I will browse the web with Chrome for my tests. To find similarities and differences between them, I decided to test a set of steps with each screen reader on a Wikipedia page about screen readers. TAB to hear a few items in the navigation section.TAB to hear focusable items in the unordered list.In the “Accessibility APIs” section, read the content and the unordered list inside.Reason for this step: A 2016 survey by Heydon Pickering found that most people who use screen readers navigate new pages by headings.Navigate the page by heading, until “Accessibility APIs” section.For work, I have a Mac machine and test accessibility using VoiceOver. I am not visually impaired and do not use these tools on a regular basis. I, along with my colleagues, seek to make our projects more accessible every day. To give background, I have been a front-end developer at a non-profit for people with learning differences for over three years. JAWS and NVDA for Windows and VoiceOver for macOS are the most popular screen readers people use.įirst, I should clarify that this article will be written from my point of view. There are many screen reader software available for people through their operating system or through open source projects.Ī 2021 research by WebAim found that from 1568 responders, more than 53.7 percent of people surveyed used JAWS on Windows, more than 30.7 percent of people used NVDA on Windows and little over 6.5 percent of people used VoiceOver on macOS. Screen readers allow people to use the computer for daily tasks. Screen readers will read contents on the screen and explain to the user what is on the page. People who are blind or those with low vision can use a screen reader to navigate the computer. A screen reader is an important accessibility tool for people with no or limited vision.

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