Contemporary Screen Readers
| Screen reader | Creator | Supported platforms | License | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChromeVox | ChromeOS or, with a speech processor, Linux, Mac, Windows | Free | ChromeVox is a screen reader for Chrome OS, intended to bring the speed, versatility, and security of Chrome OS to visually impaired users. Because ChromeVox is built by Google, it's optimized for the web. It supports the latest web standards and excels at accessing the most modern interactive websites. | |
| VoiceOver | Apple Inc. | Mac OS X, iPhone, iPad, iPods, and Apple TV | Free, Commercial | Free and included with any Apple product. No installation or setup required. Available in over 30 language voices, which are also included for free. See Apple Accessibility for more information. |
| ClickHear | gh LLC | Windows and Mac | Commercial | Enables text to be read aloud at the reading comfort of the user. Choose from three high quality Nuance voices. Variable text and highlighting color options. Translates to several different languages: Spanish, French and German. Configuration settings saved per user. Click to hear any part of the web. Play/Pause, Previous, and Next playback. Set volume and speech rate to your needs. |
| ClickHear Mobile | gh LLC | Windows and Mac | Commercial | No software installation required. Enables text to be read aloud at the reading comfort of the user. Choose from three high quality Nuance voices. Variable text and highlighting color options. Translates to several different languages: Spanish, French and German. Configuration settings saved per user. Click to hear any part of the web. Play/Pause, Previous, and Next playback. Set volume and speech rate to your needs. |
| ReadHear | gh LLC | Windows and Mac | Commercial | Support for NIMAS 1.1 and DAISY/NISO 2005. Support for MathML-enabled NIMAS and Digital Talking Books. Additional navigation for escapable and skippable text. Easier book import. New navigation pane. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) support. Roaming activation for greater portability. Concurrent licensing for institutions. Optimized for large books. Page-by-page display. Improved support for books on CD. Revised keyboard shortcuts and support for multi-media keys. New AT hardware support. Continuous playback without focus. Automatic update checking. Save As DAISY compatibility. |
| Recite Me | Recite Me Ltd | Web-based | Commercial | Recite is an online software as a service system that acts as a translation layer between the user and the website. |
| Project metalmouth | Alistair Garrison | ChromeOS, or via Chrome Browser, Linux, Mac, Windows | Free open source (Apache 2.0) | Project metalmouth is developing a free fully functioned open source voice browser as an installable extension for Chrome. The ambition is to give Chrome users the best possible experience when interacting with a spoken web - by voice commands or using the keyboard. |
| ClipSpeak | Daniel Innala Ahlmark | Windows | Freeware | A lightweight text-to-speech tool with a minimal user interface that speaks text copied to the clipboard. |
| Text to Speech | SpeakComputers.com | Windows | Freeware |
|
| 95Reader | SSCT | Windows | Commercial | Japanese screen reader |
| BRLTTY | The BRLTTY Team | *nix and Windows console | Free and open source (GPL2) | Available to download; part of most Linux distributions |
| BrowseAloud | Texthelp Systems Inc | Windows and Mac | Free for Users, Commercial | |
| Capture Assistant | Renovation Software | Windows | Commercial | Multilanguage screen reader |
| Claro ScreenRuler Suite | Claro Software | Windows | Commercial | Provides a "strip" or "ruler" across the screen. |
| COBRA | BAUM Retec | Windows | Commercial | Supports Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) and the Java Access Bridge. |
| Edbrowse | Karl Dahlke | *nix console | Free and open source | Makes a complete audio desktop, including web access with JavaScript support. |
| Spoken Web | Eyal Shalom | Windows | Free Web Site | A free web portal managing a wide range of articles |
| Emacspeak | T. V. Raman | Emacs (on *nix) | Free and open source | Turns Emacs into a "complete audio desktop". |
| Fire Vox | Charles L. Chen | Unix, Linux, Windows, OS X | Free and open source | For browsing with Firefox only (plugin) |
| Gnopernicus | BAUM Retec AG | GNOME/Linux | Free and open source | Used to be bundled with GNOME, but now replaced by Orca. Includes a screen magnifier. Supports AT-SPI and the Java Access Bridge. |
| HAL | Dolphin Computer Access | Windows | Commercial | Supports MSAA, the Java Access Bridge, and PDF. 30 day Free Trial available for download. |
| HT Reader | HT Visual | Windows | Commercial | Includes support for MSAA and PDF. |
| iZoom | Issist | Windows | Commercial | Screen magnifier with low-vision speech capabilities. Includes support for Mozilla Firefox. |
| JAWS | Freedom Scientific | Windows and DOS | Commercial for Windows; freeware for DOS | Includes support for MSAA, the Java Access Bridge, and PDF. |
| Leitor de Telas | MC / CPqD | Windows | Free | Brazilian Portuguese screen reader. MSAA support. |
| Lingspeak | Lingit | Windows | Commercial | A visual screen reader, which highlights the object and text being read. Supports MSAA, Java Access Bridge (OpenOffice), per line reading from Win32 classes "Edit"(Notepad) and "RichEdit"(Wordpad), MS Word. UIA and IAccessible2 is being worked on. One-month trial version available. |
| Linux Screen Reader (LSR) | GNOME/Linux | GNOME/Linux | Free and open source | Supports AT-SPI. |
| SodelsCot | Sodels Factory | Windows | Commercial | Spanish screen reader. Converts copied or typed text to speech in any Windows program. Includes voices in Spanish and can use others compatible with SAPI5. It can create wav and mp3 files. |
| LookOUT | Choice Technology | Windows | Commercial | Also available integrated with a screen magnifier. |
| MAGic | Freedom Scientific | Windows | Commercial | Speech magnifier with low-vision speech capabilities. It can be used together with JAWS. |
| Microsoft Narrator | Microsoft | Windows | Commercial | Bundled with recent versions of Windows, this basic screen reader makes use of MSAA. |
| Mobile Speak | Code Factory | Symbian OS, Windows Mobile | Commercial | Full-fledged screen readers and Braille interfaces that let you access your mobile phone. One-month trial version available. |
| Model T Reader | Dolphin Computer Access | DOS | Freeware | |
| NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) | NonVisual Desktop Access project | Windows | Free and open source (GPL2) | Programmed and scriptable in Python. Supports Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Word, Excel and Outlook Express, and Mozilla Thunderbird. Supports web content using JavaScript. Supports Java Access Bridge. IAccessible2 is supported. |
| Orca | GNOME/Linux | *nix | Free and open source | Bundled with GNOME. Supports AT-SPI and the Java Access Bridge. |
| PC-Talker | Kochi System Development | Windows | Commercial | Japanese screen reader. Supports MSAA and Flash |
| PCVoz | EzHermatic | Windows | Commercial | Available to buy or download trial. Supports MSAA. |
| Proloquo | AssistiveWare | Mac OS X | Commercial | Includes a license for Infovox iVox. 15 days trials. |
| Read:Outloud | Don Johnston Inc. | Windows and Mac OS | Commercial | Incorporates reading guide for easy note taking and outline construction. Supports Daisy, NIMAS, PDF, RTF, HTML and TXT. |
| ReadSpeaker | ReadSpeaker Holding B.V. | Web-based | Free for Users, Commercial | Available in 35 languages and 90 voices. Device-independent and no downloads required by end-user. Synchronized highlighting of the text being read. |
| Read & Write | Texthelp Systems | Windows and Mac OS | Commercial | Support toolbar designed to assist users who require extra assistance when reading or composing text. |
| Simply Talker | EcoNet International | Windows | Commercial | Trial download available. |
| SUSE-Blinux | Novell | Linux | Free and open source | |
| Supernova | Dolphin Computer Access | Windows | Commercial | Includes a screen magnifier and output to Braille devices. 30 day Free Trial available for download. Supports MSAA, the Java Access Bridge, and PDF. |
| System Access | Serotek | Windows | Commercial | Trial download available. Supports Microsoft Internet Explorer (including DHTML/Ajax and Flash), Outlook Express, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype, and Adobe Reader. No support for Java yet. |
| TalkBack | Android 1.6+ | Opensource | Use with SoundBack and kickback | |
| Talks | Nuance Communications | Symbian OS Series 60 or 80 | Commercial | Presentation and free Trial Version to be found on the site. |
| Thunder ScreenReader | Sensory Software | Windows | Freeware | Supports MSAA. |
| SpeakEasy Media System | NDU | Windows | Commercial | Specialized suite of vocalized programs designed for ease of use |
| Virtual Vision | MicroPower | Windows | Commercial | Brazilian screen reader. Supports MSAA. |
| WebAnywhere | University of Washington | Web | Free and Open Source (new BSD) | Doesn't require any software installation to run so can be used at any public terminal that has sound available - works on any platform. |
| WinZoom | Clarity | Windows | Commercial | Screen reader with magnifier. USB version does not require any installation and can be used on any public computer. |
| Window-Eyes | GW Micro | Windows | Commercial | Available to buy or download 30-minutes per Windows session demo. Supports MSAA. |
| Screen Access for All | National Association for the Blind, New Delhi | Windows | Open source | |
| ZoomText | Ai Squared | Windows | Commercial | Includes a screen magnifier. Trial download available. |
| Screen reader | Creator | Supported platforms | License | Notes |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Screen Readers
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