There are a number of technologies that can assist in conveying the information on a web site to those who have difficulty viewing or reading the text.

Once specific type of technology, which can be used on this web site, is screen reading technology. This technology can be used to read out loud the textual content of a web site.

Here we will briefly cover screen readers for users of the Windows operating system. Details on how to find out about screen readers for other operating systems are given at the end of this page.

Descriptions are given for Internet Explorer (5, 6, 7), Netscape and Firefox (1.5 and earlier, 2, 3). Use the accessibility feature icon links left to jump straight to its description.

Screen Readers

Internet Explorer (5, 6, 7), Firefox (1.5 and earlier, 2, 3) and Netscape

There are a number of pieces of software that will speak aloud the content of a web page or text that has been selected. This software comes in the form of specialised browser, browser plug-ins and stand alone software.

Such software comes as commercial software, for which there is an associated cost or a free software. This software comes with varying features.

Some examples of screen reader software that is available for free to download for use within Windows are listed below:

• Thunder – http://www.screenreader.net/.
• Web Anywhere – http://webanywhere.cs.washington.edu/wa.php (Does not require a download).
• Panopreter – http://www.panopreter.com/.

There are also a number of commercial pieces of software available at varying cost.

A larger list of screen readers can be found on the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) web site.