[Trainer-Talk] NVDA Basic Training and Expert Certification Links

Thu Jun 4 18:56:22 UTC 2026

Good afternoon,

                Thanks so much for sending this. I will check this out.

--

Christopher Murphy

Email:

 <mailto:cjohnmurph at gmail.com> cjohnmurph at gmail.com

this is a CONFIDENTIAL communication and is not to be duplicated or forwarded to other individuals or organizations unless the email says otherwise. This electronic message, including all attachments, is intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above and may contain legally privileged and confidential information. The authorized recipient of this information is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled.  If you received this message in error, please do not use, disclose, copy, or disseminate any of the information in this message. Please notify the sender by reply e-mail and delete the original message

From: Curtis Chong <chong.curtis at gmail.com> 
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2026 1:47 PM
To: 'List for teachers and trainers of adaptive technology' <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: 'Christopher Murphy' <cjohnmurph at gmail.com>
Subject: NVDA Basic Training and Expert Certification Links

Greetings:

On the NVDA Home Page, found at https://www.nvaccess.org/, you will see a link to purchase the NVDA Basic Training eBook. The link is https://www.nvaccess.org/product/basic-training-for-nvda-ebook/. The price is $32 Australian.

For $100, you can go for NVDA Expert Certification <https://www.nvaccess.org/product/nvda-expert-certification/> .

Good luck.

Kind regards,

Curtis Chong

-----Original Message-----
From: Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto:trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> > On Behalf Of Christopher Murphy via Trainer-Talk
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2026 12:39 PM
To: 'List for teachers and trainers of adaptive technology' <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org <mailto:trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> >
Cc: Christopher Murphy <cjohnmurph at gmail.com <mailto:cjohnmurph at gmail.com> >
Subject: Re: [Trainer-Talk] Is NVDA enough for the blind?

Good afternoon,

          I am going to explore this documentation as well. I haven't really taken the time to explore the differences between both in great length.

--

Christopher Murphy

Email:

cjohnmurph at gmail.com <mailto:cjohnmurph at gmail.com> 

this is a CONFIDENTIAL communication and is not to be duplicated or forwarded to other individuals or organizations unless the email says otherwise. This electronic message, including all attachments, is intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above and may contain legally privileged and confidential information. The authorized recipient of this information is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do so by law or regulation and is required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled.  If you received this message in error, please do not use, disclose, copy, or disseminate any of the information in this message. Please notify the sender by reply e-mail and delete the original message

-----Original Message-----

From: Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto:trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> > On Behalf Of Showe Trela via Trainer-Talk

Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2026 1:15 PM

To: trainer-talk at nfbnet.org <mailto:trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> 

Cc: Showe Trela <myshowe86 at gmail.com <mailto:myshowe86 at gmail.com> >; trainer-talk at nfbnet.org <mailto:trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> 

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

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 <mailto: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-tr

> ansparency-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#NVDAQuickSt

> artGuide

> 

> 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 <mailto: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 <mailto:cjohnmurph at gmail.com> 

>> 

>> this is a CONFIDENTIAL communication and is not to be duplicated or 

>> forwarded to other individuals or organizations unless the email says 

>> otherwise. This electronic message, including all attachments, is 

>> intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above and may 

>> contain legally privileged and confidential information. The 

>> authorized recipient of this information is prohibited from 

>> disclosing this information to any other party unless required to do 

>> so by law or regulation and is required to destroy the information 

>> after its stated need has been fulfilled.  If you received this 

>> message in error, please do not use, disclose, copy, or disseminate 

>> any of the information in this message. Please notify the sender by 

>> reply e-mail and delete the original message

>> 

>> -----Original Message-----

>> From: Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto: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 <mailto:trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> >

>> Cc: Showe Trela <myshowe86 at gmail.com <mailto: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>   <http://www.nvaccess.org/>

> 

> Celebrating 20 years of NVDA

> [image: image.png]

> Training: https://www.nvaccess.org/shop/

> Certification: https://certification.nvaccess.org/

> Blog, releases & news by email: https://nvaccess.org/newsletter User 

> group: https://nvaccess.org/nvda-users

> Mastodon: https://fosstodon.org/@NVAccess Other socials & community: 

> https://www.nvaccess.org/#socials

> 

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