[Trainer-Talk] Is NVDA enough for the blind?

Thu Jun 4 18:14:31 UTC 2026

Hi Quentin. 
First of all, thank you so much for your thoughtful and very informative reply! I am so excited to dive into the info you shared to help me be more knowledgeable about NVDA. I have read through the user guide before but I think I just need to turn JAWS off and get used to NVDA. Curious to hear from other AT Trainers who are more experienced than I am with NVDA. 
For example, I teach students who use Braille displays and who are learning advance math concepts and feel more comfortable teaching this with JAWS. More and more, I find that blind people really have to keep up with lots of applications through the web like 365/workspace/remote desktop access/citrix/etc... People have such wide employment fields and I want to know if NVDA can handle all of it, not just what one or 2 blind persons can do. I think as an assistive tech instructor, I don't want to mess anything up for blind people by making a wrong and bold claim to places like VR and say that NVDA is enough for blind people when I serve people who can find employment in all kinds of fields. I also don't want to be the one who says that we should do something just because we always have. I worry that boxing people into what VR thinks is affordable because of funding is not okay either. Trying to be thoughtful and fair and lead with integrity. 
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 4, 2026, at 7:06 AM, Quentin Christensen via Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Broadly speaking, NVDA does all the same things Jaws does - One might do a
> specific task in a particular program better, sure - but that goes both
> ways - one specific thing might work better with Jaws (please do let us
> know so we can improve) and something else might work better with NVDA.
> Both use very similar keys for many things in fact.  There is a document
> the community created on switching from Jaws to NVDA with comparisons of
> keystrokes and how features work:
> https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/SwitchingFromJawsToNVDA
> 
> The argument that NVDA does not work as well in certain contexts is largely
> from two things:
> 1) Someone used to Jaws who is much more familiar with that screen reader
> and the slight differences in how it work in a particular setting.
> 2) A specific instance where Jaws MAY work better, perhaps than using NVDA
> with the default settings (and that may be because the default settings are
> different, or because they changed the equivalent setting in Jaws many
> moons ago).
> 
> If you are familiar with Jaws and start using NVDA, then of course the
> things which jump out to you are not going to be the things which work the
> same, but rather the things which are different, and humans tend to resist
> change, so it's easy to see that as "Ah the new thing isn't as good", when
> it may just be that you need to press a different key or that NVDA reads
> something slightly differently.
> 
> The misconception that NVDA may not be adopted due to being open source is
> 100% false.  We have a page on our website devoted to information for
> corporate users.  I've linked specifically here to the section on open
> source: https://www.nvaccess.org/corporate-government/#OpenSource
> 
> Governments around the world, including the US government, not only
> encourage, but mandate the use of open source.  The link on that page to
> the US government goes here:
> https://digital.gov/resources/requirements-for-achieving-efficiency-transparency-and-innovation-through-reusable-and-open-source-software/
> which encourages using open source and also stipulates that for developed
> code, at least 20% must be made available as open source.
> 
> While our page addresses a range of security concerns (because these are
> important for ANY software to address), the concerns around open source
> tend to be more around whether NVDA has support.  The answer is yes!  We
> have telephone support available as well as training material, and we
> regularly release new versions of NVDA.  And in terms of security, there
> are various options in NVDA, including a locked down "Secure" mode.
> 
> Much of the misconception around NVDA is due to the price.  If you're
> looking at two screen readers and one costs thousands of dollars, and the
> other is free, it's easy to be fooled that the more expensive one must be
> better.  All price tells you is who the developers chose to burden with the
> cost.  NV Access understands that many blind people around the world cannot
> afford multi-thousand dollar programs just to have the same level of access
> to technology as their sighted peers, so we explored other ways of
> funding.  NVDA works with companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon,
> Adobe & others.  They believe in what we do and help fund us to ensure that
> NVDA remains free long term (we're at 20 years and counting this year!).
> In return, we share our expertise in accessibility with them, which helps
> improve the accessibility of programs everyone uses - even if you don't use
> NVDA.  We are also a registered charity and accept donations (tax
> deductible in Australia at least - we are currently exploring the path
> towards 501c3 in the US - follow our social media or blog if you're
> interested as no doubt we will share news loudly as and when anything new
> becomes available there).
> 
> For users coming across from Jaws, even if you are primarily a Jaws user
> and just want to explore NVDA as a second option, I'd encourage you to
> start with the switching from Jaws guide:
> https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/SwitchingFromJawsToNVDA - and yes you
> can happily have both installed at once - I just wouldn't have both
> actively running and speaking at once.  Exit one before the starting the
> other.
> 
> For new screen reader users, we would recommend the "Quick Start Guide",
> which comes as the first main section in the User Guide:
> https://download.nvaccess.org/documentation/userGuide.html#NVDAQuickStartGuide
> 
> If you would like more formal training material - either for yourself or
> teaching a class, we would recommend starting with "Basic Training for
> NVDA" from our shop, and if you are interested in Microsoft Office as well,
> then the "NVDA Productivity Bundle" is a great deal as it comes with
> telephone support (also available separately) at a discount over buying it
> all.  All available in our shop: https://www.nvaccess.org/shop/
> 
> Oh, and for those who are coming from Jaws and love Eloquence, you CAN get
> Eloquence for NVDA.  The legal option is the SAPI 5 version from Code
> Factory (also available from Tiflotecnia) both of which you can find on our
> Extra Voices page: https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/wiki/ExtraVoices
> 
> Kind regards
> 
> Quentin
> 
>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2026 at 9:05 PM Christopher Murphy via Trainer-Talk <
>> trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Good morning,
>>        While I agree that NVDA is a great program and that it can perform
>> most tasks with add-ons, Jaws has far more features and seems to be more
>> stable and easier to teach. Because there are now various license options
>> available such as home annual among other Jaws has become more affordable
>> for someone who doesn't require a professional license. State services
>> should be able to justify this without an issue however I have seen some
>> circumstances that they won't just because they want to save some money or
>> the person's goal may be different. While I can get by using NVDA when I
>> need to, I find that my experience with Jaws has been much better because
>> of its integration with so many different programs and applications. Jaws
>> is a much more popular screen reader then NVDA and doesn't require so much
>> effort just to make it perform tasks because of the apparent need to make
>> sure that it has add-ons for applications and programs. The ability to
>> customize settings based on user preference along with the updates every
>> single year in my opinion make Jaws more highly utilized then NVDA
>> especially in places of employment.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Christopher Murphy
>> Email:
>> cjohnmurph at gmail.com
>> 
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>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Showe
>> Trela via Trainer-Talk
>> Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2026 5:48 AM
>> To: List for teachers and trainers of adaptive technology <
>> trainer-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Showe Trela <myshowe86 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Trainer-Talk] Is NVDA enough for the blind?
>> 
>> Hello fellow trainers.
>> I am writing this email to ask you all this question because I want to
>> educate myself and be a better AT trainer, looking at all sides and
>> choosing what is best for the individuals I instruct. Here in Minnesota,
>> state services are telling us that NVDA should be enough for blind people
>> to use and using JAWS is no longer ideal and might need further
>> justification. In states like Virginia and Delaware and Colorado, I am
>> hearing the same tune. I am also hearing other AT instructors supporting
>> this claim that people don't really need to learn JAWS and NVDA is enough.
>> Admitedly, I am way more proficient with JAWS and can get by on NVDA when I
>> have to. Can you all chime in and share your thoughts on this? I have
>> always thought that because NVDA is open source software, workplaces will
>> sometimes balk at installing this screen reader. Although free.99 is always
>> good for employers. I understand that NVDA add-ons make it so much more
>> efficient but I have wondered about workplaces allowing for those
>> installations as well. Can you all enlighten me on this matter? Thank you.
>> 
>> Showe
>> Sent from my iPhone
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> 
> 
> --
> 
> Quentin Christensen
> Training and Support Manager
> 
> NV Access
> www.nvaccess.org  <http://www.nvaccess.org/>
> 
> Celebrating 20 years of NVDA
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