1.1. General Features

1. Introduction

1.1. General Features

Providing feedback by synthetic speech, Nonvisual Desktop Access allows blind and vision impaired people to access and interact with the Windows operating system and many third party applications.

Major highlights include:

· Ability to run entirely from a USB stick or other portable media without the need for installation

· Easy to use talking installer

· Browsing the web with Mozilla Firefox 3

· Working with email using Mozilla Thunderbird 3

· Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer

· Basic support for Microsoft Outlook Express / Windows Mail

· support for Microsoft Word and Excel

· Support for accessible Java applications

· Support for Adobe Reader

· Early support for IBM Lotus Symphony

· support for Windows Command Prompt and console applications

· Automatic announcement of text under the mouse and optional audible indication of the mouse position

· Support for many refreshable Braille displays

1.2. Internationalization

It is important that people anywhere in the world, no matter what language they speak, get equal access to technology. NVDA currently has been translated into over 20 languages besides the English language including: Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian, Afrikaans, Polish and Vietnamese.

1.3. Speech Synthesizer Support

Apart from providing its messages and interface in several languages, NVDA can also enable the user to read content in any language, as long as they have a speech synthesizer that can speak that particular language.

NVDA is bundled with eSpeak, a free, open-source, multi-lingual speech synthesizer. Additionally, NVDA can use both SAPI4 and SAPI5 speech engines to provide speech output, as well as the Audiologic and NewFon speech synthesizers.

1.4. Braille support

For users that own a refreshable braille display, NVDA can output its information in braille. NVDA supports Freedom Scientific Pacmate and Focus displays, Handy Tech displays, ALVA BC640/680 displays, plus many others supported by the BRLTTY package if it is available.

NVDA supports many braille codes covering a large set of languages. In many cases grade 1 and 2 versions of the codes are available. For English readers both U.S. English braille and Unified English braille (UEB) codes are included.

1.5. Licence and Copyright

NVDA is covered by the GNU General Public License (Version 2). You are free to share or change this software in any way you like as long as you distribute the licence along with the software, and make all source code available to anyone who wants it. This applies to both original and modified copies of the software, plus any software that uses code taken from this software. For further details, you can view the full licence.

2. System Requirements

· Operating Systems: all 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (including Server operating Systems), may partially work on Windows 2000.

· Memory: 256 mb or more of RAM

· Processor speed: 1.0 ghz or above

· About 50 MB of storage space.

3. Getting NVDA

If you have not yet got a copy of NVDA, you can download it here.

Go to the download section and you will find a link to download the latest version of NVDA.

There are currently two ways NVDA is packaged. One is an Installer which will talk you through installing NVDA so that you can then run it at any time from the Start Menu. The other is a self-extracting archive file that contains a fully portable version of NVDA, which you can run from anywhere, including a USB thumb drive or CD.

4. Installing NVDA

4.1. The NVDA Installer

If you already have the NVDA installer, simply press enter or double click on the file and the installer will start.

As the installer loads, you will hear the NVDA installation music. Once loaded, a temporary copy of NVDA will allow you to follow the prompts of the installer and install NVDA. Note that if you were running another copy of NVDA at the time you started the installer, a message will appear telling you that your previous copy of NVDA will be closed. When you press enter on this message, the installer will close your previous copy and start its own one. This is necessary so that the installer can properly update any changed files. At this point, if you have another copy of NVDA already installed, the NVDA installer will uninstall it for you, and then it will commence to install NVDA.

Once you have successfully completed the installation, the installer will alert you that the install of NVDA has finished. If reinstalling NVDA, It may ask you to reboot the system at this point. It is very important that you reboot the system as failing to do so will have undesirable consequences. If it did not ask you to reboot, pressing Finnish will close the installer and start the newly installed version of NVDA.

4.2. NVDA portable

If you have the portable version of NVDA, then all you have to do is to press enter or double click on the file, and follow the prompts. It will ask you where on your system you wish to place the files.

5. Getting started with NVDA

5.1. Launching NVDA

If you have installed NVDA with the installer, then starting NVDA is as simple as either pressing control+alt+n, or choosing NVDA from the NVDA menu under Programs on the Start Menu. Additionally you can type NVDA into the Run dialog and press Enter.

To start the portable version, go to the directory you unpacked NVDA to, and press enter or double click on nvda.exe.

As NVDA starts, you will first hear an ascending set of tones (telling you that NVDA is loading). Depending on how fast your computer is, or if you are running NVDA off a USB key or other slower medium, it may take a little while to start. If it is taking an extra long time, NVDA should say "Loading subsystems. Please wait..."

If you don't hear any of this, or you hear the Windows error sound, or a descending set of tones, then this means that NVDA has an error, and you will need to possibly report a bug to the developers. Please check out the NVDA website for how to do this.

When NVDA starts for the first time, you will be greeted by a dialog box which provides you with some basic information about the NVDA modifier key and the NVDA menu. (Please see further sections about these topics). The dialog box also contains two checkboxes. The first lets you control if NVDA should use the capslock as an NVDA modifier key, and the second lets you control if this Welcome dialog should appear each time NVDA starts.

5.2. About NVDA keyboard commands

Most NVDA-specific keyboard commands usually consist of pressing the NVDA modifier key, in conjunction with one or more other keys. An exception to this are the text review commands which just use the numpad keys by themselves.

By default both numpad insert and extended insert can be used as the NVDA modifier key. However, you can also configure NVDA so that the capslock key also becomes an NVDA modifier key. When configured this way, pressing or holding down capslock acts as an NVDA modifier key, but pressing it twice in quick succession causes it to act as the normal capslock key.

Many key commands are mentioned through out the rest of this user guide, but an easy way to explore all the different key commands is to turn on keyboard help.

To turn on keyboard help, press NVDA+1. To turn it off again, press NVDA+1 again. While in keyboard help, pressing any key will announce what it does (if in deed it does do something). The keys will not actually perform their function while in keyboard help mode, so you can press what ever keys you like.

6. The NVDA menu

The NVDA menu allows you to control NVDA's settings, access help, save/revert your configuration, Modify speech dictionaries, read the log file, and exit NVDA.

6.1. Accessing the NVDA menu

To get to the NVDA menu from anywhere in Windows while NVDA is running, press NVDA+n. You can also get to the NVDA menu via the windows system tray. Either right-click on the nvda icon located in the system tray, or access the system tray by pressing the windows logo key+B, DownArrow to the NVDA icon and press the applications key located next to the right control key on most keyboards. When the menu comes up, You can use the arrow keys to navigate the menu, and the enter key to activate an item. The Preferences menu allows you to configure NVDA how you like, the tools menu contains useful tools such as the NVDA log viewer and the NVDA Python console for developers, the help menu allows you to access the user guide, a quick key reference, and much more. The NVDA menu also contains items that allow you to save or revert your current configuration. There is also an option that allows you to exit NVDA, although this can be accomplished more efficiently by pressing NVDA+Q.

The options under the preferences menu can also be accessed via keyboard shortcut commands, as well as the NVDA Python Console, save and revert configuration options discussed in this section. For more information about this, please visit the quick reference guide for a list of shortcut commands.

6.2. Configuring NVDA

6.2.1 Preferences

6.2.1.1. General Settings

The General settings dialog box is found in the Preferences menu. It is also accessed by pressing NVDA+Control+G. To save the options after modifying settings, press the OK button. To cancel, press the cancel button or the escape key. It contains the following options:

Language

A combo box which allows you to select the language that NVDA's user interface and messages should be shown in. There are many languages, however the default option is "User Default, Windows". This option tells NVDA to use the language that Windows is currently set to. Please note that NVDA must be restarted when changing the language. NVDA will ask you if you wish to restart if you do change the selection. Press OK, and NVDA will restart.

Save Configuration on Exit

This option is a checkbox that, when checked, tells NVDA to automatically save the current configuration when you exit NVDA.

Warn before exiting NVDA

This option is a checkbox that allows you to choose whether or not a dialog appears when you exit NVDA that asks whether or not you would like to exit. When checked, a dialog will appear when you attempt to exit NVDA asking whether or not you want to exit.

Logging level

This is a combo box that permits you to choose how much NVDA wil log as it's running. Generally users should not need to touch this as not too much is logged. However if you are wanting to provide information in a bug report, then it may be a useful option.

Automatically start nvda after I log on to windows

If this option is enabled, NVDA will start automatically as soon as you log on to Windows.

Use nvda on the windows log on screen (requires administrative privileges)

If you log on to Windows by providing a user name and password, then enabling this option will make NVDA start automatically at the logon screen when Windows starts.

6.2.1.2. Synthesizer Selection

The Synthesizer dialog, which is found under "Synthesizer..." in the Preferences menu or by pressing NVDA+Control+S, allows you to select which Synthesizer NVDA should use to speak with.

The dialog contains a simple combo box, which lists all the available synthesizers. Choose the synthesizer you want using the arrow keys, and then press ok. If there is an error loading the synthesizer, a message box will alert you, and NVDA will keep the old synthesizer loaded.

The current list of synthesizers NVDA supports is: eSpeak, SAPI4, SAPI5, Audiologic, and Silence.

The eSpeak synthesizer is built directly in to NVDA, and does not depend on any other special drivers or SAPI runtime to be installed. NVDA starts using eSpeak by default. This synthesizer should work on any system that NVDA works on, so it will definitely work when running NVDA off a USB thumb drive or CD, on anyone else's system.

The Sapi4 option allows you to use the Sapi synthesizer. Voices that are included under Ssapi4 include eloquence voices, as well as other Ssapi4 voices that you may have installed on your system.

The Sapi5 synthesizer allows you to use the microsoft voices that are iincluded on your machine. In XP, the default Ssapi5 voice is Microsoft Sam. In Vista, the default voice is Microsoft Anna. Depending on what voices you have installed, others may show up under Ssapi5.

The Silence synthesizer driver is not that useful, unless you want to not have any speech at all while running NVDA.

Please note that no matter how many different SAPI4 or SAPI5 voices (or engines) you have installed on your system, only the actual SAPI4 and SAPI5 synthesizers will show up in the Synthesizers dialog. To actually select one of the engines (voices), select either SAPI4 or SAPI5, and then in the Voice settings dialog, you can choose the voice you want.

6.2.1.3. Voice Settings

The Voice Settings dialog, found in the Preferences menu or accessed by pressing NVDA+Control+V, contains options that let you change the sound of the speech. You can also configure many of the options from anywhere by pressing NVDA+Control along with one of the arrow keys. The left and right arrow keys move through the various settings, the up and down arrows increase or decrease that setting respectively.