SCREEN READER

A screen reader is a software application that enables people with severe visual impairments to use a computer. Screen readers work closely with the computer's Operating System (OS) to provide information about icons, menus, dialogue boxes, files and folders.

A screen reader uses a Text-To-Speech (TTS) engine to translate on-screen information into speech, which can be heard through earphones or speakers. An external hardware device, known as a refreshable Braille display is needed for this. A refreshable Braille display contains one or more rows of cells. Each cell can be formed into the shape of a Braille character, a series of dots that are similar to domino dots in their layout. As the information on the computer screen changes, so does the Braille characters on the display change, providing refreshable information directly from the computer. Whilst it is possible to use either format independently, Braille output is commonly used in conjunction with speech output.

Following table lists the information about different screen readers:

Information related to the various screen readers

Screen Reader Website Free / Commercial
Non Visual Desktop Access https://www.nvda-project.org/ Free
System Access To Go https://www.satogo.com/ Free
Thunder https://www.webbie.org.uk Free
Hal https://yourdolphin.com Commercial
JAWS https://www.freedomscientific.com Commercial
Supernova https://yourdolphin.com Commercial