NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a screen reader for Windows. The platform is designed for people with vision problems who need to use a computer. To make computer use universal, the utility uses a voice (you can change it and adjust it to your needs) to read the text on the screen. Unlike other screen reader environments, the tool reads text from beginning to end and you can even configure the voice to follow the mouse cursor (it only reads the text that the cursor points to). You can also use the keyboard arrows to read a specific area. Another great advantage of NVDA is the ability to convert braille text to speech. Once you install NVDA on your computer, you can access most of its functions via keyboard shortcuts. The “Insert” key will become the “NVDA” key, so you can combine it with other keys to access its features. With the shortcut “NVDA + N”, you will access its preferences and, apart from customizing the settings to your liking, you can create the profiles you need.
The environment immediately starts working in the background and by default the speech is a male voice. By moving the mouse cursor over any part of the screen, the speech will read the letters of a document, a web browser, a program, or anything open on the desktop. Another very good feature is the speech while you are typing text.
We want to highlight the platform's configuration capability, because from it you can change almost all the default functions of the utility: the voice, the speech speed, the volume, the cursor reading speed, the OCR (only in Windows 10) and Braille reading, among many other functions.
In our tests NVDA has worked perfectly and we have been amazed by the reading speed, and we have not found any errors in the speech. All these features make the platform one of the best programs to help people with vision problems use the computer.
