NV Access is pleased to announce the release of NVDA 2012.1beta1. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2012.1 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2012.1 release.

Highlights of NVDA 2012.1 include features for more fluent reading of braille; indication of document formatting in braille; access to much more formatting information and improved performance in Microsoft Word; and support for the iTunes Store.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2012.1beta1 installer
• NVDA 2012.1beta1 portable version
• What's new in 2012.1beta1

NV Access now offers  phone-based support and training for users of NVDA in Australia for a flat rate of AU$59.95 per hour. Hours are prepaid so that once purchased, you can give us a call any week day to have your query answered. Whether you have a specific question or you want a thorough introduction to the basics or more advanced features, we're only a phone call away. We can also offer face-to-face training for organisations or groups of individuals. Please  contact us if interested.

Due to the high demand to be able to use Nuance ETI-Eloquence or IBM ViaVoice TTS with NVDA, a few months ago, we asked for expressions of interest in purchasing Nuance ETI-Eloquence from NV Access. We did receive sufficient interest to make this viable and began negotiating with Nuance. More than three months ago, We raised several concerns with Nuance concerning the contract they provided. Unfortunately, Nuance have provided no response, despite several requests from us.

Given our concerns about the contract and Nuance's apparent lack of interest in our business, we decided to investigate IBM ViaVoice TTS again. This offers several advantages, including better pricing, more languages and, in our experience, far better customer service. The major obstacle we hit in our initial investigation was that it required installation due to its use of the machine registry. Recently, we devised and implemented a work around for this. We then contacted Wizzard Software to begin negotiations. Unfortunately, they informed us that they are discontinuing sale of the product, so this is no longer an option. We've contacted IBM in the hope that they may be able to help, but this is extremely unlikely.

We recognise the importance of ETI-Eloquence to many of our users. As such, we have expended significant effort and time attempting to provide a solution. Regretably, all our efforts have failed and as far as we know, there is nothing more we can do.

NV Access is pleased to announce that NVDA 2011.3 has been released. This release has been declared stable, which means it is suitable for production use and is recommended for most users.

Highlights of NVDA 2011.3 include automatic speech language switching when reading documents with appropriate language information; support for 64 bit Java Runtime Environments; reporting of text formatting in browse mode in Mozilla applications; better handling of application crashes and freezes; and initial fixes for Windows 8.

Changes from 2011.3rc1 to 2011.3:

• Updated documentation.
• Updated translations.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.3 installer
• NVDA 2011.3 portable version
• What's new in 2011.3

NVDA 2011.3rc1 has just been released. This is a release candidate, which means that unless any critical issues are found, this will be almost identical to the final 2011.3 release.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.3 release.

Changes from beta1 to rc1:

• Updated documentation.
• Updated translations.
• NVDA no longer fails to recognise that the focus has moved when switching windows in some cases; e.g. opening a new window in Mozilla applications. (#1851)
• With mouse tracking enabled, moving the mouse over certain editable text fields (such as in Synaptics Pointing Device Settings and SpeechLab SpeakText) no longer causes the application to crash. (#672)
• NVDA no longer freezes when moving around in the system menu in Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP. (#1831)
• Basic support for Design Science MathPlayer.
• NVDA now functions correctly in several about dialogs in applications distributed with Windows XP, including the About dialog in Notepad and the About Windows dialog. (#1853, #1855)
• Symbol pronunciation and character descriptions for Chinese are now reported correctly.
• If automatic language switching is disabled, NVDA's user interface language is used for symbol pronunciation and character descriptions instead of the language reported by the synthesizer. (#1861)
• Reviewing by word now works correctly in Windows Edit controls. (#1877)
• Updated eSpeak speech synthesizer to 1.45.47. (#1879)
• Moving out of an editable text field with leftArrow, upArrow or pageUp while in focus mode now correctly switches to browse mode when automatic focus mode for caret movement is enabled. (#1733)

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.3rc1 installer
• NVDA 2011.3rc1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.3rc1

NV Access is pleased to announce the release of NVDA 2011.3beta1. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2011.3 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.3 release.

Highlights of NVDA 2011.3 include automatic speech language switching when reading documents with appropriate language information; support for 64 bit Java Runtime Environments; reporting of text formatting in browse mode in Mozilla applications; better handling of application crashes and freezes; and initial fixes for Windows 8.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.3beta1 installer
• NVDA 2011.3beta1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.3beta1

In order to best meet the needs of our users, we'd love to hear about how you're using NVDA in your daily life. Do you use it at home, at school or in the work place? How often do you use it? What features of NVDA do you find most useful? Let us know how important NVDA is to you. If interested, please  submit a paragraph or 2. We are especially interested in hearing from people using NVDA in education settings, and from those using it in Australia. But of course any story is still very welcome. Many many thanks to all of our users.

NV Access is pleased to announce that NVDA 2011.2 has been released. This release has been declared stable, which means it is suitable for production use and is recommended for most users.

Highlights of NVDA 2011.2 include major improvements concerning punctuation and symbols, including configurable levels, custom labelling and character descriptions; no pauses at the end of lines during say all; improved support for ARIA in Internet Explorer; better support for XFA/LiveCycle PDF documents in Adobe Reader; access to text written to the screen in more applications; and access to formatting and color information for text written to the screen.

Changes from 2011.2rc1 to 2011.2:

• Updated documentation.
• Updated translations.
• If NVDA is unable to start, failure to play the Windows critical stop sound no longer clobbers the critical error message in the log file.
• Corrected the fix for focus tracking in the Outlook 2010 message list when NVDA is installed or running as administrator with UAC enabled. (#1285)
• In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML multi-line editable text fields, backspacing at the end of the line is now reported correctly. (#1605)

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.2 installer
• NVDA 2011.2 portable version
• What's new in 2011.2

NV Access is investigating the possibility of selling Nuance ETI-Eloquence for use with the NVDA screen reader. If you would be interested in purchasing this product if it becomes available, please  register your interest.

NVDA 2011.2rc1 has just been released. This is a release candidate, which means that unless any critical issues are found, this will be almost identical to the final 2011.2 release.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.2 release.

Changes from beta3 to rc1:

• Updated documentation.
• Updated translations.
• NVDA no longer temporarily freezes or refuses to speak when in the Move to / Copy to dialogs in Windows Live Mail. (#574)
• In Outlook 2010, NVDA will now correctly track the focus in the message list. (#1285)
• Additional key bindings have been added for the MDV Lilli braille display. (#241)
• Some USB connection issues have been resolved with the MDV Lilli braille display. (#241)
• When using flat review, moving by word again stops when it encounters blank characters. (#1663)
• In Internet explorer and other MSHTML controls, spaces are no longer ignored in browse mode in certain cases (e.g. after a link).
• In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, some extraneous line breaks have been eliminated in browse mode. specifically, HTML elements with a display style of None no longer force a line break. (#1685)

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.2rc1 installer
• NVDA 2011.2rc1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.2rc1

NVDA 2011.2beta3 has just been released. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2011.2 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.2 release.

Changes from beta2 to beta3:

• Updated documentation.
• Updated translations.
• Fixed failure of the report text formatting command in some translations. (#1621, #1653)
• New braille translation tables: Slovene grade 1, Serbian grade 1.
• When NVDA is installed on Windows Vista or Windows 7, lines can again be read in Microsoft Word.
• In the Windows 7 Control Panel, lists in the Windows Firewall and Default Programs sections are again usable.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.2beta3 installer
• NVDA 2011.2beta3 portable version
• What's new in 2011.2beta3

NVDA 2011.2beta2 has just been released. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2011.2 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.2 release.

Changes from beta1 to beta2:

• Update documentation.
• Updated translations.
• Corrected the descriptions reported for some commands in input help mode.
• In Windows 7, the manufacturer for the NVDA service is now reported as "NV Access Inc" instead of unknown.
• In Microsoft Word 2010 NVDA will now automatically read confirmation dialogs. (#1538)
• Say all no longer stops prematurely. (#1595)
• NVDA no longer freezes when moving around in the system menu in Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP. (#1577)
• In multi-line editable text fields in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, selection on lines after the first is now reported correctly. (#1590)
• Adjustments to English symbol information, including improvements to speaking of times, currency, negative numbers and ellipses.
• Improved moving by word in many cases, including browse mode and Windows Edit controls. (#1580)
• The NVDA installer no longer shows garbled text for Hong Kong versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. (#1596)
• Selection changes are again correctly reported on list items, tree items and grid rows in Mozilla applications. (#1600)
• In firefox brows mode, NVDA no longer refuses to include content that is inside a focusable node with an ARIA role of presentation.
• NVDA no longer fails to load the Microsoft Speech API version 5 synthesizer if the configuration contains settings for that synthesizer but is missing the voice setting. (#1599)
• NVDA no longer fails to start when the Galician language is used. (#1614)
• In editable text fields in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, NVDA no longer lags or freezes when braille is enabled.
• In Internet Explorer, NVDA once again correctly remembers the position you were at when returning to a previously visited web page. (#1604)
• In Microsoft Word with braille enabled, lines on pages after the first page are now reported correctly. (#1603)
• In Microsoft Word 2003, lines of right-to-left text can once again be read with braille enabled. (#627)
• In Microsoft Word, say all now works correctly when the document does not end with a sentence ending.
• New braille translation table: Ethiopic grade 1.
• Support for the calendar control found in the Date and Time Information dialog accessed from the Windows 7 clock. (#1637)
• Removed the NVDA Microsoft Excel Cell Editor dialog, as it can't display dates and other formatted values correctly. The Excel cell editing field can be read and navigated, so this dialog isn't necessary anyway. (#1636)
• When opening a plain text message in Windows Live Mail 2011, NVDA will correctly focus on the message document allowing it to be read.
• The authenticode signature on NVDA executables is again timestamped to allow them to run after the certificate has expired. (#1644)

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.2beta2 installer
• NVDA 2011.2beta2 portable version
• What's new in 2011.2beta2

NV Access is pleased to announce the release of NVDA 2011.2beta1. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2011.2 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.2 release.

Highlights of NVDA 2011.2 include major improvements concerning punctuation and symbols, including configurable levels, custom labelling and character descriptions; no pauses at the end of lines during say all; improved support for ARIA in Internet Explorer; better support for XFA/LiveCycle PDF documents in Adobe Reader; access to text written to the screen in more applications; and access to formatting and color information for text written to the screen.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.2beta1 installer
• NVDA 2011.2beta1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.2beta1

NVDA 2011.1.1 has just been released. This release fixes several security and other important issues found in the 2011.1 release. Upgrading is highly recommended.

Fixes in this release:

• The Donate item in the NVDA menu is now disabled when running on the logon, lock, UAC and other secure Windows screens, as this is a security risk. (#1419)
• It is now impossible to copy or paste within NVDA's user interface while on secure desktops (lock screen, UAC screen and windows logon) as this is a security risk. (#1421)
• In Firefox 4, the move to containing virtual buffer command (NVDA+control+space) now works as it should to escape embedded objects such as Flash content. (#1429)
• When speaking of command keys is enabled, shifted characters are no longer incorrectly spoken as command keys. (#1422)
• When speaking of command keys is enabled, pressing space with modifiers other than shift (such as control and alt) is now reported as a command key. (#1424)
• Logging is now completely disabled when running on the logon, lock, UAC and other secure Windows screens, as this is a security risk. (#1435)
• In input help mode, Gestures are now logged even if they are not bound to a script (in accordance with the user guide). (#1425)
• Updated translations.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.1.1 installer
• NVDA 2011.1.1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.1.1

NVDA has been chosen as the  project of the month for March 2011 by  SourceForge. Every month SourceForge chooses one of its hosted projects and publishes detailed answers of about 20 questions asked of the project's lead developers on the SourceForge website.

For a bit of an insight into why NVDA was started and how the project is managed, why not  read the answers published by SourceForge.

 SourceForge is a service for hosting open source software projects. They provide version controled storage for source code, bug tracking and other developer tools, and also hosting of project releases for download. This last feature is mainly what NVDA makes heavy use of today.

We would like to thank SourceForge for choosing NVDA as this month's  Project of the Month!

NV Access is pleased to announce that NVDA 2011.1 has been released. This release has been declared stable, which means it is suitable for production use and is recommended for most users.

Highlights of NVDA 2011.1 include automatic reporting of new text output in mIRC, PuTTY, Tera Term and SecureCRT; support for global plugins; announcement of bullets and numbering in Microsoft Word; additional key bindings for braille displays, including keys to move to the next and previous line; support for several Baum, HumanWare and APH braille displays; and reporting of colors for some controls, including IBM Lotus Symphony text controls.

Changes from 2011.1rc1 to 2011.1:

• Updated translations.
• Fixed a formatting error in the User Guide.
• Fixed announcement of the left control key in languages other than English.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.1 installer
• NVDA 2011.1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.1

NVDA 2011.1rc1 has just been released. This is a release candidate, which means that unless any critical issues are found, this will be almost identical to the final 2011.1 release.

Note that there may be some minor updates to some translations (particularly of the what's new document) in the final release.

Changes from beta2 to rc1:

• Updated translations.
• Updated documentation.
• The status bar in Media Player Classic Home Cinema is now recognised.
• When reading by line in AkelPad with word wrap enabled, NVDA no longer reads the first character of the following line at the end of the current line.
• In the Visual Studio 2005/2008 code editor, NVDA no longer reads the entire text after every typed character. (#975)
• A non-textual character (specifically, a Unicode BOM) is no longer placed at the start of the title of many of NVDA's documentation files.
• Fixed the issue where some braille displays weren't cleared properly when NVDA was exited or the display was changed.
• When reverting to saved configuration and a braille display is active in the saved configuration, the display presents the appropriate focus or review position instead of being blank.
• Fixed a bug where the first command immediately after NVDA was started did not work in some cases, especially on braille displays.
• The Freedom Scientific Focus 40 Blue braille display can now be used when connected via bluetooth. (#1345)
• The initial focus is no longer sometimes spoken twice when NVDA starts. (#1359)
• NVDA no longer fails to start when configured to use Spanish or Galician. (#1361)
• In the NVDA General Settings dialog, the name of the default language is no longer shown for the SR language code. (#1363)
• NVDA no longer freezes when you attempt to activate an NVDA settings dialog using a keyboard shortcut when another NVDA settings dialog is already open. (#1372)
• You can no longer open a second NVDA settings dialog if you try twice.
• Fixed the issue where certain links weren't being recognised correctly in MSHTML controls. This included links in Windows XP Update and email messages in Windows Live Mail. (#1330)
• NVDA now gracefully handles encoding errors in the user input gesture map.
• Locale input gesture maps are now correctly copied into binary builds.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.1rc1 installer
• NVDA 2011.1rc1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.1rc1

NVDA 2011.1beta2 has just been released. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2011.1 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.1 release.

Changes from beta1 to beta2:

• Updated translations.
• Updated documentation.
• Fixed problems when reading text in Windows command consoles with reporting of line numbers enabled.
• The Elements List dialog for virtual buffers is now usable by sighted users. All controls are visible on screen. (#1321)
• The list of entries in the Speech Dictionary dialog is now more readable by sighted users. The list is now large enough to show all of its columns on screen. (#90)
• The reload plugins command no longer causes NVDA to stop loading plugins from the user configuration directory.
• On ALVA BC640/BC680 braille displays, NVDA no longer disregards display keys that are still held down after another key is released.
• Adobe Reader X no longer crashes after leaving the untagged document options before the processing dialog appears. (#1218)
• NVDA now switches to the appropriate braille display driver when you revert to saved configuration. (#1346)
• The Visual Studio 2008 Project Wizard is read correctly again. (#974)
• Fixed the issue where certain key combinations on braille displays never activated the command to which they were bound; e.g. b2+b4+b5 on Handy Tech displays. (#1349)
• The ALVA BC640/680 braille display driver works again.
• NVDA no longer completely fails to work in applications which contain non-ASCII characters in their executable name. (#1352)
• Errors in the user input gesture map no longer cause NVDA to fail to start. Instead, a dialog is presented informing the user about the error, after which NVDA continues normally. (#1342)
• The user input gesture map is now reloaded when you revert to saved configuration.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.1beta2 installer
• NVDA 2011.1beta2 portable version
• What's new in 2011.1beta2

NV Access is pleased to announce the release of NVDA 2011.1beta1. It is intended for those who are interested in testing and evaluating the upcoming NVDA 2011.1 release, but is not recommended for production use. Testers are encouraged to report any bugs found while using this beta.

Note that some translations may not yet be updated. They will be updated by the time of the final 2011.1 release.

Highlights of NVDA 2011.1 include reporting of colors for some controls; automatic reporting of new text output in mIRC, PuTTY, Tera Term and SecureCRT; support for global plugins; announcement of bullets and numbering in Microsoft Word; additional key bindings for braille displays, including keys to move to the next and previous line; and support for several Baum, HumanWare and APH braille displays.

Download links and change log:

• NVDA 2011.1beta1 installer
• NVDA 2011.1beta1 portable version
• What's new in 2011.1beta1

As you are all aware, NV Access, the organisation which develops NVDA, is a non-profit organisation which is predicated on making software for the blind that requires no extra cost than the purchase of a computer. What you may not know, however, is that to do this, we must seek grants or donations from larger organisations to survive. Unfortunately, the present financial climate has meant that these grants are much less forthcoming than in the past, despite the accolades that NVDA has received over the past couple of years.

Jamie and Mick, the core developers of NVDA, are essentially paid minimum wage for their experience, knowledge and skills, which they are prepared to accept because they love the fact that they are making a positive contribution to the blind community and the accessibility industry more generally. Despite their willingness to carry on, however, there will be no money to pay them after July 2011 unless we receive some financial assistance. Rest assured, we will be seeking grants from and alliances with other companies, but the stark reality is that these may not come to fruition in time to save NVDA. In short, we desperately need your help.

For the last release of NVDA, our records indicate that there were 50,000 downloads. Even if we discount 20,000 for those who may have downloaded NVDA multiple times, we are left with 30,000 individual users. If every user donated $10 today, we would have $300,000 that we could use to pay Jamie and Mick to continue to develop NVDA full time for the foreseeable future.

We are very proud that we provide a free and open source screen reader for our community and for the accessibility industry to use. The principles that underlie the decision to make NVDA free and open source are as important to the committee of NV Access now as they were when Mick first envisaged the potential of NVDA. However, for NVDA to be developed in the way that you have become accustomed, we need your help. We are not being greedy or exploitative, merely pragmatic and honest. Please think of how NVDA might have helped you, or may help others, and  donate today.

We sincerely thank you for any contribution you can make.

The NV Access Committee