Readspeaker vs. Free alternatives (NVDA, Talkback...etc.)

Mina.A.217

Hello,

We are currently looking for ways to support accessibility within Brightspace.

In your opinion/experience, what would a tool like Readspeaker add to Brightspace, if students can use NVDA, Talkback…etc.?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Charity.D.164

Readspeaker and NVDA are two very different tools. Readspeaker is a browser-based text-to-speech tool that can be built into Brightspace and is available for all students to use, and is primarily designed for those with learning disabilities (although as I mentioned, useful for all users). NVDA is a separate tool that has to be downloaded, installed, and is a screenreader, primarily used for the blind and visually impaired. The user must use keyboard controls and learn keystrokes to navigate the software, while with ReadSpeaker you can just use a mouse to navigate its UI. They are not the same. Our institution has ReadSpeaker in Brightspace and it is an often-used tool. When we have blind students, they generally use JAWS.

Mina.A.217

Thanks a lot!