Let's celebrate the 20 years of the NVDA Screen Reader with the hashtag #NVDA20 everywhere
Kavein Thran
HI Friends,
NVDA is 20 this year. Michael Curran and James Teh started it in 2006, two blind developers in Australia building a free screen reader because paid ones cost more than most people in their countries could afford. Twenty years later it runs on millions of computers, in dozens of languages, often on machines that nothing else would run on.
“All blind and vision-impaired people deserve these rights and opportunities, no matter the language they speak, their geographic location, economic status, or sensory, physical, cognitive, or mental abilities.”
I’ve been thinking about how to mark this anniversary, and what I kept coming back to is that most of the story hasn’t been written down anywhere. The early demos, the community arguments, the moment someone first heard their language come out of a speaker, the bug that terrified everyone, the add-on developer who disappeared, the user in a country where NVDA is the only option who figured out how to make it work on dial-up. That’s all still in people’s heads.
So I put together a journaling project: 166 prompts across 12 sections, meant to draw those stories out. It’s at:
https://github.com/kaveinthran/nvda20-journaling
Drop your thoughts, stories, and memories under the hashtag or by creating a new topic. Here are some prompts to get things going.
Your First Encounter
My first experience with NVDA was at 15, downloading version 2009.1 after hearing a demo online. What was yours? What version were you on, and what made you try it?
Switching from JAWS or Another Screen Reader
Did you come to NVDA from JAWS, Window-Eyes, System Access, or another screen reader? What was that transition like? What surprised you, what frustrated you, and what made you stay? NV Access maintains a switching guide for JAWS users if you want to share it with someone on the fence.
The Early Days
For those who were around in NVDA’s early years as users, translators, localizers, or developers: what do you remember? What was the community like then?
Old Recordings and Archives
People dig up old recordings and demos from other screen readers’ histories. Let’s surface content from NVDA’s own archives: early podcasts, beta recordings, old forum threads, anything from those formative years. Share what you’ve found or remember.
Nostalgic Add-ons and Older Builds
Anyone still running older NVDA portable copies with add-ons that no longer work on modern versions? What are you still getting out of them? Is anyone sticking to an older build for a specific reason?
Add-on Spotlights
Which add-ons have changed how you work or changed what was possible for you? Which one surprised you most when you first found it?
Growing the Ecosystem
NVDA is only as strong as the community that builds and sustains it. If you’ve been curious about where to start contributing, here are the core resources:
- NVDA Developer Guide
- Community add-on developer guide
- Add-on store submission guide
- Add-ons email group
- Developer mailing list
What else belongs on this list? If you’ve contributed before, what would you tell someone just starting out?
Translation and Localization
NVDA speaks dozens of languages because volunteer translators and localizers have done the work over the years, often without much acknowledgment. If you’ve contributed to translating NVDA into your language, or if you use NVDA in a language that isn’t English, what has that been like? What languages still need more love?
Accessibility Testing
For sighted, blind, or otherwise disabled web and software testers: how has NVDA changed your testing workflow? What stories do you have?
NVDA in Education and Employment
Has NVDA helped you study, get a job, or do your work better? For many people in regions where paid screen readers were never an option, NVDA opened doors that weren’t open before. What did it open for you?
Loves, Frustrations, and Honest Opinions
What do you love most about NVDA? What frustrates you? What would you change if you could?
The Next 20 Years
Where do you want NVDA to be in five, ten, or twenty years? What should the community and NV Access prioritize?
A Dream AMA
Imagine Michael and James hosting an AMA: “We are two blind developers with 20 years of experience building a screen reader for the blind. Ask us anything.” What would you ask? I personally have about 70 questions sitting in my notes with nowhere to send them.
The Audio Documentary
NVDA’s impact hasn’t been as visible as the iPhone or even JAWS, but it has been a silent revolution. Someone should make a long audio documentary telling NVDA’s full story. Who would you want interviewed, and what stories should it tell?
Reviving NVDACon
In 2016, the community organized NVDACon, a weekend of reflection and celebration for NVDA’s tenth anniversary. Should we bring it back for the twentieth — webinars, Zoom panels, multilingual streams? How would you want to help organize it?
Thank the Contributors
Who do you want to thank? Code contributors, translators, testers, add-on developers, people who answered forum questions for years. Who specifically, and what did their work mean to you?
NVDA Outside the Western Bubble
NVDA is the dominant screen reader across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, regions where paid alternatives were never a realistic option. For those using NVDA outside the English-speaking world, how has it changed what’s possible for you?
You don’t have to answer all of them. Pick one. Write a paragraph or ten pages. There’s no deadline and no required format.
NVDA20
Kavein
Kaveinthran (He/Him)
Curious, Native Blind
Disabled independent Human Rights Advocate
email: kavei...@gmail.com
My LinkedIn
Quentin Christensen
Kind regards
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Quentin Christensen
Hettie
I salute NVDA on their 20th birthday. NVDA has been, and still is, the only program I use. Thanks to the developers for all the effort and successes with this excellent software.
I do hope that all the people fore-ever complaining about NVDA not doing or reacting like Jaws at least support this irreplaceable free software financially.
I lift my glass with many, many happy NVDA users worldwide, on the next 20 + years.
Hettie
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azhar...@gmail.com
Hello
This is indeed a time of celebration.
I was introduced to NVDA back in 2014 but I was not a regular user of screen reader then. Today it is an essential part of my daily life. I never used any other screen reader, tried JAWS and Voiceover, but never felt comfortable
A big thank you to the incredible team at NV Access and the global community that continues to support and improve this powerful, free, and open-source screen reader.
Regards,
Azhar
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Ahmad Ismat
With news from Windows Laptop and computer manufacturers announcing that they are Beginning to reduce shipment of laptop running Windows 11 but instead increasing shipments running the Linux platform, Im a bit worried on the future of nvda ..but that is my 2 cents analysis..anyways let us ignore this news for now and celebrate 20 years of this excellent and fantastic screen reader !
Well Done to the developer team for all their sweat and real hard work! Excellent !
By the way, are there any plans to port nvda on the latest Linux platform as Lenovo has started shipping their Linux running laptops instead of the AI copilot overwhelming Windows 11 ! laptops ??
May NVDA prevail ! for the betterment of accessibility for the visually impaired !🙏🙏🙏💕💕
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/008c01dcd9a8%24fd229f30%24f767dd90%24%40gmail.com.
Quentin Christensen
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/00c201dcdc4f%247a42d680%246ec88380%24%40gmail.com.
Ahmad Ismat
Dear Quentin,
This is a great answer from a real expert!
I am so grateful to receive a confident and a reassuring answer.
Despite the unstable file explorer with the latest Windows 11 platform, we the consumers are being forced to use this platform!
I actually really missed the very stable file explorer offered by windows 10, my main problem with Windows 11 is its unstable file explorer, it really slows down my productivity levels .
Anyuways I am really looking fout for a brighter future in Technology as long as the excellent and stable screen reader like
Nvda is around!
Stay safe and have a wonderful day !
Best Wishes,
Ahmad
Jason J.G. White
>With making a Linux version of NVDA, while it would be broadly
>technically
>possible (we haven't looked at every function), NVDA uses many
>Windows-specific functions in order to get the information we need to pass
>to you, the user. If we made a version of NVDA for any other platform, we
>would need to rewrite the vast majority of NVDA's code.
reader, Orca, already. I'm using it to write this reply.
Anyone who wants to improve Linux accessibility further should probably
consider contributing to the software that already exists. If it turns
out that there is code associated with NVDA which is useful, but not
operating system-specific, I'm sure Linux developers would welcome it,
assuming it's licensed appropriately.
I've been using Linux since 1998 with various screen readers and other
tools. Unfortunately, I don't think there is sufficient appreciation
beyond the community of Linux users of what has been done or how
accessible Linux is, nor an awareness that people who are blind have
been using Linux since its early days.
Hettie
What speech software do the current Mac users use currently?
Hettie
Rui Fontes
Hi!
That question is not for this conversation neither to the list...
However, I suppose they can use Vocalizer or Eloquence.
Rui Fontes
Moderator
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