bugs now - PLEASE test this version if you use SAPI 5 and let us know. Bug fix for Turkish Braille tables

Updates to translations

Hey everyone, just bumping this to encourage anyone who hasn’t filled in the survey to please consider doing so - we are still receiving feedback: https://nvaccess.org/survey

If you’re keen to try the beta, but aren’t sure how, download & run it just like any other copy of NVDA!

You can install it, but we recommend most users create a portable copy. Tips here: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-9th-february-2024/#portable

Particularly test any highlighted features or those mentioned in the change log.

GitHub is the best place to report issues - steps here: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/in-process-17-july-2025/#issues

Or ask here or via email!

What other tips would experienced users give new testers?

And now NVDA 2025.2 Beta 2 is now available for testing! Changes in beta 2 include:

• Braille updates correctly when typing in Excel.
• Fixed a bug with the NLS eReader Zoomax driver.
• Fixed errors in object navigation with braille in XAML static text controls.
• Fixed root certificate issues in the Add-on Store.
• Updates to translations.

For full details and to download, please visit: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-2beta2/

I must admit, I am not sure - whether that was a deliberate change, or perhaps if we even knew you could do that originally :) It could be something which is worth an issue if you are interested: https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/issues

I have seen NVDA as an acronym for NonViolent Direct Action, though only ever in lists of acronyms :) I’m not sure how widely (or in what context) it is used in the wild like that?

NVDA in our context stands for Non Visual Desktop Access. The free screen reader which has been around since 2006: https://www.nvaccess.org/

Another update for 2025.1 - The Release Candidate (RC) of NVDA 2025.1.2 is now available for download and testing. This release includes a fix for a crash in certain Microsoft Word versions before version 16.0.18226 on opening.

Full info and download at: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-1-2rc1/

Hi everyone, two small bits of news from us today:

1. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s 2025.1 release, there’s a minor point release - NVDA 2025.1.1 to fix an issue which affected some users (updates for both those on stable, and those on RC / Beta branches): https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2025-1-1/

2. We’ve re-enabled taking NVDA Certified Expert exams (we froze them while we were having those site issues): https://certification.nvaccess.org/

Do let us know. I’m not familiar with Unspoken. If it’s an NVDA add-on, it might need an update. If it’s an external program, it should keep working fine.

Thanks everyone for your ongoing patience. We are pleased to confirm checking for NVDA updates now works again.

Thanks to not needing a license check, there was never any other impact to NVDA & its functionality.

Expert certification & snapshot builds are still paused & shop purchases are still being processed manually.

We’re making progress, and once again we do thank everyone for your support and patience! If you do need anything, please do reach out to info@nvaccess.org.

NVDA 2024.4 Beta 4 is now available for download & testing.

Changes introduced in Beta 4:

• Fixed the visual layout of NVDA’s Braille Settings page.
• Fixed an issue causing text not related to shortcut keys to appear in the Commands Quick Reference.
• Updates to translations.

Full information and dowload at: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2024-4beta4/

NVDA 2024.4 Beta 3 is now available!

Changes introduced in Beta 3:

Updated LibLouis Braille translator to 3.31.0.

• Fixed translation of numbers in Spanish Braille.

• New Braille tables:

• Thai grade 1

• Greek international Braille (single-cell accented letters)

• Renamed tables:

• “Thai 6 dot” was renamed to “Thai grade 0” for consistency reasons.

• The existing “Greek international braille” table was renamed to “Greek international braille (2-cell accented letters)” to clarify the distinction between the two Greek systems.

Updates to translations.

Read more and download at: https://www.nvaccess.org/post/nvda-2024-4beta3/