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

Sat Jun 6 00:48:46 UTC 2026

I'll have some fun in here!
Dr. Denise Robinson sold me and I'm also in agreeance now that Jaws, NVDA,
and Windows Narrator should all be taught.
There are times where I have done I. T. work on a co-worker's PC using
Narrator. There are times where Jaws is incredible! There are also times
when Jaws won't recognize a button and I turn NVDA on and it does.
As someone who is blind, with 10 years of K12 experience and currently a
Teacher of Blind/Low Vision Learners. I personally advocate for all three
of these.
I know software engineers here in Seattle who work for major corporations
and just use NVDA. I also know others who use Jaws.
I think the big thing is less about is one better than the other and
looking at all three as tools, along with all the other amazing apps we
have at our disposal like Be My Eyes, Quick Assist, etc.
I also come from a low income background and serve a low income community.
Our government system moves slow and to install NVDA and teach NVDA and
Narrator while I wait for the district to pay seems to work a lot better to
get my students off the ground.
So not to burst too many bubbles, but I'm a fan of the holy trinity
approach of Jaws, NVDA, and Narrator.
Also, if you are a gamer. NVDA is so much easier to add custom scripts than
Jaws since it runs on Python.

On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 12:26 PM Dan Burke via Trainer-Talk <
trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi all –
>
>
>
> Coming from a trainer-adjacent perspective, this is a great thread. My
> takeaway to the answer to Showe’s original question is that it depends on
> the individual and the situation.
>
>
>
> Let me state first that I’ve been using NVDA almost exclusively for the
> past 15 years or so. The only consistent use I’ve made of JAWS in that time
> is to work with Duxbury, and I don’t do any Duxbury work these days. I’ve
> used a number of screen readers since the early 90s, and for much of that
> time JAWS was the pinnacle. But I don’t believe that is the case now.
>
>
>
> 1.      Curtis is right on the mark when he says that it is deplorable for
> VR to opt for the “good enough” option simply to save money. They need to
> provide the tools that are most appropriate to that individual’s situation
> – including the work tools they will need to use and the level of support
> that will be available to them. Trainers need to cite these factors in tech
> recommendations, but I think that what Showe alludes to is that, once
> you’ve recommended no-cost NVDA for one client, VR counselors turn into
> sharks (no pun intended) and when they smell blood, they move in on one
> free solution for all. Brian suggests that this might one day become true
> for Narrator, should it cross some effectiveness/acceptance threshold.
>
> 2.      Matthew makes great points about teaching skills and
> problem-solving rather than one screen reader. And no, NVDA isn’t always
> enough. Sometimes I need to turn on Narrator. (grin). In the College
> Readiness I’ve taught for the past dozen years, I’ve emphasized to those
> students that they can’t rely on one browser or one screen reader, because
> we will always run into something that doesn’t work in Chrome that works in
> Edge or Firefox, or that NVDA or JAWS doesn’t get, but the other does.
>
> Or that works better in the phone app, for that matter. If something
> doesn’t work right when I’m using JAWS, can I complain it isn’t accessible
> and stop? No, as Matthew suggests, in my job, I need to get things done, so
> I need to try a couple of alternatives before I throw u my hands.
>
> 3.      I’ve been using NVDA for everything so long that, if I have turned
> JAWS on for some other purpose and move to Outlook or Excel, I get
> frustrated because it doesn’t respond in the ways that I’m accustomed to
> with NVDA. I mention this to underscore that familiarity factor mentioned
> in the thread.
>
> 4.      Sometimes, screen readers lock up. My experience of old with JAWS
> was that it often froze the computer, and I would have to restart the
> computer if it froze, but with NVDA I rarely do that, just do Control-alt N
> and I’m good again. Don’t know if this is still a thing with JAWS.
>
> 5.      Brett didn’t mention this, but every time we need to renew our JAWS
> license – or now consider subscriptions – our discussions as to whether the
> time is upon us to drop JAWS and switch to NVDA as the screen reader of
> choice for CCB become more serious. Once, I was the only one who brought
> this up, but this idea keeps gaining traction. Licensing has always been a
> huge headache  for JAWS, not just at CCB, but in my previous years tracking
> that at the university level with libraries and labs, etc., where we
> deployed JAWS in the old days. But that was back when nobody could touch
> JAWS. Now, things are roughly even and we have to ask, “Are the hassles and
> costs for JAWS really worth it?” For some, the answer will be yes, but not
> for all of us. JAWS just doesn’t own this space like it did in the late 90s
> or 00s.
>
> 6.      Does the word “bloat” resonate with anyone?
>
> 7.      I am impressed with all that Quinton has shared, but maybe more
> impressed with the number of professionals on this list saying that they
> use JAWS to do their very professional jobs as tech trainers. That is a
> real testimonial for NVDA.
>
>
>
> Thanks for indulging me!
>
> Dan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 9:54 AM Christopher Murphy via Trainer-Talk <
> trainer-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> > Good morning,
> >         Everything stated here is so true. There are so many actors to
> > consider when accommodations are requested and what may be more
> affordable.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > 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 Brian
> > Vogel via Trainer-Talk
> > Sent: Friday, June 5, 2026 10:43 AM
> > To: List for teachers and trainers of adaptive technology <
> > trainer-talk at nfbnet.org>
> > Cc: Brian Vogel <britechguy at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Trainer-Talk] Is NVDA enough for the blind?
> >
> > Leo Bado wrote:  ". . . if the goal is to secure a real-world job, users
> > should train with the same authentic, situational tools the role actually
> > demands. Practice should mirror the workplace—not some sanitized sandbox
> > with training wheels."
> >
> > Showe Trela wrote, in part: "For those of you actively teaching, placing
> > consumers into employment, or working within VR systems, what do you see
> as
> > the long-term implications of moving away from JAWS as the primary screen
> > reader taught to blind individuals?"
> >
> > These two things are not mutually exclusive.  That being said, most VR
> > systems and employers (if the employers know anything at all) know about
> > one, and only one, screen reader:  JAWS.  That's an accident of history
> as
> > JAWS is the granddaddy of them all that still survives on the Windows
> > platform.
> >
> > But the reality is that money does matter, as do the attitudes of many IT
> > departments, a number of which are only familiar with JAWS.  But none of
> > this makes JAWS inherently superior.
> >
> > I am recently retired (as of April 1st) after a decade and a half of
> > working as a tutor for the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision
> > Impaired Technology Tutor Network.  We were (and are still) effectively a
> > JAWS only shop, which I had been trying to get them away from for quite
> > some time.  Many clients, particularly those who will be seeking remote
> > employment, and where such employment is sometimes tenuous, at best,
> simply
> > cannot afford the current JAWS subscription costs if they are not
> actively
> > employed.  You can't use JAWS Personal for employment (or at least you
> > can't legally, and no state agency would ever do so).  Keeping a
> > professional subscription is expensive.
> >
> > I have used NVDA as a functional stand-in for JAWS since almost 2010,
> > because when I first started tutoring the only option for JAWS was a full
> > license and the number of referrals and their irregularity made it
> > financially unreasonable to buy a JAWS license that I used only
> > intermittently.  JAWS and NVDA have much more in common from the
> > perspective of "typical daily driver tasks" (regardless of setting) than
> > they do differences.
> >
> > One also cannot ignore Narrator in all of this, either, as Microsoft has
> > been focusing more resources on Narrator in the Windows 10/11 era than it
> > ever did before.
> >
> > It's also important to remember that choice of screen reader as a
> > reasonable accommodation by an employer does not necessarily mean you
> will
> > get the screen reader you prefer.  They are not obligated to supply JAWS
> > (though this is what most do) but to supply a screen reader that allows
> the
> > work tasks to be performed.  And when it comes to money, and how business
> > works, I can definitely see the time coming in the not wildly distant
> > future where Narrator is going to be pushed a lot harder because it comes
> > with Windows at no cost and is a Microsoft made and supported product.
> >
> > It's all about feature matching, and that can and does mean that if most
> > of the employers in your area of service are almost certain to be
> supplying
> > JAWS, then the focus should be on JAWS.  But if they are not already set
> in
> > their ways about what they supply, that gives you the latitude to teach
> the
> > screen reader you choose and help them get it set up.
> >
> > There is no one right answer here.  The number of variables on the end of
> > the potential employers and on the end of the clients, and the nature of
> > the likely employment scenario itself all can push more in the JAWS or
> NVDA
> > direction.
> >
> > But in the end I've yet to meet a long-term JAWS user who can't make the
> > jump to NVDA, or vice versa, with relative ease.  These two screen
> readers
> > are not "worlds apart."
> >
> > Brian Vogel
> > _______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Dan Burke
>
> National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Co-chair
>
> "Blindness is not what holds you back.  You can live the life you want!"
>
> My Cell:  406.546.8546
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