How to install additional
NVDA components
Sooner or later while using NVDA, you may want
to install new voices, plugins and other modules. Depending
on what it is that you are going to install, this will determine
where these will be placed within NVDA. Please see the user
manual for Supported Speech Synthesizers that NVDA can use.
Training material
and phone support for NVDA from the NV Access online
shop
Are you aware that NV Access
have put together an online Shop where you can buy training material for the NVDA screen reader?
You can also get phone support.
Please stay tuned for more training material as
it becomes available.
For more information please visit the NV Access
Online Shop at the following link https://www.nvaccess.org/shop/
NVDA expert
certification
To find an NVDA certified expert near you,
please visit the following link https://certification.nvaccess.org/.
The certification page contains the official list of NVDA
certified individuals from around the world, who have sat and
successfully passed the NVDA expert exam.
Have you got a good grasp on the NVDA screen
reader? Have you got what it takes to sit the NVDA expert exam?
You can test your knowledge for free. If you pass the exam in
the required time frame, then you can purchase an official
certificate and be acknowledged on the above webpage under the
list of worldwide NVDA experts.
Find out
about NVDA progress via the nvaccess In Process blog
To find out what is happening within the NVDA
project, visit “In-Process” - the new NV Access blog, where you
can be informed of happenings within the organisation, staff and
of course, NVDA.
http://www.nvaccess.org/category/in-process/
Click on any of the links in the table below, to visit other
NVDA related webpages that may be of interest to you.
NVDA
related webpages
NVDA screen reader
related resources
For a variety of NVDA related
resources from around the world, please visit the NVDA screen reader related
resources page at the following link
NVDA screen reader related
resources
Before listening
to/or reading the following tutorials, please make
sure you get your copy of NVDA
Before looking at the
following tutorials, make sure you have downloaded a copy of the
NVDA screen reader. To get the latest copy, please visit http://www.nvaccess.org/
and go to the downloads link. Download the programme and set it
up. Down the track, if you feel you have benefited from NVDA,
then donations (no matter how big or small) are always welcome
to keep the project free for everyone!
Promotional
video on the NVDA screen reader
If you are unsure what a screen reader is,
please click on the following link to listen to a promotional
video on the NVDA screen reader https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks7AwV_uxO0&feature=youtu.be
Please feel free to pass this information onto others that you
think may be interested or who may want to find out more.
Voices
Installing Sapi 4 and Sapi
5 voices
Usually with Sapi 4 and 5 voices, once all
components have been downloaded and installed, the voices will go
to the correct locations once clicked on. To find out if
they were installed correctly in NVDA, press the Insert and letter N to bring up the preferences
menu. Arrow right to general
settings, then down to synthesiser
settings, then press enter.
A synthesiser combo box will come up. Next, change it to either
Microsoft speech sapi version 4 or version 5 (depending on which
version of sapi voices you have downloaded). Once picked,
tab down to ok to save your settings. This will only change your
synthesiser from whatever you had been using before that (for
example from E speak to your newly installed Sapi 4 or Sapi 5
synthesiser).
Next, you will have to pretty much repeat the process to get into
the NVDA menus; only this time, you will arrow down to voice
settings, then press enter. You will need to tab down to
voices. Here, you will be able to arrow up and down the list
and pick your new voice to use (for example, Microsoft
Mary). Make sure you tab down to ok to save your settings.
How to install other voices
NVDA can use other voices as well, such as the Pico and Festival voices.
These will need to be installed into a different directory within
NVDA. These voices can also go portable, unlike the Microsoft
speech sapi 4 or 5 voices. Once you have downloaded these
voices, they will need to be unzipped. They will make their
own directory. The directory/files will need to be copied to
the NVDA user configuration
directory and pasted into the correct location. For example
- synth drivers.
Depending on which operating system you are using, the path may be
slightly different to paste them into the correct folder.
The easiest way to do it is: Press the windows key, (this will
bring up the start menu), arrow to programmes, then down to the
menu that says NVDA. A submenu will come up, then arrow down to
explore user configuration directory; then press the enter
key. There will be different directories/files in
there. You will need to find a directory called synth drivers, and paste them
into that directory. This method is only for the installer version of NVDA.
How to install new eSpeak
voices from other people
From time to time people will make new e speak
voices. These are the voices that NVDA uses at
present. If you would like to have a go at making your own e
speak voice at a later date, look for a file called tweeky.
It will be found in the same place where you go to install new e
speak voices that may have been made. To install a new e
speak voice into NVDA, please follow the path provided. It
may be different for a 64 bit machine. Using a 32 bit machine, the path is: programme files...nvda...synth
drivers...e speak data...voices...!v (Paste your new voice
there). The tweeky voice can be found here too.
Make sure also your punctuation is set to all, so the whole path
can be heard. The insert key and the letter P will let you
cycle through various punctuation levels until you get there.
Then, you will need to repeat steps 1 and 2 until you find your
new voice.
eSpeak new
variants
Somebody in the NVDA screen reader community has
gathered a big collection of eSpeak voices to share with the
community.
They have been zipped into a zip file to download to your
computer.
The files can be opened with notepad to see how that variant was
created. If you would like to see how one is created, find the
tweaky voice in NVDA.
You might even want to give it a try to make your own eSpeak
variant.
If you would like to test out some of these voices you could try
them in a portable version of NVDA first
The link to the dropbox account to get them can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfaev1g5x0p9y50/espeaknewvariants.zip?dl=1
Please see below where to install them into a portable version of
NVDA or an installed version of NVDA.
To install new eSpeak
voices to a portable version
To install your new eSpeak voice to a portable
drive, the path is slightly different depending on where you put
it. I will use an example. If it was on a usb stick it may
be: J:\nvda...user
config...synth drivers...e speak data...voices....!v
(Paste your new voice there).
Installing new eSpeak
voices to a 64 bit machine
To install new e speak voices to a 64 bit machine, the path will
be slightly different. The path will be: Programme Files
(x86)...nvda...synthDrivers...espeak-data...voices...!v
(Paste them into this directory). You will see other e speak
voices there such as Andy.
If you would like to try two of the voices I have made for E
Speak, please do the following.
You will need to copy and paste
the Gene voice into notepad. Next, you will need to save the text as Gene. Don't
save it as Gene.txt. The
.txt extension will have to be removed. Once done,
copy the file to the !v folder in NVDA and
paste it there. Then, you will need to make sure your
synthesiser is set to E speak, and under the voice settings (under
variants) change it to Gene. (Please review Step 1# above if you
are unsure of what to do).
Both the Gene and the Gene2 voice, are now part of the NVDA 2012.3
package.
Use the Insert and the F9 key to start marking the file below
(starting before "language variant" and ending after "consonants
50 100"), and then use the Insert and F10 keys to copy the text to
notepad.
Gene voice
language variant
name Gene
pitch 80 110
formant 0 120 120 120
formant 1 90 100 110
formant 2 100 100 95
formant 3 90 100 100
formant 4 90 100 110
formant 5 90 110 110
formant 6 100 70 100
formant 7 100 70 100
formant 8 100 80 100
voicing 120
consonants 50 110
Gene 2 voice
language variant
name Gene2
pitch 100 130
formant 0 120 120 120
formant 1 90 100 110
formant 2 100 100 95
formant 3 90 100 100
formant 4 90 100 110
formant 5 90 110 110
formant 6 100 70 100
formant 7 100 70 100
formant 8 100 80 100
voicing 120
consonants 50 110
If you would like to have a go at making your own voice for E
speak, please check out the tweeky file for directions on how to
do this. For more information, please see the website within
the tweeky file if you would like to get adventurous. Once you
have made the appropriate voice changes, restart NVDA and you
should hear your new voice! If you are not happy with what you
hear, repeat the process by changing the numbers until you hear a
voice you are happy with. This exercise may also give you a new
appreciation for those who create voices for screen readers!
Making
your own eSpeak Voices
If you have a bit
of time to waste and would like to try and make one of your own
E Speak voices, the following website will assist you in making
a voice and give you a better understanding of what to do when
making one. The link is http://espeak.sourceforge.net/voices.html
You could find a voice - also known as a variant - that you like
(found under the !v folder) and have a go at modifying it to
another voice or variant. Pick a voice you like the sound of,
and either use the tweeky voice as a basic guide to making one,
or go up to the website for much more detailed information on
how to make one. It is a lot easier to leave your file in the !v
folder and do your modifications there. Just make sure you have
named it something different from the rest (so you can identify
it easily). The variants can be opened up with notepad (and
modified quite easily once you know which relevant values to
change within the file). Then, it is a matter of selecting your
voice and seeing what the difference is soundwise. Each time you
alter a value in the voice you have created, you will need to
save the changes.
More free speech synthesisers for
NVDA
NVDA comes with the E-speak voices by default,
but you can also download some other voices to test them out if
you would like to do so. The advantage to using the E-speak,
Pico and Festival voices, is that they can go portable! Not all
voice synthesisers can go portable on a USB stick. Please click
on the links below should you wish to try some of them out.
•SVox Pico, Festival, Newfon, RHVOice, Sapi4, Microsoft and
L&H voices http://community.nvda-project.org/wiki/ExtraVoices
•Lernout & Hauspie, Microsoft, Realspeak and UkrVox voices http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
(This is also the website where you can download the free text
to speech program called Balabolka. You can convert your text
into mp3 and have it read back to you).
•E-Speak Sapi5 for Windows http://espeak.sourceforge.net/download.html
RH
voices for use with the NVDA screen reader
You can get the latest releases of the RH
voices from the following web page at https://github.com/Olga-Yakovleva/RHVoice/wiki/Latest-version
How
to install Microsoft Speech Platform and voices (free) for
NVDA
There
are Microsoft voices that you can use with NVDA. These
are called Microsoft Speech Platform Runtime
Languages. Firstly, you will need the Microsoft Speech
Platform to be able to run them.
If you have not downloaded the Microsoft Speech Platform,
it is available from the following link
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27225
You will need the x86 version of the file.
If you have downloaded the Microsoft Speech Platform,
you can get version 11 voices for it (called Runtime Languages)
from the following link
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27224
The heading on the page should be:
Microsoft Speech Platform - Runtime Languages
(Version 11). If for example I wanted an English
voice called Helen, I would click on one called
MSSpeech_TTS_en-US_Helen.msi
Please be aware that TTS stands for text
to speech, and SR stands for speech
recognition. You are looking for the TTS ones. Once downloaded,
double click on
the file and it will automatically set up to
the correct location. Go back into NVDA
settings Insert
+ N... Preferences... Synthesizer...
(In the dropdown list of synthesizers select) Microsoft Speech
Platform... Tab to OK and press
Enter.
Go back into your settings Insert + N...
Preferences...
Voice settings...
(under the Voice combo box) arrow down to select the
voice you wish to use. Tab to OK and press
Enter.
You can of course alter the rate, pitch and
volume to suit your own needs. You will
need to make sure that if you have version 10.2
that you use 10.2 voices, and if you get version
11 then you will need to get the version 11
voices. For version 10.2 please refer to the
NVDA user manual for more information
under supported synthesizers.
I have found ZiraPro and Helen to be very
clear. The voices speak English, but you
have a choice of different dialects. For example
en-US will be English with a USA accent, en-AU
will be English with an Australian accent and
en-IN will be English with an Indian accent.
The
new SpeechHub synthesiser package (free) for NVDA
Isaac and Bill have been working on a new
SpeechHub synthesiser package for NVDA. SpeechHub is a
collection of synths and voices combined into one package. You
will need NVDA 2012.2 or later to use this package of synths and
voices. Once the package has been downloaded and
installed, you will need to also locate the SpeechHub add-on,
and install that before the package will work. To obtain a
copy of SpeechHub, you will need to go to the following link,
which can be found at http://www.speakon.org.uk/.
Once there, go to the Download and Installation - Windows link,
and press Enter to go to the Download and Installation - Windows
page. Please read the sections on how to either install or
upgrade SpeechHub and especially how to install the add-on
required to make the package work.
The location to find the add-on will be different for a 32 bit
and 64 bit machine, so please read the relevant directions on
that page to locate it for your operating system.
You can listen to an audio demonstration on how to install
SpeechHub, and also how to locate the add-on required to make it
run. This can be found on my NVDA audio tutorials page at the
following link NVDA
audio tutorials. This audio tutorial was done using a
Windows 7 (64bit) machine.
Vocalizer voices
available for purchase for NVDA
NV Access is very happy to announce the
availability of the Nuance Vocalizer range of voices for NVDA.
These voices, which have proven to be popular on iPhones and the
Mac, can now all be purchased for one affordable price for use
with NVDA. Whether you use NVDA installed on one computer, or
carry it around with you for access at anytime on a USB flash
drive, these performant and high-quality voices will be there
when you need them. Purchasing Vocalizer today for 75 EUR gives
you access to over 50 different voices covering more than 30
major languages.
Vocalizer can be purchased world-wide from Tiflotecnia
Lda. For each purchase 15 EUR will be donated to NV Access to
help the NVDA project continue. Purchases can also be made
through a range of local distributors, of which 10 EUR will be
donated to the project. For more information about Vocalizer
with NVDA, trial downloads and a list of distributors, please
visit https://vocalizer-nvda.com/?
To use Vocalizer, NVDA 2012.2 or higher is required. Please
visit http://www.nvaccess.org/download/
to grab the latest version if you have not done so already.
Please see the main download page for supported synthesisers, or
alternatively, you can also look in the user manual for
supported synthesisers.
Eloquence
and Vocalizer Expressive Add-on available for purchase
for NVDA
The Eloquence and Vocalizer Expressive Add-on
for NVDA allows you to switch between the two synthesizer
packages. It can be installed on up to three (3) copies of NVDA,
and there is also a 7 day trial available so you can try out the
above package. To find out more please visit the following link
http://codefactoryglobal.com/app-store/voices-for-nvda/
Acapela
TTS (text to speech) Voices available for purchase for
NVDA
Acapela voices are a commercial synthesiser
package that can be used with NVDA.
To find out more please visit the following link http://www.acapela-nvda.com/download/
SAPI
Eloquence Voice Synthesiser For All Assistive Technology
Available from Comproom:
Now available to screen reader users is a sapi 5 version of the
Eloquence synth. There is a 7 day demo so you can try it out. It
can be installed onto 3 copies of NVDA (or other screen
readers). Please visit the following link to find out more
information. To purchase a copy of this sapi 5 Eloquence package
please go to http://comproom.secured-area.co.uk/acatalog/Code_Factory_Nuance_Voices.html
Available from atguys:
It can be installed onto 3 copies of NVDA (or other screen
readers). Please visit the following link to find out more
information.
To try out a 7 day demo of the Eloquence SAPI Voice for Any
Screen Reader please go to http://www.atguys.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=216
Plugins and app modules
Depending on
whether it is an app module, braille display driver, global
plugin or a synth driver etcetera - these will need to go into
the appropriate user configuration part of NVDA. Global
plugins will only go in the global plugins directory; whereas
app modules will only go into the app modules directory and so
on. You will need to check where they need to go in your
specific version of NVDA, as these will differ slightly
depending on whether you are using an installer version or a
portable version.
How to install older
plugins or app modules the old manual way (prior to
2012.2 release)
The process will pretty much be the same for
installing plugins and app modules. They will pretty much go to
the same areas, except that they will go into different folders
within the user configuration directory. For example, the
new ocr plugin will have to be pasted within the global plugin
directory (user config...global
plugins). Then, you will need to bring up the NVDA
menu, (Insert N)...arrow
down to tools, then a
submenu will come up. Arrow down to reload plugins and press enter. This should
reload your new plugin so it is ready to be used.
Looking for additional
information about plugins or app modules etcetera
In some cases when you install plugins into NVDA
and check out the about section about the plugin, it may not have
all of the instructions there on how to use the plugin. In most
cases, the instructions will be there, but if not, please see the
sections on how to install plugins the old manual way, so that you
can have a look inside the plugin folder for more instructions.
(For example the bookmark and search plugin). You may need to look
for a readme file to give you more information. Please refer to
the sections on how to install them in the installer version (as
well as the portable version) the old way depending on which
version of NVDA you are using. Although most people will be using
the new add-on manager, you may still need to refer back to the
old manual way to find the extra information about that particular
plugin or app module etcetera.
Introduction to creating global
plugins, app modules and scripting in general
If you would like
an overview (and some examples) on the basics of making a plugin
- or app module - for the NVDA screen reader, please visit http://www.nvda-project.org/documentation/developerGuide.html#toc9
The following may also be another site of interest. It is for
scripting plugins for the NVDA screen reader. Here you may be
able to find notes and resources on scripting plugins for the
NVDA screen reader. The website can be found at http://www.webbie.org.uk/nvda/index.htm
How to install, view and remove the new repackaged
add-ons (in the 2012.2 and onwards releases)
You will need to
locate the add-on you
wish to install.
To install an add-on (while NVDA is running), press the Insert key and the letter
N to bring up the
preferences menu. Next, arrow down to the tools menu; then arrow
down to manage add-ons,
and press enter. The next screen that will come up will be the
add-ons manager. Tab around to the install button, then press enter. Once
you have located the add-on, press enter again. A message will
come up asking you if you want to install the add-on. Just
click on yes and the
add-on will be installed. This will put the add-on into the
correct location depending on what type of add-on it is. For
example, if it is a plugin it will go to the plugin directory
(and so on). Tab around to close. It will ask you to restart
NVDA. Restart, and the add-on should be installed.
To find out about an add-on or to check to see if one was
installed correctly, press the Insert key and the letter N to bring up the
preferences menu. Next, arrow down to the tools menu; then arrow
down to manage add-ons,
and press enter. The first screen that NVDA will default to,
will be the installed add-ons list. Here, you can arrow up and
down to see what add-ons are available (if any). If there are
no add-ons available, there will be nothing showing in the
list. The next time you tab, it will land on the about add-on button.
Here (once you press enter) you will be able to see the name
of the add-on, the author, version number, and any other
additional information about it (for example what keys to use
to perform a particular task). There will be three buttons
after this box. They will be: install, remove and close. Tab
to the close button.
NVDA must be
restarted for
add-ons to take effect, for both the install process and the
removal of add-ons.
To remove an add-on, press the Insert key and the letter
N (to bring up the
preferences menu). Arrow down to tools, (a sub menu will come up), then arrow
down to manage add-ons,
and press enter. The add-on manager will come up with a list
of installed add-ons. Locate the one you want to remove, then
tab around to the remove
button, and press enter to remove it. You will be asked if you
want to remove it; just click on yes. Once done, tab around to the close button, and it will
ask you to restart
NVDA. Restart, and the add-on should be removed. If you check
back in the add-ons manager list now, you will notice that it
has been removed.
In the 2012.2 and onwards releases, after you have downloaded
your new add-on, you can simply click on the add-on and it
will be automatically installed into NVDA. Follow the prompts
on-screen.
The new add-on website
In the next release of NVDA 2012.2 (and
beyond), there will be a new add-on manager integrated. This
will make it a lot simpler to install the new repackaged
add-ons that NVDA can use. This will replace the older way of
installing the same add-ons (which was done manually). The new
add-on site can be found at http://addons.nvda-project.org/
Installing
an add-on using NVDA 2012.3 and beyond
When you get new add-ons for NVDA, (once
they have been downloaded to your computer) clicking on the
new add-on will allow you to install the add-on to the add-on
manager. Visually, you will not see this happen, but it will
ask you if you wish to install the add-on. Say yes to this.
After the add-on has been installed, it will ask you to
restart NVDA. Say yes to this also and the add-on will be
installed. In some cases, (when you download an add-on using
Internet Explorer), the file may be renamed to a zip file. If
this happens, the file will have to be renamed using the
proper extension, so NVDA's add-on manager can recognize it to
install the file. For example, from word count.zip into word
count.nvda-addon.
How to install and use the
OCR plugin for NVDA
To give the new experimental OCR plugin (that
Jamie created) a whirl, you will need to download the plugin from http://addons.nvda-project.org/addons/ocr.en.html
and unzip the file.
It will make a directory called
OCR. This will need to be copied and pasted into the global
plugin directory.
The easiest way to find out where to put the OCR plugin for the
installer version, (and once you have copied the OCR directory),
is to press the Windows
key. Your start menu will come up. Go to programmes, then another set
of menus will come up with all of the programmes on your PC. Once
this comes up, find a menu called NVDA. Once there, a submenu will come up and you
will need to find one called explore
user configuration directory. Next, press enter. There
will be some folders in there and you will need to find one called
global plugins. Paste the
OCR plugin into that directory. This is where other plugins will
go for the installer version.
For the portable version, the OCR plugin will have to be put into
the following directory: nvda...user configuration...global plugins. Make sure that
you paste the plugin for the portable version into that directory.
You will need to reload the plugins, by going to reload plugins under the tools section in NVDA. (Insert
N...tools...reload plugins). You will also need to reload NVDA to
update your settings. The object you are going to scan must be in
focus otherwise it will not work. If you are unsure, go to
running locations and locate the item and press enter to put you
into focus. To OCR the item (for example a pdf that has not
been done), use the Insert
key and the letter r to
start it. It will say performing
OCR, then say done. To read what has been
written there, you will need to change over to the review cursor
to read the contents of that document. Please read the
section called reviewing text in the user manual if you are
unsure. The information given back to you will vary from
scanned image to image, depending on the quality of the things you
have scanned. Please refer to step 4 above if needed. Currently,
the OCR only works with the snapshots.
Reviewing the text within
your OCR'd document
NVDA allows you to read the contents of the
current navigator object (including flat review) by character,
word or line using the numeric keypad. This is mostly useful in
places (including Windows command consoles) where there is no
system caret. For example, you might use it to review the text of
a long information message in a dialogue.
Reviewing text by character,
word or line
To help you remember these commands, note that
the basic text review commands are organized in a grid of three by
three, with top to bottom being line, word and character and left
to right being previous, current and next. Using the numpad keys requires
the NumLock key to be turned off
to work properly. Using your numeric
keypad, the following are reported by pressing the
appropriate numbers:
Previous line 7
Current line 8
Next line 9
Previous word 4
Current word 5
Next word 6
Previous character 1
Current character 2
Next character 3
For a full list of other text review related commands (for example
report text formatting or copy from review cursor etcetera),
please refer to the Reviewing Text section in the user manual.