Screen reading PreTeXt documents

[Alexei Kolesnikov]

In the past, I was able to read web pages generated by PreTeXt using ChromeVox. But now my Chrome tells me that ChromeVox extension is obsolete.

I am a bit surprised to have trouble getting any screen reader extension for Chrome to read a PreTeXt book.

After giving up on extensions, I tried to read a PreTeXt-generated page with NVDA (on a Windows computer). NVDA reads the text but stops at formulas. It reads the formulas separately, when the focus is on them. Formula navigation is supported: I can navigate through parts of formulas, but NVDA does not “read through” the entire text plus formulas.

Does someone have a hint on how to do this?

Best regards,

--Alexei

[Oscar Levin]

I just learned how to use NVDA recently for a video I made.  I had to message the mathjax settings, and don't remember exactly what worked, but it did.  

Are you use "browser mode" in NVDA?  I also guess there are some different math extensions, but I didn't install anything special.  

I'll check later what exact settings I have.  This would be good to add to the guide.

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[Michael Cantino]

NVDA doesn’t read math natively. You have to use the MathCAT add-on for NVDA to read math. 

Michael Cantino

On Apr 26, 2025, at 5:51 PM, Oscar Levin <oscar...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Alexei Kolesnikov]

Thank you! I installed MathCAT add-on for NVDA. I was missing the "browsing mode", I think. I also disabled 'mouse tracking', but I don't know if this was important.

I used an AI-assisted search result (I copy it below) to get NVDA to start reading. If these instructions get Michael's approval, then yes, would be good to include in the guide.

Before reading every formula, NVDA reads out "application clickable". I wonder if there is a way to hide that. (Even with that, PreTeXt content reads way better than OpenStax.)

--Alexei

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

1. Enable Browse Mode: Ensure NVDA is in browse mode, which is the default mode for reading web pages. If it's not, you can toggle it by pressing NVDA key + Spacebar. 
2. Start Reading:
   • To start reading from the top of the page, press Numpad + (plus sign) or Caps Lock + Down Arrow. 
   • To start reading from the current position, press NVDA key + Down Arrow or Insert, Down Arrow. 
3. Navigating Through Content:
   • Line by line: Use Up/Down Arrow keys to move to the previous or next line. 
   • Word by word: Use Ctrl + Left/Right Arrow keys to move to the previous or next word. 
   • Character by character: Use Left/Right Arrow keys to move to the previous or next character. 
4. Stop Reading: Press the Ctrl key to pause the reading. 
5. Reread Current Line: Press NVDA key + Up Arrow. 
6. Navigate by Headings: Use H and Shift H to navigate to the next or previous heading, respectively. 
7. Adjust Speech Rate: Press Ctrl + NVDA key + Up/Down Arrow to increase or decrease the speaking speed. 

[Michael Cantino]

Hi,

The list of instructions you provided is mostly correct. I would just change the bullets under item 2 to a single bullet.

• To start reading from the current position, press NVDA key + Down Arrow. The NVDA key is Insert by default, but it can also be assigned to Numpad Insert or Caps Lock in the NVDA settings. 

There's a separate reading command (NVDA + A) if you're using NVDA in the Laptop layout, but the Desktop layout is the default option when you download NVDA. 

I couldn't find a reading command that would read from the top of the page. JAWS has a command like this, but it seems like NVDA does not. If you want to read from the top of a page, you can use Ctrl + Home to jump to the top of the page, and you can use the reading command listed above from there. 

Here's a list of keyboard commands from NVDA.

Michael Cantino

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