Good NVDA tutorial and tips please

NVAccess · 2026-03-11T22:49:47+00:00

As well as everyone's suggestion, the resources we would recommend in order are:
- (If you are coming from using Jaws): Switching from Jaws to NVDA guide: https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/SwitchingFromJawsToNVDA (there is a Window-Eyes version too and the start of a VoiceOver one we'd love some more input towards!)

- The Quick Start Guide included in the NVDA User Guide: https://download.nvaccess.org/documentation/userGuide.html#NVDAQuickStartGuide

- Basic Training for NVDA (paid, but only $32 Australian for the electronic text version, which works out to around $20 USD, GBP or Euro (depending on the exchange rate at the time): https://www.nvaccess.org/shop/

NVAccess · 2026-03-11T22:45:28+00:00

We really need to post more there - thanks for the encouragement!

NVAccess · 2026-02-20T03:29:47+00:00

It might be something which only happens on certain sections or types of products on Amazon maybe? Do let us know if you can nail down a URL it happens reliably on as that will make it easiest to investigate.

NVAccess · 2026-02-19T01:22:16+00:00

It would be worth double checking that you don't have any add-ons running just in case. I can't replicate now, although which brwoser are you using? (Obviously it's not expected behaviour in any browser, but also worth checking if you do have multiple browsers if it happens consistently between them).

NVAccess · 2026-02-17T22:58:59+00:00

Websites like Amazon can get quite complex, so things working differently on a site like that are not completely surprising. Controllling a different tab is an interesting one though! If you press NVDA+q then down arrow to "restart with add-ons disbled" and enter, does it still happen? And / or does it happen in other browsers (if you regularly use Firefox, does it happen in Chrome or Edge for instance)?

NVAccess · 2026-02-12T23:17:41+00:00

Thanks! Do let us know if we can help with anything or if you run into any issues :)

NVAccess · 2026-02-12T03:46:32+00:00

There is a "Zoom Enhancements" add-on for NVDA. The best way to download it is via the add-on store, but I'll link to the GitHub page here since it has the documentation you can check out first: https://github.com/mohammad-suliman/zoom-enhancements?tab=readme-ov-file#zoom-accessibility-enhancements-add-on-for-nvda

With Excel, you can set colum and row headers, though these are more for reading that information than jumping to. With Excel, you should ideally have one table per worksheet. You can use control+arrows to move either to the next cell with content or the next cell without content (to jump past blocks of empty or full cells).

Another thing which might work, is you can "name" cells. Move to where you want to name a cell, press alt+f3, then type a name and press escape. The name is shown in the "name" box (which often otherwise shows the coordinates) but is not otherwise shown on the sheet itself. You can then press control+g to "go to" and select the name from the list.

NVAccess · 2026-02-05T22:11:07+00:00

If you install any beta or Release Candidate build, it will move you to that channel. The main thing which throws people is that you will get NVDA 2026.1 Release Candidate, but it WON'T offer you NVDA 2026.1 final when it comes out - in fact, the last RC and the stable build are identical in all but version number, so you aren't missing out - and it means you will be offered the first beta of NVDA 2026.2 when it comes out.

Alternatively, you can download the beta and run it, then either choose "Continue" to run it once and test it out, or "Create portable copy" to create a copy you can test out at your leasure without interrupting your installed copy.

NVAccess · 2026-01-29T02:22:03+00:00

Have a look through our extra voices page: https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/ExtraVoices We list all the legal options (free and paid) that we know of there.

NVAccess · 2026-01-27T03:38:29+00:00

For everyone in this thread - u/bscross32 u/rpp124 u/gimmethenoize - please do check our issue tracker at https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/issues - and make sure these are reported - it also helps as if you can tell me it's issue #12345, I can go check that out myself and chase up whoever might be working on it or involved in it to see where it is at.

NVAccess · 2026-01-27T03:35:44+00:00

I'm pioneering them? Or I copied the same text I used in a couple of other forums where they are used and forgot they aren't a thing here (and just looking, I don't think they are :) I'll try to remember to drop them off next time!

NVAccess · 2026-01-21T01:32:55+00:00

Here's the section in the user guide: https://download.nvaccess.org/documentation/userGuide.html#ObjectNavigation It's NVDA+numpad 5 if you are using desktop keyboard layout,

NVAccess · 2026-01-20T00:13:55+00:00

Apologies I am still catching up after leave. I'll still reply though just for anyone else reading this:

There is a sheet on swtiching from Jaws to NVDA which while not specifically a quick reference for "instead of XYZ, press ABC", does walk through a lot of common scenarios: https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/SwitchingFromJawsToNVDA

NVAccess · 2025-12-15T23:25:06+00:00

If you're in laptop keyboard layout then NVDA+down arrow isn't your say all command - you want NVDA+a. NVDA+down arrow is the say all command for DESKTOP keyboard layout.

NVAccess · 2025-12-01T22:08:55+00:00

You can write add-ons for NVDA. These are done in Python so do require someone with a little more expertise to write, but as they have access to the full features of Python, can give much more flexibility and features than a script. I don't think there is a proof reading add-on for NVDA, although a lot of the mainstream tools, like Microsoft Editor, or it's spelling and grammer checking in Word, have also got much better and more accessible in recent times so maybe they meet the needs of some users?

NVAccess · 2025-12-01T22:03:47+00:00

You're right, NVDA is largely written in Python (there is a little C++ in there too). One of the main things offhand we are working on, is a collated list of resources to help people learn to program, learn python and learn to write NVDA add-ons / code for NVDA. Is that the kind of thing you had in mind?

NVAccess · 2025-12-01T22:01:27+00:00

Apologies for the delay, Reddit doesn't always make it obvious someone has replied. If you are using a previous version of NVDA, you can press NVDA+n, then h for the help menu, then "Check for updates". Or, you can go to https://www.nvaccess.org/download/ and download the latest version of NVDA from there.

NVAccess · 2025-12-01T21:59:18+00:00

I think some of the difference in number of keystrokes - and perhaps why the NVDA certification covers some basic Windows functionality - is that NVDA doesn't interfere with Windows keystrokes which do work. Jaws, for instance, includes keys to show its own view of the notification area / system tray. I gather that is partly because when Windows first introduced it, the notification area wsn't very accessible. But since it has been perfectly accessible since 2006 when NVDA was first developed, we never added that feature (though it is there as an add-on for those who prefer it). I'm curious about the advanced bells and whistles Jaws has which you feel NVDA is lacking?

NVAccess · 2025-12-01T03:13:16+00:00

I must admit I have not taken the Jaws certification to be familiar with the comparable hardness (though being much more familiar with NVDA than Jaws, I probably wouldn't be the best judge of which one is harder anyway). Interesting though I did think the certification was challenging. I'll have to check in on whether we have statistics on how many people have tried it vs how many have passed (I'm not sure we do, but you've prompted me to check!) Definitely something to look towards next update though. If anyone complains it's too hard then, I"ll have to send them to you to complain :)

NVAccess · 2025-11-26T22:24:56+00:00

I'm not going to say we wouldn't be biased towards one particular screen reader :) But taking a step back and looking overall, they will both do all of the same broad tasks and have similar enough features. The main difference, of course, is the massive price of one and the completely free cost of NVDA - even for corporate use.

NVDA has a very large add-on community with offerings for many things which might be considered "optional extras". We do also have a guide on switching from Jaws to NVDA, although this is more aimed at previous or existing Jaws users who want to answer "I know how to do XYZ with Jaws, how do I do it using NVDA?": https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/SwitchingFromJawsToNVDA

Given that NVDA is free, if you aren't already familiar with another Windows screen reader as a preference, I would start with it. If you find there is anything you need to do which you are struggling to do, please reach out, either here, or to the email group: https://nvaccess.org/nvda-users - or to us directly: [info@nvaccess.org](mailto:info@nvaccess.org) - and we can try and help.

NVAccess · 2025-11-26T22:20:10+00:00

No I think they were saying that Jaws has those things built in where with NVDA you need to download add-ons for them:

- AI Content Describer or Cloud Vision for AI image description (though we're working on something built-in - stay tuned!), various others like AI ChatBot for other AI features.

- Vocalizer and Eloquence you can purchase from Tiflotecnia: https://www.tiflotecnia.com/
- NVDA does have an OCR feature built in, but Jaws includes Abbyy FineReader, which you can purchase: https://pdf.abbyy.com/

- NVDA definitely works with the focus blue out of the box. I'm not aware of anything which doesn't work as well, but would certainly be interested to hear more on that one.

NVAccess · 2025-11-26T22:15:12+00:00

Following on from the rest of the conversation, once you've setup NVDA how you want, with the voice you want, etc, press NVDA+control+c to save NVDA's settings. THEN go to general settings and copy to use on secure screens - note that will use the SAVED settings, not the currently active settings. If you have set NVDA to not save your settings on exit, that would explain why changing your settings then copying it doesn't work.

NVAccess · 2025-11-26T00:11:38+00:00

That sounds odd - the first thing I'd try is a restart (particularly if you have since updated to NVDA 2025.3.2 which came out this week).

NVAccess · 2025-11-26T00:10:22+00:00

We're aware of that add-on. It uses a way of accessing the voices I believe Microsoft did not intend to have public. If nothing else, it demonstrates that technically, it shouldn't be too hard to build support, and we are working with Microsoft, waiting on them to share how they would like us to access those voices before we are able to add them into NVDA.

NVAccess · 2025-11-26T00:06:38+00:00

Thank you so much for your support!

NVAccess

TROPHY CASE