Can anyone recommend a Braille Reader to work with NVDA?

19 views
Skip to first unread message

Soumik Roy-Chowdhury

unread,
Jul 27, 2026, 1:16:20 PM (7 days ago) Jul 27
to NVDA Screen Reader Discussion
Hi

I am a Software Tester learning NVDA to use as a software test tool as it
is highly regarded in the Accessibility testing world. I keep seeing mention
that NVDA can be used with a braille reader. Can anyone recommend a good one that will work with NVDA, where I purchase it from, and how much it would cost roughly..?

Regards

Soumik

Richard Turner

unread,
Jul 27, 2026, 1:31:47 PM (7 days ago) Jul 27
to nvda-...@nvaccess.org

NVDA should work with pretty much all braille displays.

Orbit Research is coming out with a new, USB only braile display that takes up very little room, has no input keys, that has 40 cells.  It uses the Piezo Elecronic cells that have been the standard for many years.

I don't know the shipping date, but this link will take you to its description and there is a link to sign up to be notified when it is available.

https://www.orbitresearch.com/products/orbit-flow-40/orbit-flow-40/

I think it is likely to be less than most other displays of similar size. 

If you need something portable that has bluetooth and braille input keys for writing notes, or controling a device, that is where things start getting expensive.

 

 

 

Richard, USA,

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

-- Alan Watts (1915-1973)

 

My web site: https://www.turner42.com

--
***
Please note: the NVDA project has a Citizen and Contributor Code of Conduct.
NV Access expects that all community members will read and abide by the rules set out in this document while participating in this group.
https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
 
You can contact the group owners and moderators via nvda-user...@nvaccess.org.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NVDA Screen Reader Discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to nvda-users+...@nvaccess.org.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/00fce33a-84c6-4b64-9aa5-dc4f53c246a8n%40nvaccess.org.

Matthew Horspool

unread,
Jul 27, 2026, 9:58:56 PM (6 days ago) Jul 27
to nvda-...@nvaccess.org

Hi Soumik,

If you are just getting a braille display so that you can test braille functionality, and you want to get one new, I would suggest the Orbit Reader. It is very basic, which is reflected in its price point, but the dots will pop up and down and the braille input keyboard will be picked up by NVDA, which is really all you need in a testing environment.

Matthew

 

From: nvda-...@nvaccess.org <nvda-...@nvaccess.org> On Behalf Of Soumik Roy-Chowdhury
Sent: 28 July 2026 05:16
To: NVDA Screen Reader Discussion <nvda-...@nvaccess.org>
Subject: [NVDA] Can anyone recommend a Braille Reader to work with NVDA?

 

Hi

--

Quentin Christensen

unread,
Jul 28, 2026, 12:49:18 AM (6 days ago) Jul 28
to nvda-...@nvaccess.org
Hi Soumik,

Are you a Braille reader yourself?  If you aren't, and are sighted, rather than purchasing a device, for testing, you may find the "Braille Viewer" useful - it is available on NVDA's tools menu (NVDA+n, then t), and shows a visual representation on screen of what NVDA would present on a connected braille display, as well as the text equivalent in the current language.

If you are blind yourself, I would highly recommend learning braille if you aren't already, and then a Braille display is a very worthwhile investment.

Kind regards

Quentin



--

Quentin Christensen
Training and Support Manager

NV Access

Celebrating 20 years of NVDA
image.png
Blog, releases & news by email: https://nvaccess.org/newsletter
Other socials & community: https://www.nvaccess.org/#socials

image.png

Soumik Roy-Chowdhury

unread,
Jul 29, 2026, 11:39:25 AM (5 days ago) Jul 29
to nvda-...@nvaccess.org

Hi Quentin

 

Thanks for the tip on Braille Viewer.

 

I am fully-sighted, so my enquiry was just out of curiosity. So, how many visually-impaired people do use

the Braille Viewer or a Braille reader would you say..?

 

Regards

 

Soumik

 

 

 

Soumik Roy-Chowdhury

Senior QA and Test Analyst

T: +441133692811

soumik.roy...@dlapiper.com

DLA Piper UK LLP

 

From: Quentin Christensen <que...@nvaccess.org>
Sent: 28 July 2026 05:49
To: nvda-...@nvaccess.org
Subject: Re: [NVDA] Can anyone recommend a Braille Reader to work with NVDA?

 

**EXTERNAL**

--
***
Please note: the NVDA project has a Citizen and Contributor Code of Conduct.
NV Access expects that all community members will read and abide by the rules set out in this document while participating in this group.
https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
 
You can contact the group owners and moderators via nvda-user...@nvaccess.org.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NVDA Screen Reader Discussion" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to nvda-users+...@nvaccess.org.



This email is from DLA Piper UK LLP. The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential to the intended recipient. They may not be disclosed to or used by or copied in any way by anyone other than the intended recipient. If this email is received in error, please contact DLA Piper UK LLP on +44 (0) 20 7349 0296 quoting the name of the sender and the email address to which it has been sent and then delete it. For more information on how we process personal data please see www.dlapiper.com/privacy-policy. Please note that neither DLA Piper UK LLP nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan or otherwise check this email and any attachments. DLA Piper UK LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (registered number OC307847) which provides services from offices in England, Belgium, Germany and the People's Republic of China. A list of members is open for inspection at its registered office and principal place of business 160 Aldersgate Street London EC1A 4HT. Partner denotes member of a limited liability partnership. DLA Piper UK LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 401322) and is part of DLA Piper, a global law firm, operating through various separate and distinct legal entities. For further information, please refer to www.dlapiper.com.

Sean Randall

unread,
Jul 29, 2026, 12:47:09 PM (5 days ago) Jul 29
to nvda-...@nvaccess.org

Hi Soumik

 

The Braille viewer is used by sighted testers for the most part; Braille is a tactile reading system so showing what it would look like visually is only helpful to those who can read Braille by eye.

 

Sadly, Consensus among researchers is that only about 10% of the world’s blind or visually impaired population are Braillists.

 

Sean.

image001.png
image002.png

Quentin Christensen

unread,
Jul 29, 2026, 9:09:24 PM (4 days ago) Jul 29
to nvda-...@nvaccess.org
The braille viewer is useful for sighted non-braille readers as it gives the representation of the dots as well as printing the characters so you can "read" it even without knowing braille.

It's also worth noting that for testing purposes, in terms of "Is this website or program I'm developing accessible", the speech viewer (or listening to the speech) is probably the better tool - there isn't much you can code on your site or program which might be represented by a screen reader in Braille but not in speech - and if there is, it's almost certainly a deliberate setting choice by the user.

But since that might have just made you wonder what IS different:  The main things are because braille displays have a limited size, eg usually 20 to 40 cells (some up to 80 or more and some newer models are starting to be multi-line, but for the most part, 20 - 40 cells are common).  That means it can only show that many characters at once.  So, to maximise that, screen readers often condense information or don't present everything in Braille:

- Common control names.  For instance, instead of telling you there is a "button", it will simply have "btn", or "chk" instead of "checkbox".  There's a list in our user guide here: https://download.nvaccess.org/documentation/userGuide.html#BrailleAbbreviations
- Other information.  In NVDA, you can set font attributes (such as bold or underlined) to be presented in speech only, braille only, speech and braille - or not at all.  It's worth noting that you can enable or disable various other information - so for instance, the colour of text CAN be reported, but is not by default, which is just one reason for the WCAG recommendation that colour not be the ONLY way information is presented.  By all means use colour as an additional way of representing information - it does help visual users - but just not the only way.

NVDA currently has two braille "modes".  You can either work as indicated above, following whatever you have set the braille display to follow, or you can "display speech output" which simply echoes whatever NVDA reports in speech.

The choice of Braille table and other options can change how the braille display presents information, but certainly in terms of developing general content, if you make it accessible to screen reader users, they can then choose how they consume it between audio and braille.

Kind regards

Quentin



--

Quentin Christensen
Training and Support Manager

NV Access

Celebrating 20 years of NVDA
image.png
image.png
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages