Using Kindle for PC
with NVDA
NVDA will work on the Kindle for PC program by
Amazon.
You can obtain it from the following page at https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200596280
Make sure you download the latest version of Kindle for PC (1.19
or above) that supports screen readers as well as text-to-speech.
After you have installed the Kindle for PC program you will have
to register it. There will be a dialogue box that comes up. You
will need to enter in an email address and password, and pick a
location from the list; (which says Please select the Amazon site
corresponding to your account's country of residence); so that you
can get books at a later date. Otherwise, if you do not have an
account, you will need to create one. If you choose not to
create one, use the Esc key to make the window disappear.
If you decide to register it at a later date, information on how
to do this can be found under the HELP (F1) menu. After pressing
the Enter key on this menu, the browser should come up with how to
register the Kindle for PC program. When the Kindle for PC
program is opened, you can use the Alt key to open the File menu,
then use the left or right arrow keys to navigate the main menus.
You can also use the down or up arrow keys for the drop down
menus. These are the old classic menus - not the ribbon menus. You
will mostly use the Tab key, the Shift Tab key and the Enter key,
along with the arrow keys depending on where you are.
You can also use the applications key while on a book to bring up
other options. These may be options such as go to last page, go to
table of contents, go to beginning, go to page or location, go to
notebook, delete book, or add/remove from collections. These
options will change, depending on which part of the Kindle for PC
program you are in.
Some useful
shortcuts to use with Kindle for PC with NVDA
Some useful shortcuts that you may use, can be
found by pressing the F1 key. This function key is commonly
referred to as the help key. This can point you to different
questions you might ask as well. This seems to be an under
utilized key in a lot of programs, yet a very useful one!
To see which shortcuts you can use with Kindle for PC, please
visit the following page at https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GPC7U392HH93VPC8
or https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201246000
You can have Kindle for PC read out your books with the inbuilt
text-to-speech engine. The shortcuts to run Kindle for PC
are below.
To use these shortcuts, you must enable Text-to-Speech first.
Press "Ctrl,T" or select the Tools menu and choose Start
Text-to-Speech.
• Toggle Text-to-Speech - Ctrl, T
• Pause or resume reading - Space bar (while in a book)
• Read the previous sentence - Ctrl, Shift, Up arrow
• Skip forward one sentence - Ctrl, Shift, Down arrow
• Increase speech rate - Shift, +
• Decrease speech rate - Shift, -
• Toggle continuous reading - Ctrl, Shift, C
Note: This feature only works on eligible Kindle content. You can
configure the Text-to-Speech language from the System Preferences
on your computer.
If you choose to use NVDA to read out your books, please see the
following 2 sections. One can be found in the Kindle for PC
shortcuts section - which is found under the help F1 menu. You
will need to locate the shortcuts section and refer to the section
about NVDA.
The other section is found in the NVDA user manual called Kindle
for PC.
NVDA supports reading and navigating books in Amazon Kindle for
PC. This functionality is only available in Kindle books
designated with "Screen Reader: Supported" which you can check on
the details page for the book. Browse mode is used to read
books. It is enabled automatically when you open a book or focus
the book area. The page will be turned automatically as
appropriate when you move the cursor or use the say all command.
You can manually turn to the next page with the pageDown key and
turn to the previous page with the pageUp key. Single letter
navigation is supported for links and graphics, but only within
the current page. Navigating by link also includes footnotes.
NVDA provides early support for reading and interactive navigation
of mathematical content for books with accessible math. Please see
the Reading Mathematical Content section for further information.
Locating and
purchasing extra books for Kindle for PC with NVDA
To buy and download a book/s, please see the F1
help section. After pressing the Enter key to bring up the
browser, see the section called Buy, Download and Sync.
If you decide to purchase more books, you will need to find the
following Book browser. It is within the kindle for PC program.
Tab until you hear Leave Kindle and visit Amazon.com to find more
content in the Kindle for PC program. Press the Enter key on it
and it will then open your default browser, and give you options
to buy books etcetera.
You can also search for books - both free and paid. You must have
an account to download the books in whichever format they provide.
When you locate a book, press the Enter key on it to get more
information. The next page should tell you what the name of the
author is, a brief description of the book, the price and a brief
description of the following types of information ...for example
Read more. If you want NVDA to read your book, you will need to
look for Screen reader: Supported.
An example of the type of information that you might find is given
below:
Product details
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 1634 KB
Print Length: 226 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Bella Books (15 March 2019)
Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B07PG5555P
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
If you decide to buy the book, you must have credit to purchase it
with - unless it is free. So, it would be a good idea to set up
your account first.
After you have downloaded the program and gone through the process
to sign up for a new account, there are 3 books there to get you
started once it has been set up.