Inquiry regarding remote desktop control for NVDA users on non-screen reader systems

[Mister Kayne]

Dear Members,

 

I am writing to seek your guidance and experience regarding a recurring challenge I face when working with sighted colleagues.

 

Earlier today, I was on a Microsoft Teams call with a user who does not utilize a screen reader. They shared their screen and granted me control of their system. Although I activated the prompt to take remote control, NVDA remained entirely unresponsive on the shared screen, leaving me unable to navigate or interact with their desktop.

After this experience, I looked into the NVDA Remote Access add-on and was delighted to learn that this functionality is now built into NVDA versions 2025 and above. However, my understanding is that this feature is primarily designed for sessions between two screen reader users.

 

This leads me to a few critical questions for the community:

Bridging the gap with sighted users: When a sighted user shares their screen via platforms like Microsoft Teams and grants me control, how can I ensure NVDA provides feedback on their interface? Is there a way to make the remote machine accessible to me when the other party is not running a screen reader?

Remote support scenarios: I often use Windows Quick Assist to receive support, where I select the "Get support" option. If I wanted to act as the supporter—essentially navigating a sighted user's machine to assist them—how can I effectively do this using NVDA?

Best Practices: Are there specific remote access tools or workflows that the community recommends for scenarios where the screen reader user is the one taking control of a sighted user's computer?

 

I am eager to hear how others in the community handle these remote collaboration scenarios. Any tips, recommended tools, or adjustments to my current setup would be greatly appreciated.

 

Warm regards,

 

Mister Kayne
Author: The Somebody, Nobody, Anybody & Everybody Blog!

Mail: writ...@mister-kayne.com

 

 

[darrell....@gmail.com]

Hi Mister Kayne,

 

NVDA Remote is, indeed, not what you need when you want to control a sighted person’s computer while using your screen reader.

 

Instead, the solution for this is Remote Incident Manager. Take a look at https://getrim.app to learn more about this solution.

 

Thanks,

 

Darrell Hilliker, NU7I, CPWA, Salesforce Certified User Experience Designer

When disabled people ask you to improve your accessibility, they’re asking you to make a conscious choice. Will you welcome us in or leave us out? Good people make the right accessibility choices every time.

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[Sarah Alawami]

Ar! Rim is expensive, very, very expensive. I know they have the passes but still. I will also have to try rim though if I want to control a sighted person's computer, or if I need to change something.

Thanks for reminding me of Rim, I already use it with aira and I forgot I could use it to give support, too when needed.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/027201dcfdb7%242ff17cb0%248fd47610%24%40gmail.com.

[Rui Fontes]

Why you do not activate Narrator?

Best regards,

Rui Fontes
NVDA portuguese team

--

[Gene Asner]

I believe they give you a certain amount of free time per day. It might
be half an hour. In short, depending on your needs and use, you may not
have to pay, but I don't know if the free use applies to the
professional market.

Gene

On 6/16/2026 12:59 PM, Sarah Alawami wrote:
> Ar! Rim is expensive, very, very expensive. I know they have the passes
> but still. I will also have to try rim though if I want to control a
> sighted person's computer, or if I need to change something.
>
> Thanks for reminding me of Rim, I already use it with aira and I forgot
> I could use it to give support, too when needed.
>
> On 6/16/2026 10:40 AM, darrell....@gmail.com wrote:
>>

>> Hi Mister Kayne <https://www.blogger.com/profile/04580049257592982490>,

>>
>> NVDA Remote is, indeed, not what you need when you want to control a
>> sighted person’s computer while using your screen reader.
>>
>> Instead, the solution for this is Remote Incident Manager. Take a look
>> at https://getrim.app to learn more about this solution.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>> Darrell Hilliker, NU7I, CPWA, Salesforce Certified User Experience
>> Designer
>>
>> When disabled people ask you to improve your accessibility, they’re
>> asking you to make a conscious choice. Will you welcome us in or leave
>> us out? Good people make the right accessibility choices every time.
>>

>> *From:*nvda-...@nvaccess.org <nvda-...@nvaccess.org> *On Behalf Of
>> *Mister Kayne
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 16, 2026 8:01 AM
>> *To:* Mister Kayne <writ...@mister-kayne.com>
>> *Subject:* [NVDA] Inquiry regarding remote desktop control for NVDA

>> Mister Kayne <https://www.blogger.com/profile/04580049257592982490>

>> Author: The Somebody, Nobody, Anybody & Everybody Blog!

>> <https://www.mister-kayne.com/>

>>
>> Mail: writ...@mister-kayne.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/02b001dcfda0%24f935ce80%24eba16b80%24%40mister-kayne.com <https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/02b001dcfda0%24f935ce80%24eba16b80%24%40mister-kayne.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>>
>> --
>> ***
>> 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/027201dcfdb7%242ff17cb0%248fd47610%24%40gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/027201dcfdb7%242ff17cb0%248fd47610%24%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
> --
> ***
> 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
> <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

> <mailto:nvda-users+...@nvaccess.org>.

> To view this discussion visit

> https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/b1642206-614f-4a24-92ad-3a04924137bd%40gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/b1642206-614f-4a24-92ad-3a04924137bd%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Sarah Alawami]

On 6/16/2026 11:03 AM, Rui Fontes wrote:
>
> Why you do not activate Narrator?
>
>

Narrator will not, and never has ad to my knowledge, any remote options.
and if the person were to try and activate narrator with something such
as quick assist I don't think narrator will be heard. I also do not
think the person will be able to control the computer as such.


Happy tuesday.

[Gene Asner]

This web page describes the many different available plans. With so
many available, you may not have to spend a lot or that much.
https://manual.getrim.app/en/windows/plans/

I didn't look at the whole page but I didn't see price information where
the various plans are described.

Gene

[Gene Asner]

Here is the link to a page with price information:
https://pneumasolutions.com/remote-incident-manager/

Gene

[Sarah Alawami]

the folks who run RIM used to have the prices on the page several years
ago. How interesting. Taking them down seems a bit strange. Good to know
though if we ever need the option to help someone and I hope this helps
the OP as well.


Happy Tuesday.

[Sarah Alawami]

I see they do not have prices for the day passes. I remember they used
to, or maybe the prior page linked to is no longer relivent.

I'll keep this page bookmarked and I also hope this helps the OP as well.

[Andrew Downie]

Run Narrator on the remote machine and share audio.  The output will then be available to the person running NVDA (or whatever) on the helper machine.  Not perfect, but I have been able to help a user with another screen reader that way.

More elegantly, get the other person to install NVDA and use Remote Access.  Hmmm, that may take some doing if the helpee is not reasonably computer literate.

Andrew

--
***
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.
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[Steve Nutt]

Note this doesn't give prices though.
All the best

Steve

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To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/c27a001e-95ab-eb6d-90a2-629666f30e0f%40gmail.com.

[Steve Nutt]

Ah this one does. Thanks Gene.

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-----Original Message-----
From: nvda-...@nvaccess.org <nvda-...@nvaccess.org> On Behalf Of Gene Asner

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/nvaccess.org/d/msgid/nvda-users/1eeeb9e4-f25f-ea85-312c-fb8cf6c5ebcd%40gmail.com.

[Mister Kayne]

Hi Everyone,

 

My sincere apologies for the delayed response on this thread. I had inadvertently configured an Outlook rule that routed all group emails to my Deleted folder, which caused me to miss the ongoing discussion.

 

I am now catching up and wanted to thank each one of you for your thoughtful recommendations and suggestions. I truly appreciate the time and effort you all put into helping me with my query around taking control of a client’s system for accessibility testing.

While the proposed solutions are valuable, unfortunately, they are not easily implementable in my current work environment. Most of our interactions happen over Microsoft Teams, and taking control of client machines is often necessary to support testing—especially when NVDA is not available on their systems. However, being in an Offshore Development Center (ODC), we operate under strict client security policies. Installing any external software, including NVDA, requires multiple levels of approval, vulnerability checks, and formal change requests, with no certainty of final approval.

Even maintaining NVDA on our own internal systems has been a significant effort, requiring structured approvals for installations and updates. Scaling this across a larger engineering base would involve considerable administrative overhead and dependency on approvals, which makes it practically challenging at this stage.

 

We have also encountered situations where opportunities were impacted due to similar environmental constraints, particularly in controlled setups like Citrix, where support limitations create additional barriers. While I understand that there may be documentation or possible workarounds, bandwidth constraints due to ongoing critical deliverables have made it difficult to explore these further at this point.

Given the above realities, I am, for now, accepting that there may not be an immediate solution. That said, I remain hopeful that we will be able to find a more sustainable and scalable approach in the future.

 

Thank you once again for your understanding, support, and continued collaboration.

[FARHAN ISHRAK Fahim]

What screen reader do you use in your company? If your company doesn't allow to install software, what about running portable copies of softwares including nvda? You also can try narrator.