Demystifying screen reader use for manual testing

Are you curious about what it’s like for someone with a vision impairment to navigate a website? Gareth Fuller attended this training at the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) conference last week and returned with the session materials. This website explains how screen readers work and what the experience is like for someone to use it. It also provides guidance on downloading and using software to try it yourself.

Click here to visit the Introduction to the Screen Reader Ropes Course website.

Screen Reader Comparison chart: Column headers: Screen Reader, Year Released Operating System, Optimal Browser, Cost, Estimated US Users. Row headings: JAWS, VoiceOver, NVDA. Data: 1995, Windows, Firefox, $95/year, 2,362,8000. 2005, Mac, Safari, Free, 286,000. 2006, Windows, Firefox, Free, 1,350,800. Which screen reader, or screen readers you choose to test with is up to you. Needless to say, though, we hope you choose to test with at least one screen reader, and that you test with it early and often!