Screen reader
A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen (or, more accurately, sent to standard output, whether a video monitor is present or not).
Description
This interpretation is then re-presented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons, or a Braille output device.
Screen readers are a form of assistive technology (AT) potentially useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, illiterate or learning disabled, often in combination with other AT, such as screen magnifiers.
A person's choice of screen reader is dictated by many factors, including platform, cost (even to upgrade a screen reader can cost hundreds of U.S. dollars), and the role of organizations like charities, schools, and employers. Screen reader choice is contentious: differing priorities and strong preferences are common.
Microsoft Windows operating systems have included the Microsoft Narrator light-duty screen reader since Windows 2000.
Apple Inc. Mac OS X, iOS, and tvOS include VoiceOver, a feature-rich screen reader, while Google's Android includes Google Text-to-Speech, also on Android, Samsung devices have Samsung Text-to-Speech.
The console-based Oralux Linux distribution ships with three console screen-reading environments: Emacspeak, Yasr, and Speakup.
BlackBerry 10 devices such as the BlackBerry Z30 include a built-in screen reader. There is also a free screen reader application for older less powerful BlackBerry (BBOS7 and earlier) devices.
There are also popular free and open source screen readers, such as the Orca for Unix-like systems and NonVisual Desktop Access for Windows.
Commercial products
The most widely used screen readers are separate commercial products.
Prominent examples in the English-speaking market include:
- JAWS from Freedom Scientific
- Window-Eyes from GW Micro
- Dolphin Supernova by Dolphin
- System Access from Serotek
- ZoomText Magnifier/Reader from AiSquared
The opensource screen reader NVDA is gaining popularity.
See also
External links
- Screen reader @ Wikipedia
- Ten free screen readers @ usabilitygeek.com
- WebAnywhere - free, works in all browsers
