by David Redmond
There’s a new version of NVDA that has been released. The latest version is now 2023.2, and it has some exciting new bug fixes and new features.
This release introduces the Add-on Store to replace the Add-ons Manager. In the Add-on Store, you can browse, search, install, and update community add-ons. If you want to change how NVDA works in a certain environment, this is now a cool way to do it.
NV Access has also spoken about other new features in a statement on its website. They’ve said there are new braille features, commands, and display support. There are also new input gestures for OCR and flattened object navigation. Navigating and reporting formatting in Microsoft Office is also improved apparently.
In the 2019 WebAim survey, 41.6% of screen reader users in Europe used NVDA, which is even more than JAWS. That means this update will impact a huge number of blind and visually impaired people, so it’s good to see progression in the space.
Jaws also supports Ad ONS of sorts, but JAWS scripts are generally sold by third parties. We’ll need to wait to see if Vispero follows the NVDA lead on this, but it’s a cool development.
The new update is available from the NV Access website now, and NVDA users should also get a pop-up the next time the programme opens.
Bonus fact: I learned something interesting while researching this article. Despite being developed primarily in Australia, NVDA has seen less success in the region, 71.4% of Australians still use Jaws, which is way way higher than most other territories. Now you know.