Application Support

This article provides information about NVDA's support for specific applications, including answers to common questions, tips and potential issues. Unless otherwise specified, information on this page refers to the latest stable version of NVDA.

  1.  Mozilla Firefox (recommended web browser)
  2.  Mozilla Thunderbird (recommended email client)
  3.  Adobe Flash Player
  4.  Microsoft Internet Explorer
  5.  IBM Lotus Symphony (recommended office suite)
  6.  Microsoft Office
  7.  Skype
  8.  OpenOffice.org
    1. I can't read the OpenOffice.org help or other read-only documents.

 Mozilla Firefox (recommended web browser)

Mozilla Firefox provides the best overall browsing experience with NVDA. Version  3.6 is recommended. Although version 4.0 and later include many accessibility enhancements, there are also some problematic areas. Most users should avoid upgrading until these issues are fixed in a later version. The minimum supported version is 3.0.

 Mozilla Thunderbird (recommended email client)

Mozilla Thunderbird provides the best overall email experience with NVDA. Version  3.1 is recommended. Although version 5.0 and later include many accessibility enhancements, there are also some problematic areas. Most users should avoid upgrading until these issues are fixed in a later version. The minimum supported version is 3.0.

 Adobe Flash Player

NVDA supports accessible Flash content on the web. The latest version of Flash Player is recommended.

The normal Flash Player installer is currently inaccessible. Please use the MSI installers available from  http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html

Even if you aren't using Internet Explorer, you must install the Internet Explorer version of Flash Player as well.

 Microsoft Internet Explorer

NVDA supports Microsoft Internet Explorer. The latest version is recommended. The minimum supported version is 6.

 IBM Lotus Symphony (recommended office suite)

IBM Lotus Symphony is the most accessible office suite with NVDA. Documents and Spreadsheets work very well in most cases. Presentations does not work overly well and requires improvements to both Symphony and NVDA. Version 3.0 or later is required.

 Microsoft Office

NVDA has some support for Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, which are part of Microsoft Office. However, more advanced functionality in these applications is not yet supported. Other office applications such as PowerPoint and Access are not yet supported. The minimum supported version is 2003. Outlook 2010 is not currently supported.

 Skype

Skype works quite well with NVDA. The latest version (5.1) is recommended.

 OpenOffice.org

While OpenOffice.org is accessible to some extent, it requires extra set up in order for accessibility to work. This is tedious and can be difficult for users without technical knowledge. In addition, there are significant bugs in its accessibility. It is recommended that most users use IBM Lotus Symphony instead.

OpenOffice.org currently requires the Java Access Bridge in order to be accessible under Windows. Once OpenOffice.org is installed, you will need to:

  • Download and install  Java.
  • Download and install the  Java Access Bridge.
  • Enable assistive technology support in OpenOffice.org.
    • You can do this from the Accessibility page of the Options dialog. Unfortunately, before you enable this, OpenOffice.org is inaccessible, which makes this task extremely difficult for a screen reader user.
    • Alternatively, download and run this registry patch.

In future, OpenOffice.org will implement the IAccessible2 accessibility API, which means that the Java Access Bridge will no longer be required. This work is not yet complete. See  this page for the current status of this work.

I can't read the OpenOffice.org help or other read-only documents.

To enable accessibility of read-only documents:

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. Select Accessibility in the list of pages.
  3. Move to the "Use text selection cursor in read-only text documents" checkbox and check it.
  4. Press the OK button.