NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access)
Free Screen Reader for Microsoft Windows
James Teh
Executive Director/Developer
Gary Baxter
General Manager
www.nvaccess.org
The Problem
• Technology increasingly prevalent in our world
• Key to education, employment &
independence for blind people
• Access to technology unavailable to many
• < 10% of blind children are educated
• > 75% blind people unemployed
The Solution: NVDA
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Free, open source screen reader for Windows
Reads text on screen using synthetic speech
Can convert to braille via braille display
Alternative to expensive commercial options
Used by 70,000 worldwide
Free to End Users
• Access for no more cost than sighted peers
• Very significant for developing countries
• Funded by donations, grants, contracts, other
products/services
• Funding benefits even those who can’t pay
• Outcomes not restricted to limited users
Open Source
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Code freely available
Knowledge/future not bound to one company
Anyone anywhere can enhance NVDA
Contributions benefit everyone else and vice
versa
• Indian NVDA team; sponsored by Sapient
For Users, By Users
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Lead developers totally blind
Majority of contributors blind/vision impaired
Ensures NVDA best serves its users
Important for blindness community to shape
access to technology
Reaching Further
• Need to get NVDA into the hands of even
more
• Creating official training material, certification
• Global partners for support and training
• Need partners to provide computers
• Corporate support contracts
Working Together
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PWDs have much to contribute to the world
But they need the tools to do so
NVDA already helping tens of thousands
Help us give millions more this opportunity
Let’s create a brighter future for all
www.nvaccess.org