Screen Readers

A screen reader reads aloud everything on the screen, including menus, buttons, and links, and lets you control the computer or phone with the keyboard or gestures instead of a mouse. Screen readers are used mainly by people who are blind or have low vision. Testing your own web pages and documents with a screen reader is also a good way to check their accessibility.

On this page:

JAWS

Available at Langara: Langara provides it to students and/or staff.
Paid: you or your organization needs to buy it.

JAWS is available on computers in L121 as well as Accessibility Services exam computer labs.

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is one of the most widely used screen readers. It runs only on Windows, and lets you do almost everything in Windows with the keyboard and audio. JAWS is expensive, paid software and takes time to learn, but many blind and low vision people rely on it. Download JAWS from Freedom Scientific.

Common JAWS commands

This guide uses JAWS for the JAWS key, which is Insert with the desktop keyboard layout or Caps Lock with the laptop layout. Some commands are different in the laptop layout.

Action Key command
Contextual Help (overview of website or document, such as headings, links, etc.) JAWS + F1
List JAWS hotkeys for the current program JAWS + H
Read the whole window from the top JAWS + B
Show list of all buttons, frames, graphics, lists, links, etc. JAWS + F3
Buttons list Ctrl + JAWS + B
Form elements (fields, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc.) list JAWS + F5
Headings list JAWS + F6
Links list JAWS + F7
Frames list JAWS + F9
Start reading continuously from current point JAWS + Down Arrow
Stop reading Ctrl
Read next item Down Arrow
Move to next/previous paragraph P / Shift + P
Move to next/previous focusable item (link, button, text field, etc.) Tab / Shift + Tab
Activate link or button Enter
Move to next/previous heading H / Shift + H
Move to main content region Q
Move to next/previous region R / Shift + R
Next/previous radio button A / Shift + A
Next/previous frame M / Shift + M
Toggle Virtual Cursor on/off JAWS + Z
Refresh screen without reloading page JAWS + Escape
Speech history (last 100 items read by JAWS) JAWS + Space, then H

This is not a complete list of JAWS keystrokes. See the links at the end of this section for more.

Virtual Viewer

Press JAWS + Alt + W to show all the text in the current window, line by line, in the Virtual Viewer. This can make it easier to review messages or copy codes.

Press JAWS + Shift + V to do the same for just the current control, such as a pop-up or notification.

Forms Mode

When you move into a field in a properly coded form (on the web or in a PDF), JAWS switches to Forms Mode and plays a sound. In Forms Mode, most single-key JAWS commands are turned off so you can type into the form. To enter Forms Mode yourself, press Enter on a form field.

To leave it, press Num Pad Plus, or Escape on a laptop without a number pad. Some laptops may be set up to require pressing fn ?.

PDFs

You can move through a properly tagged PDF just like a web page, by headings (H), tables (T), and links (JAWS + F7). PDFs can still be awkward to read with JAWS. If you get stuck, press Alt + Tab until the PDF has focus, then press JAWS + B to read the window from the top.

Convenient OCR

If JAWS says a PDF is empty, the PDF is probably a scanned image of text with no real text in it. JAWS’s built-in optical character recognition (OCR) tool, Convenient OCR, can pull the text out so JAWS can read it:

  1. Open a PDF.
  2. If the PDF is inaccessible, JAWS should offer to use Convenient OCR. Tab to Yes and press Enter.
  3. If JAWS doesn’t offer, or you closed the dialog by accident, press JAWS + Space, then O, then D to start Convenient OCR.
  4. When the document is displayed in JAWS Virtual Viewer, press Tab to Open in Word and press Enter to view the document in Word.

See Optical Character Recognition for other OCR tools.

PlaceMarkers

On websites you visit often, PlaceMarkers take you straight to the parts you need. Move to the place on the page you want to come back to, press Ctrl + Shift + K, and press Enter on the Add button. Next time you visit the page, press K to move through your PlaceMarkers, or Ctrl + Shift + K to see a list of them.

Ignore next key press

Sometimes a web page has its own keyboard controls (for example, “press the left or right arrow to move through the slides”) that JAWS intercepts. Press JAWS + 3, then the key. JAWS + 3 passes the next key press straight to the page, as if JAWS weren’t running.

General Windows Keyboard Commands

These Windows keyboard shortcuts are also useful with JAWS:

  • Ctrl + F to search in a webpage or document.
  • Alt + Tab to move between open windows.
  • Windows + D moves to the desktop. From the desktop, Windows + D moves focus back to the previous window.
  • Windows + T moves to the taskbar. Windows and a number opens or moves to that taskbar item.
  • Press the Windows key and type to search the computer.
Links

NVDA

Free: free to download and use.

NVDA is a free, open source screen reader for Windows. It is nearly as widely used as JAWS and has many similar features. Download NVDA from nvaccess.org.

The first time NVDA starts, it asks you to choose some settings, most importantly the NVDA key. This guide uses NVDA for whichever key you choose: Caps Lock, Insert, or Num Pad Insert.

Common NVDA commands
Action Keystroke
Open NVDA Ctrl + Alt + N
Close NVDA NVDA + Q, and Enter to confirm
Change speech mode (off, beeps, talk) NVDA + S
Open NVDA menu NVDA + N
Preferences (With NVDA menu open) P
Tools (With NVDA menu open) T
Help (With NVDA menu open) H
Read from current position NVDA + Down Arrow
Read current line NVDA + Up Arrow
Read previous/next word Ctrl + Left Arrow / Right Arrow
Read previous/next paragraph Ctrl + Up Arrow / Down Arrow
Read next item Down Arrow
Stop reading Ctrl
Pause/resume reading Shift
Speak faster/slower NVDA + Ctrl + Up Arrow / Down Arrow
Input help (press keys to hear what they do, without doing it) NVDA + 1
Elements (links, headings, buttons, etc.) window NVDA + F7
Move between elements lists Tab
Move between focusable elements (links, buttons, forms, menus) Tab / Shift + Tab
Next heading H
Heading level 1-6 1 to 6
Next link K
Next unvisited link U
Next visited link V
Next landmark/region D
Next form field F
Next text field E
Next checkbox X
Next radio button R
Open combo box Alt + Down Arrow
Next table T
Navigate table cells Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys
Next button B
Next list L
Next list item I
Next image G
Move to previous instance Shift + any of the single keystrokes above
Search NVDA + Ctrl + F
Move to next/previous search result NVDA + F3 / NVDA + Shift + F3
Switch between browse mode (normal NVDA keys) and focus mode (keys go to the page, for typing in forms) NVDA + Space
Pass the next key press to the page NVDA + F2
General Windows Keyboard Commands

These Windows keyboard shortcuts are also useful with NVDA:

  • Ctrl + F to search in a webpage or document.
  • Alt + Tab to move between open windows.
  • Windows + D moves to the desktop. From the desktop, Windows + D moves focus back to the previous window.
  • Windows + T moves to the taskbar. Windows and a number opens or moves to that taskbar item.
  • Press the Windows key and type to search the computer.
Links

VoiceOver

Built in: part of your device, browser, or an app you already have.

VoiceOver is a screen reader built into macOS and iOS.

macOS

Activate VoiceOver on macOS

To activate VoiceOver on macOS:

  1. Go to System Settings > Accessibility.
  2. Choose VoiceOver.
  3. Turn on VoiceOver.
    1. Or press Command + F5 to turn VoiceOver on or off.

Select Open VoiceOver Training… for help and training.

To change VoiceOver’s speech, sound, keyboard, and other settings select Open VoiceOver Utility…, or press Control + Option + F8 while VoiceOver is running.

VoiceOver Quick Nav lets you navigate with the arrow keys or single keys, without holding VO. To turn it on:

  1. Go to System Settings.
  2. Choose Accessibility.
  3. Select VoiceOver.
  4. Select Open VoiceOver Utility…
  5. Move to Commanders in the sidebar.
  6. Move to the Quick Nav tab.
  7. Check Enable arrow-key Quick Nav and Enable single-key Quick Nav.
Using VoiceOver on macOS

VoiceOver commands start with the VoiceOver keys, Control + Option, so that they don’t clash with other macOS shortcuts. Below, VO means holding Control + Option.

Action Keystroke
Open Rotor to display headings, links, regions, etc. lists VO + U
Start reading VO + A
Stop reading Control
Next VO + Right Arrow
Previous VO + Left Arrow
Next paragraph VO + P
Next link VO + Command + L
Next heading VO + Command + H
Move to table VO + Command + T
Activate focused element VO + Space
Next link, form field, button, etc. Tab
Previous link, form field, etc. Shift + Tab

VoiceOver works best with Safari for browsing the web.

iOS

VoiceOver on iPhone

To turn on VoiceOver:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Choose Accessibility.
  3. Tap VoiceOver.
  4. Turn on VoiceOver.
    1. To change the voice, select Speech and then Voice.

Using VoiceOver

VoiceOver has a practice area where you can try gestures: VoiceOver tells you the name of each gesture and what it does.

  1. With VoiceOver on, go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver.
  2. Select VoiceOver Practice.
  • Tap anywhere on the screen to have an item read aloud.
  • Drag a finger to move between items.
  • Swipe right to read next, swipe left to read previous.
  • Rotate two fingers on the screen, like turning a dial, to use the rotor.
    • The rotor lets you choose to move by headings, links, words, or other items.
    • Then swipe up or down to move by that item.
  • Tap an item to select it, and double-tap to activate it.
  • Tap with two fingers to pause or resume speech.
  • Swipe up from the bottom to return to Home, and keep dragging up to go to the App Switcher.
    • Flick left or right with three fingers to move between apps.
    • Flick three fingers up to close an app.

Getting started with VoiceOver – Apple Support (CA)

AppleVis is a resource for blind and low vision users of Apple products.

TalkBack

Built in: part of your device, browser, or an app you already have.

TalkBack is the default screen reader for Android.

Using TalkBack

To enable TalkBack:

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
  2. Select TalkBack, turn it on, and turn on TalkBack shortcut.
    1. With the shortcut on, press and hold both volume buttons for a few seconds to turn TalkBack on or off.
  3. The first time TalkBack is turned on, a tutorial opens.

Using TalkBack:

  • Swipe right to read next, swipe left to read previous.
  • Tap an item to hear it.
    • Drag a finger around the screen to hear what is under it.
  • Double-tap to follow a link, press a button, or open a menu.
  • Swipe down then up in one motion to choose how to move: by headings, controls, links, and so on.
    • Then swipe up or down to move by that item.

TalkBack has a practice area where you can try gestures: TalkBack tells you the name of each gesture and what it does. To use it:

  1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack.
  2. Choose TalkBack Settings > Tutorial and help > Practice gestures.

Get started with TalkBack – Android Accessibility Help

ChromeVox (ChromeOS)

Built in: part of your device, browser, or an app you already have.

ChromeVox is the built-in screen reader on Chromebooks.

Using ChromeVox

Toggle ChromeVox on or off by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Z.

To open the ChromeVox menus, press Search + . (period).

The ChromeVox menus include speech options and help, and lists of headings, landmarks, links, form controls, and tables.

Action Keystroke
Start reading from current location Search + R
Go to top of page Search + Ctrl + Left Arrow
Read next line Search + Down Arrow
Read next word Search + Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow
Move to next heading Search + H
Move to next link Search + L
Move to next landmark Search + ;
Move to previous heading/link/landmark Shift + Search + H, L or ;
Show heading list Search + Ctrl + H
Show links list Search + Ctrl + L
Show landmark list Search + Ctrl + ;

Use the built-in screen reader on your Chromebook – Chromebook Help

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