Did you know that if you ever wanted to learn, play around, or test how JAWS or NVDA (screen readers) work, you can actually download a copy of either/both and try them out? Well, you can! Don't worry, if you start either program up you can still navigate your computer as normal (the mouse, screen, and keyboard still work), but you will also be about to navigate just about any program with keystrokes instead.
You can google keystrokes for JAWS or NVDA for what ever program/browser you so choose so don't get too scared off; there are a lot of keystrokes out there. I recommend you leave a tab in your browser pulled up as you try them out.
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JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is primary screen reader for most blind screen reader users. This used to be a very expensive program, however, they have recently changed this method of sales to be a subscription versions, to make it cheaper & to stay up to date with every other program used with Windows/Macs. Since JAWS is a paid program, you can download a full copy, with a 40-minute mode, and get a taste of the program. You can keep restarting the program as much as you'd like and get the newest versions at any point. The 40-minute mode is useful for programmers to test programs/apps/websites without paying for it, and check if what you create is accessibility friendly.
You can learn more about JAWS and download it here:
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/JAWS
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NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access) is an open source screen reader that is not the primary choice of most screen reader users, however, there are certain sites/pages/programs that can work better with NVDA than JAWS, at times; most heave JAWS users have NVDA installed just in case we need an alternative. It is the only completely free, portable screen reader for Microsoft Windows (NVDA is not available on Macs).
You can learn more about NVDA info and how to download it here:
**I do not work for either of these companies that offer screen readers, I just thought this would be useful information for any admin/developer that wants to understand and test programs/apps for a screen reader user.
Accessibility for all users is always going to matter. I hope you consider taking these for a test drive some time, just for kicks. You might even enjoy having your eyes take a break once and a while and have your computer read all the text on the page.
