For edition 2

While several tools are available to automate testing of content for accessibility, some degree of manual review will always be necessary to completely ensure content is accessible to all. Deque published a study on accessibility testing coverage which found only 57.38% of accessibility errors and issues could be identified with automated testing, making manual testing a critical step in fully vetting content, documents, and websites for accessibility. One powerful tool in your manual testing toolbox is screen reading software, such as NVDA and JAWS for Windows, or VoiceOver for Mac or iOS.

What do screen reading apps do?

A screen reading application offers access to content, websites, and apps for blind and visually impaired individuals through spoken feedback for text and context about the relationship of items shown on screen. A screen reading application (often called a screen reader) uses the underlying code and structure of content to interpret the kinds of information being shared, the order in which it should be presented, and the connection of text and elements to one another. By following accessibility best practices, your documents and websites should provide the necessary structure and metadata to clearly and accessibly convey to a screen reader information which can be understood Non-visually the same way it is visually interpreted.

Accessing screen reading applications

Most operating systems have built-in options which offer basic screen reading features (like reading text and navigating elements). For example, Windows has Narrator and Mac/iOS has VoiceOver.

JAWS (or Job Access with Speech) is a popular screen reader for Windows. While JAWS is quite expensive, Texas A&M University has a university-wide license available to any faculty, staff, or students. To download a free version of JAWS, you can visit the Freedom Scientific Licensing Portal and register with your TAMU email. (Please note: You must use your @TAMU.edu email address instead of a custom or vanity address like @Department.TAMU.edu, as the portal will only offer a free license to users with the standard email domain in their registration.)

Questions to answer with screen reader accessibility checks

• Is content being presented in the intended order?
• Is the screen reader reading all visible text?
• Is the screen reader skipping any text or reading text differently than how it appears on screen?
• Can I get to all interactive controls (like links, buttons, form fields, etc) with the screen reader?
• Do all images have an image description (alt text) read aloud?

Tips for using JAWS while testing screen reader accessibility

It is important you use your keyboard (rather than the mouse) when testing with a screen reader, as blind and visually impaired users do not often use the mouse when interacting with content. Here are some helpful tips to consider when getting started with screen reader testing.

Turning JAWS on and off

You can launch JAWS from your desktop or Start Menu like any other app.

JAWS will change how you interact with your computer, relying more heavily on keyboard commands at times. To turn off JAWS at any time, press Insert + F4 and click OK to confirm closing the application.

Adjusting the speech rate

While JAWS is active, press Insert + J to open the JAWS menu, then navigate to Options > Voices > Voice Adjustment. From this screen, you can adjust the speech rate and other aspects of the voice being used. You can also play a sample of the current voice to preview changes.

Enable Virtual and Text Viewers

The Virtual Viewer will highlight the text or element currently in focus by JAWS, while the Text Viewer will show what JAWS is reading in plain text.

You can enable the Virtual Viewer by pressing Insert + J to open the JAWS menu and then navigate to Options > Basics. Check the box for Show Virtual Viewer On Screen. Click OK to save the changes.

You can enable the Text Viewer by pressing Insert + J to access the JAWS menu and then navigating to Utilities > Braille and Text Viewer and then checking Show Text Viewer.

Interacting with content

With JAWS, you’ll interact with content by using the arrow keys to move up, down, left, and right, or the Tab key to move from element to element (like links, buttons, and other controls). To activate a link, button, or other control, you can simply press the Enter key.

For example, you can open a PDF document in Adobe and press CTRL + Home to move JAWS’ focus to the top of the document. Pressing the Down Arrow will move JAWS line by line, whereas pressing CTRL + Down Arrow will move JAWS from paragraph to paragraph. There are also quick navigation keys when interacting with structured content (see below for a full list).

To review web content, open a site or page in your browser and press CTRL + Home to navigate to the top of the window. You can easily move between text and items by pressing the Down Arrow or Tab key. Take careful note what is being read aloud to make sure (A) it is presented in the correct order, (B) all controls (like links and buttons) are read aloud by JAWS, and (C) all content is read by JAWS as it is visually displayed.

Quick navigation

Most screen reader users work with more than just the Down Arrow and Tab keys to navigate content, as you will quickly notice how slow this process can be as you are testing your own content. JAWS and other screen reading apps offer quick navigation keys to move by elements like headings, images, links, and more. These quick navigation keys work well in web browsers like Chrome and Edge, as well as structured content in PDFs opened with Adobe Reader.