What's New in NVDA

What's New in NVDA
What's New in NVDA
2026.1
This release includes support for reading math content with MathCAT, which is now built-in to NVDA.
There have been several improvements to speech.
Spelling and grammar errors can now be reported with a sound instead of speech when reading.
You can now configure NVDA to automatically say all after successfully recognizing content, such as with Windows OCR.
NVDA no longer reports the language being read as unsupported when the synthesizer supports the language but not the specific dialect.
NVDA now supports 64-bit SAPI 5 voices.
Braille support has also been improved.
It now continues to work when switching to a secure screen, like the sign-in screen or User Account Control dialog.
NVDA messages from the local computer are now shown in braille when controlling a computer via Remote Access.
Spelling and grammar errors, as well as the number of items in a list in browse mode, can now be shown in braille.
Other braille bug fixes, including in Microsoft Outlook and LibreOffice Writer, have also been added.
In browse mode in web browsers, NVDA no longer treats controls with 0 width or height as invisible.
This may make it possible to access previously inaccessible "screen reader only" content on some websites.
Malformed links no longer prevent NVDA from reading content in Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers.
The browse mode highlighter now appears on content recognition results, such as when using Windows OCR.
In Microsoft Word, unassigned Quick Navigation commands to jump to references have been added.
They are also now shown in the elements list.
It is now possible to view virus scan results for an add-on from the Add-on Store.
For add-ons that include one, you can also view an add-on's changelog.
The reliability of background add-on updates has been improved.
A new "Privacy and Security" category has been added to NVDA's settings dialog.
The "Logging level" and "Allow NV Access to gather NVDA usage statistics" settings have been moved here from the "General" category.
The settings for Screen Curtain have also been moved here from the "Vision" category.
Additionally, Screen Curtain's settings are now configuration profile independent.
The NVDA interface is now translated to Cambodian.
Liblouis, Unicode CLDR and eSpeak NG have been updated.
Added tables for English Grade 3, Japanese (Rokuten Kanji), and Macedonian uncontracted braille.
Improved the Biblical Hebrew, Unified English Braille, Greek International, Hungarian, Norwegian, Portuguese 8-dot and Slovakian braille tables.
Emoji localizations for Luxembourgish have been added.
There have also been many other bug fixes and improvements.
Important notes
This release breaks compatibility with existing add-ons.
Windows 8.1 is no longer supported.
Windows 10 is the minimum Windows version supported.
We recommend updating to Windows 11, or when that's not possible, to the latest Windows 10 version (22H2).
32-bit Windows is no longer supported.
Windows 10 on ARM is also no longer supported.
Wiris MathPlayer is no longer supported.
New Features
In the Add-on Store:
VirusTotal scan results are now available in the details for an add-on.
An action has been added to view the full scan results on the VirusTotal website. (
#18974
A new action has been added to see the latest changes for the current version of an add-on. (
#14041
@josephsl
@nvdaes
It is now possible to select which add-ons to copy for use during sign-in and on secure screens. (
#6305
Added built-in support for reading math content by integrating MathCAT. (
#18323
#19368
@RyanMcCleary
@codeofdusk
NVDA now supports 64-bit Microsoft Speech API version 5 voices. (
#19432
Added references (e.g. to footnotes and endnotes) to the elements list in Microsoft Word.
Also added unassigned Quick Navigation commands to jump to the next/previous reference. (
#19300
@LeonarddeR
In browse mode, the number of items in a list is now reported in braille. (
#7455
@nvdaes
While reading text, spelling and grammar errors can now be reported with a sound instead of speech. (
#4233
#19257
@jcsteh
@CyrilleB79
@nvdaes
Spelling and grammar errors can now be reported in braille. (
#7608
#19257
@nvdaes
Added the possibility to report when multiple items can be selected in a control such as a list.
This can be enabled using the "Report when objects support multiple selection" setting in NVDA's object presentation settings. (
#18365
@LeonarddeR
In Visual Studio Code, the status bar is now reported when using the standard
NVDA+end
(desktop) /
NVDA+shift+end
(laptop) gesture. (
#11064
@codeofdusk
Automatically reading the entire result after a successful recognition is now possible via a new option in the Windows OCR settings. (
#19150
@Cary-rowen
Performance improvements on ARM64 systems, such as with Qualcomm processors. (
#18570
@leonarddeR
A new unassigned global command has been added to toggle the "Play audio coordinates when mouse moves" option. (
#19026
@rlawnsrl123
Changes
NVDA no longer supports Windows 8.1.
Windows 10 (Version 1507) is the minimum Windows version supported.
We recommend using Windows 11, or if that is not possible, the latest Windows 10 release (Version 22H2). (
#18684
@josephsl
NVDA no longer supports 32-bit Windows or Windows 10 on ARM.
Support for the MathPlayer software from Wiris has been removed. (
#19239
Component updates:
Updated Liblouis braille translator to
3.36.0
. (
#18848
#19315
@LeonarddeR
Added Japanese (Rokuten Kanji) Braille, Macedonian uncontracted braille and English Grade 3.
Improvements to Slovakian, Norwegian, Hungarian, Portuguese 8-dot, Greek International, Biblical Hebrew and Unified English Braille.
Updated BrlAPI for BRLTTY to version 0.8.7. (
#18657
@LeonarddeR
Updated Unicode CLDR to
version 48
Also added emoji localizations for Luxembourgish. (
#19293
@OzancanKaratas
Updated eSpeak NG to
commit
b0b605c8
. (
#19293
Added a button to the About dialog to copy the NVDA version number to the clipboard. (
#18667
When entering a secure desktop, an installed copy of NVDA will automatically disable Braille temporarily, so that the secure desktop copy can access the braille display. (
#2315
@LeonarddeR
When controlling a computer via Remote Access with a braille display connected, messages spoken from the local computer are also shown in braille. (
#18004
The length of beeps used when "Line indentation reporting" is set to "Tones" or "Both Speech and Tones" has been reduced. (
#18898
In browse mode in web browsers, NVDA no longer sometimes treats controls with 0 visual width or height as invisible.
This technique is sometimes used to make content accessible to screen readers without it being visible visually.
Such controls will now be accessible in browse mode where they weren't before. (
#13897
@jcsteh
The state of the Screen Curtain is no longer dependent on the configuration profile in use. (
#10476
A new "Privacy and Security" category has been added to NVDA's settings dialog.
It currently includes Screen Curtain's settings (previously in the "Vision" category), and the "Logging level" and "Allow NV Access to gather NVDA usage statistics" settings (previously in the "General" category). (
#19177
#19296
When copying settings for use during sign-in and on secure screens:
NVDA no longer warns about or copies disabled add-ons. (
#8274
#9020
By default, NVDA doesn't copy any add-ons; you must select any you wish to include. (
#12879
Audio ducking is no longer supported for Microsoft Speech API version 4 or 32-bit Microsoft Speech API version 5 voices. (
#19432
The NVDA interface is now translated to Cambodian. (
#19450
NVDA will no longer enable "Use NVDA during sign-in" by default when installing for the first time. (
#19631
Bug Fixes
Remote Access:
Improved user notifications when connecting as the controlled computer fails. (
#19103
@tareh7z
NVDA will no longer open multiple disconnection confirmation dialogs if the action is triggered repeatedly. (
#19442
@Cary-rowen
NVDA installer:
NVDA should now correctly identify downgrades and show the downgrade warning dialog appropriately, including for portable copies. (
#19631
#18291
NVDA will now retain the "Use NVDA during sign-in" setting and desktop shortcut more consistently. (
#19631
Fixed
not being escaped in MathML in PDF documents. (
#18520
@NSoiffer
When Unicode normalization is enabled for speech, navigating by character will again correctly announce combining diacritic characters like acute ( ́ ). (
#18722
@LeonarddeR
Fixed cases where NVDA was unable to retrieve information for an application, such as product name, version and architecture. (
#18826
@LeonarddeR
When reporting the location of the caret in classic versions of Notepad and other Win32 edit controls, text position is now more accurate. (
#18767
@LeonarddeR
NVDA no longer fails to read the contents of wx Web View controls. (
#17273
@LeonarddeR
When NVDA is configured to update add-ons automatically in the background, add-ons can be properly updated. (
#18965
@nvdaes
Attempting to install an add-on that requires a newer version of NVDA from File Explorer no longer fails silently or shows the incompatible add-ons dialog. (
#19260
#19261
The Add-on Store no longer fails to reopen after an add-on has been installed. (
#19900
@CyrilleB79
Fixed a case where braille output would fail with an error. (
#19025
@LeonarddeR
Battery time announcements now skip redundant "0 hours" and "0 minutes" and use proper singular/plural forms. (
#9003
@tareh7z
When a synthesizer has a fallback language for the current dialect, the language of the text being read will no longer be reported as unsupported. (
#18876
@nvdaes
If the speech synthesizer is set to eSpeak NG and it fails to load when NVDA starts, NVDA will now attempt to fall back to OneCore before resorting to no speech. (
#19603
Certain settings will no longer erroneously be saved to disk when running NVDA from the launcher. (
#18171
Incorrect information is no longer displayed in braille when navigating the list of messages in Outlook Classic. (
#18993
@nvdaes
NVDA now detects and stops repeated crash loops to prevent system lockups when startup failures occur. (
#19133
@derekriemer
When moving Braille to the next line in LibreOffice Writer when the caret is at the start of the last line, it will now consistently move to the end of the document. (
#19152
@LeonarddeR
@nvdaes
The browse mode cursor highlighter now appears on content recognition results, such as when using Windows OCR. (
#19168
@hwf1324
In the Input Gestures dialog, gestures including an operator while Num Lock is on will now be correctly displayed. (
#19214
@CyrilleB79
In Chromium browsers, if a document contains links with a malformed URL, reading the document will be possible again. (
#19125
@nvdaes
NVDA no longer plays a sound for spelling errors while typing if speech mode is set to on-demand or off. (
#19323
@CyrilleB79
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Note: this is an Add-on API compatibility breaking release.
Add-ons will need to be re-tested and have their manifest updated.
Add-on authors are now able to provide a changelog for an add-on version via the
changelog
manifest key. (
#14041
@josephsl
The changelog should document changes between previous and latest add-on versions, and can be formatted in markdown.
Updated components:
LicenseCheck to 2025.1 (
#18728
@bramd
Sphinx to 8.1.3 (
#18475
Pyright to 1.1.407 (
#17749
#19162
enabled the Node.js-backed server (
pyright[nodejs]
) for faster and more reliable analysis.
wxPython to 4.2.4 (
#19080
#19196
uv to 0.9.11 (
#19162
Ruff to 0.14.5 (
#19162
comtypes to 1.4.13 (
#19196
cryptography to 46.0.5 (
#19196
#19601
Configobj to commit
9c8a0a80
#19196
Requests to 2.32.5 (
#19196
url-normalize to 2.2.1 (
#19196
Pycaw to 20251023 (
#19196
nh3 to 0.3.2 (
#19196
Crowdin Python client to 1.24.1 (
#19196
Python-Markdown to 3.10 (
#19196
lxml to 6.0.2 (
#19196
PyMdown Extensions to 10.17.1 (
#19196
Setuptools to 80.10.2 (
#19196
#19524
Robot Framework to 7.3.2 (
#19196
IAccessible2 to commit
c9ae003
#19196
Sonic to commit
d2cdb40
#19196
WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices Guide to commit
84b921a0
#19196
Windows Implementation Libraries (WIL) to commit
7cf4193
#19196
SCons to 4.10.1 (
#19016
#19226
@LeonarddeR
This introduces support to build NVDA with Visual Studio 2026.
X64 NVDAHelper libraries are now also built for the
ARM64EC architecture
On ARM64 machines with Windows 11, these ARM64EC libraries are loaded instead of their X64 equivalents. (
#18570
@leonarddeR
NVDA is now licensed under "GPL-2 or later".
In
braille.py
, the
FormattingMarker
class has a new
shouldBeUsed
method, to determine if the formatting marker key should be reported (
#7608
@nvdaes
Added
api.fakeNVDAObjectClasses
set and
api.isFakeNVDAObject
function to identify fake NVDAObject instances. (
#19168
@hwf1324
NVDA no longer includes the Microsoft Universal C Runtime. (
#19508
synthDriverHandler.setSynth
and
synthDriverHandler.findAndSetNextSynth
now attempt to find fallback synthesizers starting from the start of
defaultSynthPriorityList
, rather than starting immediately after
name
or
currentSynthName
, respectively. (
#19603
gui.installerGui.doInstall
parameter
startOnLogon
default value is now
False
. (
#19631
API Breaking Changes
These are breaking API changes.
Please open a GitHub issue if your add-on has an issue with updating to the new API.
NVDA is now built with Python 3.13.12, 64-bit. (
#18591
#19111
#19351
#19572
@LeonarddeR
@dpy013
typing_extensions have been removed.
These should be supported natively in Python 3.13. (
#18689
copyrightYears
and
url
have been moved from
versionInfo
to
buildVersion
. (
#18682
Fixed behavior of
TextInfo.collapse()
- previously it was moving TextInfo to the next paragraph in some cases. (
#18320
@mltony
Fixed behavior of
OffsetTextInfo.move()
- previously it wouldn't move to the very end of the document unless moving by character. (
#18348
@mltony
NVDAHelper.localLib
is now a module, not a
ctypes.CDLL
Most API consumers should not be impacted by this change.
Use
NVDAHelper.localLib.dll
for access to the
ctypes.CDLL
if necessary. (
#18207
UIAHandler.autoSelectDetectionAvailable
has been removed with no replacement. (
#18684
@josephsl
The following symbols have been removed from
installer
with no direct replacement:
programFilesPath
getStartMenuFolder
getInstallPath
. (
#18851
The
bool
configuration key
[documentFormatting][reportSpellingErrors]
has been removed.
Use the
int
configuration key
[reportSpellingErrors2]
instead. (
#17997
@CyrilleB79
NVDAObjects.window.GhostWindowFromHungWindow
has been removed with no replacement. (
#18883
winUser.Input_I
and
winUser.PUL
have been removed, with no replacement. (
#18883
The
inputButtonCaps
property on
hwIo.hid.Hid
objects now correctly returns an array of
hidpi.HIDP_BUTTON_CAPS
structures rather than
HIDP_VALUE_CAPS
structures. (
#18902
speech.speech.IDT_TONE_DURATION
has been removed.
Call
speech.speech.getIndentToneDuration
instead. (
#18898
The
rgpszUsageIdentifier
member of the
updateCheck.CERT_USAGE_MATCH
struct is now of type
POINTER(LPSTR)
rather than
c_void_p
to correctly align with Microsoft documentation. (
#18956
The
UpdatableAddonsDialog.addonsList
is an instance of
gui.addonStoreGui.controls.addonList.AddonVirtualList
. (
#18816
@nvdaes
gui.nvdaControls.TabbableScrolledPanel
has been removed.
Use
wx.lib.scrolledpanel.ScrolledPanel
directly instead. (
#17751
The following symbols have been removed from
appModules.explorer
with no replacement:
SuggestionListItem
SearchBoxClient
GridTileElement
GridListTileElement
GridGroup
ImmersiveLauncher
. (
#18757
@josephsl
The
ftdi2
module has been significantly refactored: (
#19105
It is now a package.
MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE
has been moved to
ftd2xx.MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE
, and reduced to 64 in accordance with the D2XX Programmer’s Guide.
FT_OK
has been removed.
Use
ftd2xx.FT_MESSAGE.OK
instead.
The
FT_LIST_*
constants have been removed.
Use the
ftd2xx.FT_LIST
enum instead.
The
FT_OPEN_BY_SERIAL_NUMBER
constant has been removed.
Use
ftd2xx.FT_OPEN_BY.SERIAL_NUMBER
instead.
The
FT_PURGE_RX
and
FT_PURGE_TX
constants have been removed.
Use
ftd2xx.FT_PURGE.RX
and
ftd2xx.FT_PURGE.TX
instead.
FtdiBitModes
has been moved to
ftd2xx.FT_BITMODE
The
ft_messages
list has been replaced with the
ftd2xx.FT_MESSAGE
enum.
ft
has been removed.
Use
ftd2xx.dll
instead.
FTDeviceError
has been moved to
ftd2xx.FTDeviceError
DeviceListInfoNode
has been moved to
ftd2xx.FT_DEVICE_LIST_INFO_NODE
Additionally, in accordance with the D2XX Programmer's Guide:
The
LocID
field has been renamed to
LocId
The
none
field has been renamed to
ftHandle
The
ftExceptionDecorator
function has been removed, with no public replacement.
The
_PY_*
functions have been replaced with
ftd2xx.FT_*
direct FFI bindings.
These bindings have type declarations, so are potentially incompatible with existing code.
The following functions have been renamed:
list_devices
to
listDevices
create_device_info_list
to
createDeviceInfoList
get_device_info_detail
to
getDeviceInfoDetail
get_device_info_list
to
getDeviceInfoList
; and
open_ex
to
openEx
The following methods on the
FTD2XX
class have been renamed:
set_baud_rate
to
setBaudRate
set_timeouts
to
setTimeouts
set_latency_timer
to
setLatencyTimer
set_bit_mode
to
setBitMode
set_usb_parameters
to
setUsbParameters
get_queue_status
to
getQueueStatus
; and
reset_device
to
resetDevice
The
FTD2XX.purge
method now raises
ValueError
if the
toPurge
argument is not one of "TX", "RX" or "TXRX".
The deprecated
winVersion.isFullScreenMagnificationAvailable
function has been removed. (
#19177
The
visionEnhancementProviders.screenCurtain
module has been replaced with the
screenCurtain
subpackage. (
#19177
The following symbols have no public replacement:
playToggleSoundsCheckBoxText
ScreenCurtainGuiPanel
ScreenCurtainProvider
ScreenCurtainSettings
screenCurtainTranslatedName
TRANSFORM_BLACK
VisionEnhancementProvider
WarnOnLoadDialog
warnOnLoadCheckBoxText
warnOnLoadText
All public symbols defined on
Magnification
are now accessible from
winBindings.magnification
. (
#18958
MAGCOLOREFFECT
has been moved to
winBindings.magnification
. (
#18958
isScreenFullyBlack
has been moved to
NVDAHelper.localLib
. (
#18958
config.conf["vision"]["screenCurtain"]
has been moved to
config.conf["screenCurtain"]
. (
#19177
The
comInterfaces.MathPlayer
and
mathPres.mathPlayer
modules have been removed. (
#19239
The following symbols have been removed from
gui.settingsDialogs.GeneralSettingsPanel
without replacement:
logLevelList
allowUsageStatsCheckBox
. (
#19296
gui.settingsDialogs.GeneralSettingsPanel.LOG_LEVELS
has been removed.
Use
config.configFlags.LoggingLevel
instead. (
#19296
Changes to Microsoft Speech API version 4 and 5: (
#19432
synthDrivers.sapi4
(name: "sapi4") has been removed.
Use
synthDrivers.sapi4_32
(name: "sapi4_32") instead.
synthDrivers.sapi5
(name: "sapi5") now refers to the 64-bit SAPI 5 synth driver.
Use
synthDrivers.sapi5_32
(name: "sapi5_32") for the 32-bit SAPI 5 driver.
config.setSystemConfigToCurrentConfig
now takes a
Collection
of add-on IDs (as strings) to copy to the system configuration.
Only add-ons with the given IDs will be copied. (
#19446
browseMode.ElementsListDialog.filterTimer
has been removed. (
#19702
The type of the
installDate
property of
addonStore.models.addon.AddonManifestModel
and
addonStore.models.addon.InstalledAddonStoreModel
is now
datetime | None
. (
#19901
@CyrilleB79
Deprecations
winVersion.WIN81
is deprecated. (
#18684
@josephsl
NVDAHelper.versionedLibPath
is deprecated.
Use
NVDAState.ReadPaths.versionedLibX86Path
instead. (
#18207
NVDAHelper.coreArchLibPath
is deprecated.
Use
NVDAState.ReadPaths.coreArchLibPath
instead. (
#18207
NVDAHelper.LOCAL_WIN10_DLL_PATH
is deprecated.
Use
NVDAState.ReadPaths.nvdaHelperLocalWin10Dll
instead. (
#18207
The following symbols have been moved from
NVDAHelper
to
NVDAHelper.localLib
generateBeep
VBuf_getTextInRange
Access to these symbols via
NVDAHelper
is deprecated. (
#18207
NVDAHelper.onSsmlMarkReached
is deprecated.
Use
NVDAHelper.localLib.nvdaController_onSsmlMarkReached
instead. (
#18207
NVDAObjects.window.excel.ExcelCellInfo
is deprecated.
Use
NVDAHelper.localLib.EXCEL_CELLINFO
instead. (
#18207
nvwave.WAVEFORMATEX
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.mmeapi.WAVEFORMATEX
instead. (
#18207
The following symbols have been moved from
winuser
to
winBindings.user32
GUITHREADINFO
HWINEVENTHOOK
WINEVENTPROC
WNDCLASSEXW
WNDPROC
PAINTSTRUCT
Access to these symbols via
winuser
is deprecated. (
#18207
#18883
The following symbols have been moved from
hwPortUtils
to
winBindings.bthprops
BLUETOOTH_ADDRESS
BLUETOOTH_DEVICE_INFO
BLUETOOTH_MAX_NAME_SIZE
BluetoothGetDeviceInfo
Access to these symbols via
hwPortUtils
is deprecated. (
#18571
hwPortUtils.BTH_ADDR
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.bthprops.BLUETOOTH_ADDRESS
instead. (
#18571
The following symbols have been moved from
hwPortUtils
to
winBindings.cfgmgr32
CM_Get_Device_ID
CR_SUCCESS
MAX_DEVICE_ID_LEN
Access to these symbols via
hwPortUtils
is deprecated. (
#18571
The following symbol has been moved from
hwPortUtils
to
winBindings.hid
HIDD_ATTRIBUTES
Access to this symbol via
hwPortUtils
is deprecated. (
#18571
hwIo.hid.hidDll
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.hid.dll
instead. (
#18902
The following symbols have been moved from
hwPortUtils
to
winBindings.setupapi
DEVPKEY_Device_BusReportedDeviceDesc
DEVPROPKEY
GUID_CLASS_COMPORT
GUID_DEVINTERFACE_USB_DEVICE
HDEVINFO
PSP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DATA
PSP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DETAIL_DATA
PSP_DEVINFO_DATA
SP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DATA
SP_DEVINFO_DATA
SetupDiDestroyDeviceInfoList
SetupDiEnumDeviceInfo
SetupDiEnumDeviceInterfaces
SetupDiGetClassDevs
SetupDiGetDeviceInterfaceDetail
SetupDiGetDeviceProperty
SetupDiGetDeviceRegistryProperty
SetupDiOpenDevRegKey
SIZEOF_SP_DEVICE_INTERFACE_DETAIL_DATA_W
Access to these symbols via
hwPortUtils
is deprecated. (
#18571
The
DIGCF_*
SPDRP_*
DICS_FLAG_*
, and
DIREG_*
constants in
hwPortUtils
are deprecated.
Use their
Enum
counterparts from
winBindings.setupapi
instead. (
#18571
hwPortUtils.dummy
hwPortUtils.INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE
and
hwPortUtils.ValidHandle
are deprecated, with no planned replacement. (
#18571
hwPortUtils.ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER
and
hwPortUtils.ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS
are deprecated.
Use
winAPI.SystemErrorCodes.INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER
and
winAPI.SystemErrorCodes.NO_MORE_ITEMS
instead. (
#18571
addonHandler.BUNDLE_EXTENSION
has been moved to
config.registry.ADDON_BUNDLE_EXTENSION
. (
#18851
addonHandler.NVDA_ADDON_PROG_ID
has been moved to
config.registry.NVDA_ADDON_PROG_ID
. (
#18851
installer.defaultInstallPath
has been moved to
NVDAState.WritePaths.defaultInstallDir
. (
#18851
fonts.gdi32
screenBitmap.gdi32
and
winGDI.gdi32
are deprecated.
Use
winBindings.gdi32.dll
instead. (
#18860
shellapi.shell32
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.shell32.dll
instead. (
#18860
The following symbols have been moved from
shellapi
to
winBindings.shell32
SHELLEXECUTEINFO
SHELLEXECUTEINFOW
Access to these symbols via
shellapi
is deprecated. (
#18860
winGDI.gdiplus
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.gdiplus.dll
instead. (
#18860
The following symbols have been moved from
winGDI
to
winBindings.gdi32
RGBQUAD
BITMAPINFOHEADER
BITMAPINFO
Access to these symbols via
winGDI
is deprecated. (
#18860
The following symbols have been moved from
winGDI
to
winBindings.gdiplus
GdiplusStartupInput
GdiplusStartupOutput
Access to these symbols via
winGDI
is deprecated. (
#18860
The following symbols have been moved from
winKernel
to
winBindings.advapi32
PROCESS_INFORMATION
STARTUPINFO
STARTUPINFOW
Access to these symbols via
winKernel
is deprecated. (
#18860
winKernel.advapi32
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.advapi32.dll
instead. (
#18860
NVDAHelper.bstrReturn
is deprecated, with no planned replacement. (
#18858
contentRecog.uwpOcr.uwpOcr_Callback
is deprecated.
Use
NVDAHelper.localWin10.uwpOcr_Callback
instead. (
#18858
touchHelper.SM_MAXIMUMTOUCHES
is deprecated.
Use
winAPI.winUser.constants.SystemMetrics.MAXIMUM_TOUCHES
instead. (
#18883
screenBitmap.user32
winAPI.winUser.functions.user32
winGDI.user32
, and
winUser.user32
are deprecated.
Use
winBindings.user32.dll
instead. (
#18883
The
HardwareInput
Input
KeyBdInput
MouseInput
and
NMHdrStruct
structures from
winUser
are deprecated.
Use
HARDWAREINPUT
INPUT
KEYBDINPUT
MOUSEINPUT
and
NMHDR
from
winBindings.user32
instead. (
#18883
#19808
The following symbols have been moved from
winKernel
to
winBindings.kernel32
FILETIME
SYSTEMTIME
and
TIME_ZONE_INFORMATION
Access to these symbols via
winKernel
is deprecated. (
#18896
The following symbols have been moved from
wincon
to
winBindings.kernel32
COORD
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO
CONSOLE_SELECTION_INFO
CHAR_INFO
and
PHANDLER_ROUTINE
Access to these symbols via
wincon
is deprecated. (
#18896
appModuleHandler.processEntry32W
has been moved to
winBindings.kernel32.PROCESSENTRY32W
. (
#18896
winKernel.kernel32
is deprecated.
Use
winBindings.kernel32.dll
instead. (
#18896
The
LVS_*
constants from
NVDAObjects.IAccessible.sysListView32
are deprecated.
Use the
ListViewWindowStyle
enumeration instead. (
#18926
@LeonarddeR
The
INPUT_MOUSE
INPUT_KEYBOARD
KEYEVENTF_KEYUP
and
KEYEVENTF_UNICODE
constants from
winUser
are deprecated.
Use
INPUT_TYPE.MOUSE
INPUT_TYPE.KEYBOARD
KEYEVENTF.KEYUP
and
KEYEVENTF.UNICODE
from
winBindings.user32
instead. (
#18947
The following symbols have been moved from
updateCheck
to
winBindings.crypt32
CERT_USAGE_MATCH
CERT_CHAIN_PARA
Access to these symbols via
updateCheck
is deprecated. (
#18956
textInfos.OffsetsTextInfo.allowMoveToOffsetPastEnd
is deprecated.
Use the
OffsetsTextInfo.allowMoveToUnitOffsetPastEnd
method instead. (
#19152
@LeonarddeR
installer.comparePreviousInstall
is deprecated with no planned replacement. (
#19631
Deprecations in
addonHandler
: (
#19564
stateFilename
is deprecated.
Use
STATE_FILENAME
instead.
AddonsState.fromPickledDict
is deprecated.
Use
AddonsState.fromDict
instead.
2025.3.3
This is a patch release to fix a security issue.
Security fixes
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Prevents a situation where NVDA may unexpectedly run as an administrator.
GHSA-cq78-fjp7-3rp5
2025.3.2
This is a patch release to fix a security issue.
Security fixes
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Fixed a vulnerability which could prevent access to secure screens via Remote Access. (
GHSA-42v6-wjv6-h3jj
2025.3.1
This is a patch release to fix a security issue and a bug.
Security fixes
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Fixed a vulnerability which could prevent access to secure screens via Remote Access. (
GHSA-vr27-g5ph-xvq2
Bug Fixes
Remote Access now returns control to the local computer if it locks while controlling the remote computer. (
#18951
2025.3
This release includes improvements to Remote Access, SAPI5 voices, braille and the Add-on Store.
Add-ons in the Add-on Store can now be sorted by minimum/last tested NVDA version and install date.
Remote Access has had several minor fixes and improvements including adding a command to send
control+alt+delete
and remembering recent connection settings.
There are also fixes for connection and audio issues.
Braille improves with smarter word wrap, stable table selection across language changes, and optional USB auto-detection for Dot Pad.
There are several bug fixes for SAPI5 voices, including fixes for excessive leading silence trimming, freezing issues, and audio gaps.
eSpeak NG and Unicode CLDR have been updated.
Localisation data for emojis has been added for Belarusian and Bosnian.
New Features
Add-on Store:
Add-ons can be sorted by minimum and last tested NVDA version as well as by installation date. (
#18440
#18560
@nvdaes
@CyrilleB79
Minimum and last tested version will now be also shown in the details area for an add-on in the Available Add-ons tab. (
#18440
@nvdaes
Installation date will now be also shown in the details area for external add-ons. (
#18560
@CyrilleB79
A new unassigned command has been added to send
control+alt+delete
when controlling another computer via NVDA Remote Access. (
#18105
A new setting has been added to automatically mute Remote Access when controlling the local computer. (
#18630
Changes
Component updates:
Updated eSpeak NG to
commit
3b8ef3d
There have been improvements to Farsi/Persian. (
#18342
#18633
@codeofdusk
Updated Unicode CLDR to
47.0
Localisation data for emojis has been added for Belarusian and Bosnian. (
#18581
Braille:
When braille word wrap is enabled, all braille cells will be used if the next character is a space. (
#18016
@nvdaes
NVDA no longer resets braille tables to automatic when changing its language. (
#18538
@LeonarddeR
NVDA no longer handles Turkish grade 1 as Turkish 8 dot computer braille. (
#18758
@OzancanKaratas
The Dot Pad braille display driver now supports automatic detection of USB-connected devices.
Note that this is disabled by default due to the device using generic USB identifiers, but can be enabled in braille settings. (
#18444
@bramd
When the selection covers more than one cell in Microsoft Excel, pressing
tab
or
enter
to move the active cell now reports the new active cell rather than the whole selection. (
#6959
@CyrilleB79
In terminal programs on Windows 10 version 1607 and later, the calculation of changed text now runs within NVDA instead of via an external process, which may improve performance and reliability. (
#18480
@codeofdusk
The NVDA Remote Access connection dialog now remembers the most recent connection mode, server type and locally hosted port of manual connections. (
#18512
#18701
Bug Fixes
Speech:
Fixed excessive leading silence trimming that trims part of the speech when using some voices. (
#18003
@gexgd0419
Fixed a problem where NVDA sometimes freezes completely when using SAPI5 voices. (
#18298
@gexgd0419
Fixed a problem where NVDA fails to start with a SAPI5 Eloquence voice and falls back to OneCore voices. (
#18301
@gexgd0419
Fixed audio gaps in speech when using some SAPI5 voices with WASAPI and rate boost enabled. (
#17967
@gexgd0419
Remote Access:
Fixed a bug which stopped speech from working via NVDA Remote Access when the controlled computer had no audio output devices enabled. (
#18544
Fixed a bug which caused NVDA Remote Access to stop working if a session was interrupted while connecting to the server. (
#18476
Fixed bug with multiple math expressions on the same line in Microsoft Word documents: everything after the first expression was not spoken or brailled. (
#18386
@NSoiffer
Fixed support for paragraph mouse text unit in Java applications. (
#18231
@hwf1324
Fixed Highlighter not working with Outlook contact auto-complete lists. (
#18483
@Nerlant
A portable copy launched immediately after creation now correctly use its own configuration instead of another one. (
#18442
@CyrilleB79
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Component updates:
Updated Pyright to 1.1.403. (
#18424
Updated Ruff to 0.12.7. (
#18424
#18609
Updated comtypes to 1.4.11. (
#18611
Updated py2exe to 0.14.0.0. (
#18611
Updated markdown to 3.8.2. (
#18638
detours to
9764cebcb1a75940e68fa83d6730ffaf0f669401
. (
#18447
@LeonarddeR
For
IAccessible
objects, the
flowsFrom
and
flowsTo
properties will now raise a
NotImplementedError
for MSAA (non-IA2) objects. (
#18416
@LeonarddeR
The
nvda_dmp
utility has been removed. (
#18480
@codeofdusk
comInterfaces_sconscript
has been updated to make the generated files in
comInterfaces
work better with IDEs. (
#17608
@gexgd0419
NVDA now configures
wx.lib.agw.persist.PersistenceManager
on GUI initialisation. (
#18601
Deprecations
The following symbols in
synthDrivers.sapi5
are deprecated with no replacement: (
#18300
@gexgd0419
LP_c_ubyte
LP_c_ulong
LP__ULARGE_INTEGER
SynthDriver.isSpeaking
easeOfAccess.RegistryKey
and
config.RegistryKey
is deprecated, use
config.registry.RegistryKey
instead. (
#18608
Importing
DEFAULT_EXTENSIONS
from
md2html
is deprecated.
Importing from
md2html
is discouraged. (
#18638
2025.2
This release includes improvements in Windows 11, browse mode, and Microsoft Word.
In browse mode, quick navigation keys for headings 7 through 9 have been added.
The Elements List and Find dialogs no longer cause application profiles to be deactivated.
In Microsoft Edge, notifications like "loading complete" no longer stop say all.
In Microsoft Word, when using the shortcuts to switch to page view or outline view, the new view is now reported.
When UIA is enabled, redundant table end markers are no longer brailled when the cursor is in a table cell.
On Windows 11, NVDA will no longer announce emoji panel items twice while browsing them.
Performance and reliability in the Start Menu on Windows 11 24H2 has been improved.
On Windows 11 24H2 and newer, window state will be announced when resizing windows with
Windows+arrow
keys.
Support has also been added for Windows 11 Voice Access.
Options have been added to report the language of the text being read, and report when the language is not supported by the current synthesizer.
Support for the NLS eReader Zoomax braille display has been added.
Support for cursor routing with the point and click action on the Humanware Monarch has been added.
LibLouis has been updated, adding new Biblical Hebrew, Russian 6 dot computer braille and Thai Grade 2 braille tables.
eSpeak NG has been updated, adding support for Aromanian, Crimean Tatar, Mongolian, and Pashto.
There have also been a number of other fixes and improvements, including to mouse and touch interaction, Windows 11 Notepad, and Google Chrome.
New Features
NVDA can now report the language of the text being read. (
#17664
@nvdaes
):
New options are available to:
Report the language of the text being read.
Report if the language of the text being read is not supported.
A new unassigned command has been added to report the language of the text at the caret position.
In Microsoft Word, the new view is now reported when using the shortcuts to switch to page view (
control+alt+p
) or outline view (
control+alt+o
). (
#18091
@CyrilleB79
It is now possible to route to any braille cell on the Humanware Monarch multiline braille device, using their point and click action. (
#18248
In Windows 11 2024 Update and Server 2025 and later, NVDA will announce foreground window states such as restore, maximize, and snap when changing window position by pressing
windows+arrow
keys. (
#17841
#18175
@josephsl
Unassigned commands have been added to open the NVDA settings dialog in the following categories: Vision, Windows OCR, Add-on Store and Advanced. (
#18313
@CyrilleB79
Introduced support for Windows 11 Voice Access, including reporting dictated text and microphone status from everywhere (requires NVDA to be installed). (
#16862
#17384
@josephsl
Support for the NLS eReader Zoomax braille display has been added. (
#15863
@florin-trutiu
A checkbox has been added in the speech settings to allow users to disable WASAPI for SAPI5 voices. (
#18309
@gexgd0419
Changes
Component updates:
Updated LibLouis Braille translator to
3.34.0
. (
#18227
@LeonarddeR
@codeofdusk
Added new tables for Biblical Hebrew as well as for Russian 6 dot computer braille and Thai Grade 2.
Substantial updates to Lithuanian braille tables.
Small improvements to Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian and Turkish tables.
Updated eSpeak NG to
commit
e93d3a9
. (
#17896
Added new languages Aromanian, Crimean Tatar, Mongolian, and Pashto.
In browse mode, it is now possible to use number keys 1 to 9 (previously 1 to 6), to navigate to the corresponding heading. (
#18014
@CyrilleB79
When the Elements List or Find dialog is opened, NVDA won't change the configuration profile, similar to the behavior in other NVDA dialogs. (
#18160
@nvdaes
In Microsoft Edge, NVDA will no longer cancel say all when notifications such as "loading complete" are announced. (
#17986
@josephsl
NVDA will now warn before updating when connected as the controlled computer with NVDA Remote Access. (
#18455
Bug Fixes
In WinUI 3 apps including Microsoft Copilot and parts of Windows 11 File Explorer, NVDA will no longer fail to announce controls when using mouse and touch interaction. (
#17407
#17771
@josephsl
Fixed some rare cases where NVDA playing sounds could result in unexpected errors. (
#17918
@LeonarddeR
In Microsoft Word, when UIA is enabled, NVDA will no longer braille redundant table end markers when the cursor is in a table cell. (
#15828
@LeonarddeR
In Geekbench 6.4, NVDA can again read the ribbon and options within. (
#17892
@mzanm
NVDA no longer fails to read check list items in Microsoft Loop when viewed in Google Chrome / Microsoft Edge. (
#18130
NVDA now respects its line number reporting setting in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 21. (
#18176
@LeonarddeR
In Windows 11 Notepad, NVDA will announce values typed into the "Line number" field of the "Go to line" dialog when "speak typed characters" is set to "only in edit controls". (
#18208
@josephsl
In the Start Menu in Windows 11 24H2: (
#17951
@jcsteh
NVDA no longer sometimes incorrectly switches to browse mode soon after entering the Start Menu.
NVDA no longer sometimes freezes when navigating in browse mode.
Search suggestions are now reported reliably.
In Windows 11, NVDA will no longer announce emoji panel items twice while browsing them. (
#18236
@josephsl
When typing into a cell in Microsoft Excel, the braille display is now correctly updated to show the new content. (
#18391
When using NVDA Remote Access, speech from User Account Control screens on the remote computer now works reliably. (
#18101
@jcsteh
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Component updates:
Updated SCons to 4.9.1. (
#18069
@dpy013
Updated NSIS to 3.11 (
#18027
@dpy013
Updated Ruff to 0.11.12. (
#17671
Updated pre-commit to 4.2.0. (
#17671
Updated pyright to 1.1.401. (
#17671
NVDA now uses
uv
as Python package/project manager. (
#17935
@LeonarddeR
Running
scons
from the source repository will automatically suggest a strategy to install uv when it is not yet available.
Added the "externalPythonDependencies" category as an extra debug logging category. When enabled, debug logging messages from external dependencies (such as comtypes) will be delivered to NVDA's log. (
#18067
@LeonarddeR
Several additions to report the language of the text being read. (
#17685
@nvdaes
The
synthDriver
class of
synthDriverHandler
includes a
languageIsSupported
function to check if the language indicated by the
lang
parameter is supported by the synthesizer.
languageHandling
module has been added to report the language within speech sequences.
LangChangeCommand
of
speech.commands
includes static methods to determine if NVDA should get the language of the text being read, and switch synthesizer voice.
The
brailleTables
module is now a package.
The several built-in table definitions are moved to the
__tables
module in that package. (
#18194
@LeonarddeR
Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio now uses the Visual Studio app module, as SSMS is based on Visual Studio. (
#18176
@LeonarddeR
NVDA will report Windows release revision number (for example: 10.0.26100.0) when
winVersion.getWinVer
is called and log this information at startup. (
#18266
@josephsl
2025.1.2
This is a patch release to fix a bug.
Bug fixes
Certain Microsoft Word versions before version 16.0.18226 will no longer crash on opening. (
#18280
2025.1.1
This is a patch release to fix a bug.
Bug fixes
Fixed bug where the Add-on Store would not open when using the Korean language for the NVDA interface. (
#18250
2025.1
This release introduces NVDA Remote Access, allowing you to control a remote computer running NVDA from another device running NVDA.
There are many improvements to speech, particularly responsiveness with SAPI 4, SAPI 5 and OneCore voices.
Rate boost and automatic language switching is now supported in SAPI 5.
SAPI 4 voices now support audio ducking, leading silence trimming, and keeping the audio device awake.
The Add-on Store's automatic update system has been improved, allowing you to select channels for automatic updates, and run automatic updates in the background.
New commands have been added to manually refresh an OCR result, and to toggle periodically refreshing OCR results.
Native selection is now available in Chrome and Edge.
Microsoft Office and LibreOffice support has improved, notably with more shortcuts being announced.
Default input and output braille tables can now be determined based on the NVDA language.
Native support has been added for the Dot Pad tactile graphics device from Dot Inc as a multiline braille display.
There have been other minor fixes for braille displays, particularly around connectivity.
LibLouis braille translator, eSpeak-NG and Unicode CLDR have been updated.
New Coptic, compact Cuneiform, and Portuguese 6 dot Computer Braille tables are available.
Important notes
This release breaks compatibility with existing add-ons.
Security Fixes
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Prevents showing potentially sensitive information on braille displays when the device is locked.
GHSA-8f8q-2jc3-6rf4
Prevents the installer from loading unwanted DLLs from its directory.
GHSA-qf5h-qw92-rx2f
New Features
Add-on Store:
Automatic updates (
#3208
):
Automatic update channels for add-ons can now be modified.
Automatic update channels can be selected for installed add-ons via an "Update channel" submenu.
The default automatic update channel can be set from the Add-on Store panel in NVDA's settings.
Automatic updates can now happen in the background.
This can be enabled in the Add-on Store panel in NVDA's settings by changing "Automatic updates" to "Update Automatically".
Automatic updates can now update incompatible add-ons to another, newer, incompatible version.
This can be enabled in the Add-on Store panel in NVDA's settings.
Added an action to cancel the install of add-ons. (
#15578
@hwf1324
Added an action to retry the installation if the download/installation of an add-on fails. (
#17090
@hwf1324
The add-ons lists can be sorted by columns, including publication date, in ascending and descending order. (
#15277
#16681
@nvdaes
Speech:
Automatic language switching is now supported when using Microsoft Speech API version 5 (SAPI5) and Microsoft Speech Platform voices. (
#17146
@gexgd0419
Rate boost is now supported when using Microsoft Speech API version 5 (SAPI5) and Microsoft Speech Platform voices, which supports up to 6X speed. (
#17606
@gexgd0419
Web browsers:
NVDA browse mode's native selection mode (
NVDA+shift+f10
) is now supported in Google Chrome, Edge and other applications based on Chromium 134 or newer. (
#17838
In Mozilla Firefox, NVDA will report the highlighted text when a URL containing a text fragment is visited. (
#16910
@jcsteh
NVDA can now report when a link destination points to the current page. (
#141
@LeonarddeR
@nvdaes
Microsoft Office:
When editing in PowerPoint text boxes, you can now move per sentence with
alt+upArrow
alt+downArrow
. (
#17015
@LeonarddeR
In Word, the selection update is now reported when using Word commands to extend or reduce the selection (
f8
or
shift+f8
). (
#3293
@CyrilleB79
In Word 16.0.18226 and higher or when using Word object model, NVDA will now report if a heading is collapsed in both speech and braille. (
#17499
In Word with UIA, when using the native extended table navigation commands (
alt+home
alt+end
alt+pageUp
, and
alt+pageDown
), the caret movement will now be reported. (
#17867
@CyrilleB79
In Word, when using the "report focus" command, the document layout will be announced if this information is available and reporting object descriptions is enabled. (
#15088
@nvdaes
The result of more shortcuts is now reported in Word and Outlook:
font formatting shortcuts (
#10271
@CyrilleB79
collapse or expand heading (
#17545
@CyrilleB79
LibreOffice:
When increasing or decreasing the font size in Writer using the corresponding keyboard shortcuts, NVDA announces the new font size. (
#6915
@michaelweghorn
When applying the "Body Text" or a heading paragraph style using the corresponding keyboard shortcut in Writer 25.2 or newer, NVDA announces the new paragraph style. (
#6915
@michaelweghorn
When toggling double underline in Writer using the corresponding keyboard shortcut, NVDA announces the new state ("double underline on"/"double underline off"). (
#6915
@michaelweghorn
NVDA can now report the first line indent in LibreOffice 25.8 and later. (
#13052
@michaelweghorn
OCR:
In a recognition result,
NVDA+f5
manually refreshes the recognized content. (
#17715
@CyrilleB79
Added an unassigned gesture to toggle periodically refreshing the Windows OCR result. (
#16897
Remote access functionality, based on the NVDA Remote add-on, has been integrated into NVDA. (
#4390
@ctoth
@tspivey
@daiverd
, NVDA Remote Contributors and funders)
It is now possible to specify mirror URLs to use for NVDA updates and the Add-on Store. (
#14974
#17151
#17310
@christopherpross
Support for math in PDFs has been added. (
#9288
@NSoiffer
This works for formulas with associated MathML, such as some files generated by newer versions of TeX/LaTeX.
Currently this is only supported in Foxit Reader & Foxit Editor.
NVDA can now be configured to speak the current line or paragraph when navigating with braille navigation keys. (
#17053
@nvdaes
NVDA is now able to report caret changes when pressing
alt+upArrow
or
alt+downArrow
gestures, for example in Visual Studio Code. (
#17652
@LeonarddeR
Added commands to move the review cursor to the first and last character of the selected text, assigned to
NVDA+alt+home
and
NVDA+alt+end
, respectively. (
#17299
@nvdaes
Added a general setting to prevent the display turning off during say all or reading with braille.
This option is enabled by default, but may result in increased battery depletion. (
#17649
@LeonarddeR
NVDA is now translated into Bosnian. (
#17953
In Adobe Acrobat, NVDA can now read and interact with math equations in PDF documents generated by recent versions of Microsoft Word. (
#18056
Changes
Component updates:
Updated LibLouis Braille translator to
3.33.0
. (
#17469
#17768
@LeonarddeR
@codeofdusk
Added new Coptic, compact Cuneiform, and Portuguese 6 dot Computer Braille tables.
Updated CLDR to version 46.0. (
#17484
@OzancanKaratas
Updated eSpeak NG to 1.52.0. (
#17056
NVDA interface changes:
The NVDA installer no longer plays a sound when launched. (
#14068
The Report link destination, Character formatting information, and Speak selection dialogs, now include "Close" and "Copy" buttons for user convenience. (
#17018
@XLTechie
The exit dialog now allows you to restart NVDA with add-ons disabled and debug logging enabled simultaneously. (
#11538
@CyrilleB79
The ability to opt out of using WASAPI for audio output has been removed. (
#16080
The Browse Mode setting "Automatically set system focus to focusable elements" has been removed, the behaviour is now disabled. (
#17598
NVDA will now only warn about add-on incompatibility when updating to a new version which has an incompatible add-on API to the current version. (
#17071
#17506
The "Contributors" file has been removed from the NVDA menu. (
#16922
The NVDA license is now formatted in HTML to improve readability. (
#17600
Short versions of the most commonly used command line options have been added:
-d
for
--disable-addons
and
-n
for
--lang
Prefix matching on command line flags, e.g. using
--di
for
--disable-addons
is no longer supported. (
#11644
@CyrilleB79
Changes to the COM Registration Fixing Tool: (
#12355
@XLTechie
It now starts with a more user friendly explanation of its purpose, instead of a warning. (
#12351
The initial window can now be exited with
escape
or
alt+f4
. (
#10799
It will now show a message to the user, including the error, in the rare event of a Windows error while attempting COM re-registrations.
Speech:
Microsoft Speech API version 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform voices now use WASAPI for audio output, which may improve the responsiveness of those voices. (
#13284
@gexgd0419
The silence at the beginning of speech will now be trimmed when using OneCore voices, SAPI5 voices, and some third-party voice add-ons to improve their responsiveness. (
#17614
@gexgd0419
Microsoft Speech API version 4 voices now use WASAPI for audio output, so that they can work with features such as audio ducking, leading silence trimming, and keeping audio device awake.
If this does not work with your SAPI 4 voice, you can disable WASAPI for SAPI 4 in Advanced settings. (
#17718
#17801
@gexgd0419
Unicode Normalization is now enabled by default for speech output. (
#17017
@LeonarddeR
).
You can still disable this functionality in the Speech category of the NVDA Settings dialog.
The keyboard settings for "Speak typed characters" and "Speak typed words" now have three options: Off, Only in edit controls, and Always. (
#17505
@Cary-rowen
By default, "Speak typed characters" is now set to "Only in edit controls".
Default input and output braille tables can now be determined based on the NVDA language. (
#17306
#16390
#290
@nvdaes
Bug Fixes
Speech:
Fixed an issue where continuous reading (say all) stopped at the end of the first sentence when using some SAPI5 synthesizers. (
#16691
@gexgd0419
Voice parameters, such as rate and volume, will no longer be reset to default when using the synth settings ring to change between voices in the SAPI5 and SAPI4 synthesizer. (
#17693
#2320
@gexgd0419
Fixed an issue where some SAPI4 voices (e.g. IBM TTS Chinese) cannot be loaded. (
#17726
@gexgd0419
Braille:
Native support for the Dot Pad tactile graphics device from Dot Inc as a multiline braille display. (
#17007
When using the Seika Notetaker, space and space with dots gestures are now displayed correctly in the Input Gestures dialog. (
#17047
@school510587
NVDA should no longer play error sounds or spam the log file when using the display speech output braille mode while no braille display is connected. (
#17092
@Emil-18
When the Standard HID Braille Display driver is explicitly selected as the braille display driver, and the braille display list is opened, NVDA correctly identifies the HID driver as the selected driver instead of showing no driver selected. (
#17537
@LeonarddeR
The Humanware Brailliant driver is now more reliable in selecting the right connection endpoint, resulting in better connection stability and less errors. (
#17537
@LeonarddeR
Custom braille tables in the developer scratchpad are now properly ignored when running with add-ons disabled. (
#17565
@LeonarddeR
Fixed an issue where some USB braille displays were not properly detected by NVDA. (
#18114
@christiancomaschi
Microsoft Office:
The command to "Report the destination URL of a link" now works as expected when using the legacy object model in Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint. (
#17292
#17362
#17435
@CyrilleB79
In Excel, the element list dialog (
NVDA+f7
) no longer fails to list comment or formulas on some non-English systems. (
#11366
@CyrilleB79
Improvements in PowerPoint:
Caret reporting no longer breaks when text contains wide characters, such as emoji. (
#17006
@LeonarddeR
Character location reporting is now accurate (e.g. when pressing
NVDA+delete
. (
#9941
@LeonarddeR
NVDA no longer starts say all when starting a slide show and the browse mode setting "Automatic Say All on page load" is disabled. (
#17488
@LeonarddeR
LibreOffice:
When using the Microsoft Pinyin Input Method for Chinese and enabling the Pinyin compatibility option to use the previous version, typing in Writer (and potentially other applications) while an IME popup is showing no longer triggers an error. (
#17198
@michaelweghorn
The current checkbox state (checked/unchecked) of checkboxes in dialogs is now also reported in braille, not just speech. (
#17218
@michaelweghorn
Math:
Math reading has been fixed for some web elements.
Specifically, MathML inside of span and other elements that have the attribute
role="math"
. (
#15058
Math equations only represented by an image and alt text with no MathML for rich navigation, are now treated like normal images, rather than math with no content, allowing the user to jump to them with
and to be able to arrow through the alt text by character. (
#16007
IDEs:
NVDA will no longer crash when selecting all text in certain source files in Android Studio or IntelliJ Idea. (
#17418
@thgcode
In Visual Studio Code, NVDA no longer hijacks the
alt+upArrow
and
alt+downArrow
gestures for sentence navigation. (
#17082
@LeonarddeR
Certain section elements are now correctly recognized as editable controls in Visual Studio Code. (
#17573
@Cary-rowen
In Notepad and other UIA documents, and Notepad++ documents on Windows 11, if the last line is empty, the "braille next line command" will move the cursor to the last line.
In any document, if the cursor is on the last line, it will be moved to the end when using this command. (
#17251
#17430
@nvdaes
Configuration profiles:
Braille is no longer dysfunctional when activating "say all" with an associated configuration profile. (
#17163
@LeonarddeR
Fixed an issue where certain settings were explicitly saved to the active configuration profile even when the value of that setting was equal to the value in the base configuration. (
#17157
@leonarddeR
When spelling, unicode normalization now works more appropriately:
After reporting a normalized character, NVDA no longer incorrectly reports subsequent characters as normalized. (
#17286
@LeonarddeR
Composite characters (such as é) are now reported correctly. (
#17295
@LeonarddeR
NVDA is able to read the popup submenu items on Thunderbird search results page. (
#4708
@thgcode
The COM Registration Fixing Tool no longer reports success on failure. (
#12355
@XLTechie
NVDA will no longer announce Windows 11 clipboard history entries when closing the window while items are present. (
#17308
@josephsl
If the plugins are reloaded while a browseable message is opened, NVDA will no longer fail to report subsequent focus moves. (
#17323
@CyrilleB79
When using applications such as Skype, Discord, Signal and Phone Link for audio communication, NVDA speech and sounds no longer decrease in volume. (
#17349
@jcsteh
Opening the NVDA Python Console will no longer fail in case an error occurs while retrieving snapshot variables. (
#17391
@CyrilleB79
In web browsers, changes to text selection no longer sometimes fail to be reported in editable text controls. (
#17501
@jcsteh
When anchor links point to the same object as the virtual caret is placed, NVDA no longer fails to scroll to the link destination. (
#17669
@nvdaes
The NVDA Highlighter Window icon is no longer fixed in the taskbar after restarting Explorer. (
#17696
@hwf1324
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Note: this is an Add-on API compatibility breaking release.
Add-ons will need to be re-tested and have their manifest updated.
Component updates:
Updated Ruff to 0.8.1. (
#17102
#17260
#17473
Updated Comtypes to 1.4.6. (
#17061
@LeonarddeR
Updated wxPython to 4.2.2. (
#17181
@dpy013
Updated SCons to 4.8.1. (
#17254
Updated sphinx to 8.1.2 and sphinx-rtd-theme to 3.0.1. (
#17284
@josephsl
Updated Robot Framework to 7.1.1. (
#17329
@josephsl
Updated configobj to 5.1.0 commit
8be5462
. (
#17328
Updated pre-commit to 4.0.1. (
#17260
Updated typing-extensions to 4.12.2. (
#17438
@josephsl
Updated licensecheck to 2024.3. (
#17440
@josephsl
Updated markdown to 3.7. (
#17459
@josephsl
Updated nh3 0.2.19. (
#17465
@josephsl
Updated nuitka to 2.5.4. (
#17458
@josephsl
Updated schedule to 1.2.2. (
#17455
@josephsl
Updated requests to 2.32.3. (
#17456
@josephsl
ui.browseableMessage
may now be called with options to present a button for copying to clipboard, and/or a button for closing the window. (
#17018
@XLTechie
Several additions to identify link types (
#16994
@LeonarddeR
@nvdaes
A new
utils.urlUtils
module with different functions to determine link types
A new
INTERNAL_LINK
state has been added to
controlTypes.states.State
A new
linkType
property has been added on
NVDAObject
It queries the
treeInterceptor
by default, if any.
BrowseModeTreeInterceptor
object has a new
documentUrl
property
BrowseModeTreeInterceptor
object has a new
getLinkTypeInDocument
method which accepts an URL to check the link type of the object
toggleBooleanValue
helper function has been added to
globalCommands
It can be used in scripts to report the result when a boolean is toggled in
config.conf
Removed the requirement to indent function parameter lists by two tabs from NVDA's Coding Standards, to be compatible with modern automatic linting. (
#17126
@XLTechie
Added the
VS Code workspace configuration for NVDA
as a git submodule. (
#17003
A new function,
gui.guiHelper.wxCallOnMain
, has been added, which allows safely and synchronously calling wx functions from non-GUI threads, and getting their return value. (
#17304
A new message dialog API has been added to
gui.message
. (
#13007
Added classes:
ReturnCode
EscapeCode
DialogType
Button
DefaultButton
DefaultButtonSet
MessageDialog
In the
brailleTables
module, a
getDefaultTableForCurrentLang
function has been added (
#17222
@nvdaes
Added an
updateCheck.UpdateInfo
data class, which encapsulates metadata about NVDA updates. (
#17310
@christopherpross
Retrieving the
labeledBy
property now works for:
objects in applications implementing the
labelled-by
IAccessible2 relation. (
#17436
@michaelweghorn
UIA elements supporting the corresponding
LabeledBy
UIA property. (
#17442
@michaelweghorn
Added the ability to associate
wx.ComboBox
and a label
wx.StaticText
using
gui.guiHelper.associateElements
. (
#17476
Added the following extension points (
#17428
@ctoth
):
inputCore.decide_handleRawKey
: called on each keypress
speech.extensions.post_speechPaused
: called when speech is paused or unpaused
Changes to braille display auto detection registration in
bdDetect.DriverRegistrar
: (
#17521
@LeonarddeR
Added the
addUsbDevice
method to register one USB device at a time.
Added the
matchFunc
parameter to
addUsbDevices
which is also available on
addUsbDevice
This way device detection can be constrained further in cases where a VID/PID-combination is shared by multiple devices across multiple drivers, or when a HID device offers multiple endpoints, for example.
See the method documentation as well as examples in the albatross and brailliantB drivers for more information.
Added a new function,
utils.mmdevice.getOutputDevices
, to enumerate audio output devices. (
#17678
Added a new extension point
pre_synthSpeak
in
synthDriverHandler
, which will be called before the speech manager calls
speak
of the current synthesizer. (
#17648
NVDA supports the
text-indent
IAccessible2 object attribute. (
#13052
@michaelweghorn
When a script using
gesture.send
is triggered with a gesture that includes
numLock
as a modifier, Num Lock is no longer turned off. (
#10827
@CyrilleB79
API Breaking Changes
These are breaking API changes.
Please open a GitHub issue if your add-on has an issue with updating to the new API.
The
addonStore.network.BASE_URL
constant has been removed.
As the Add-on Store base URL is now configurable directly within NVDA, no replacement is planned. (
#17099
The
updateCheck.CHECK_URL
constant has been removed.
As the NVDA update check URL is now configurable directly within NVDA, no replacement is planned. (
#17151
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.WinTerminalUIA
has been removed with no public replacement. (
#14047
#16820
@codeofdusk
NVDAObjects.IAccessible.ia2TextMozilla.FakeEmbeddingTextInfo
has been removed. (
#16768
@jcsteh
The following symbols in
appModules.soffice
have been renamed (
#6915
@michaelweghorn
):
SymphonyDocument.announceToolbarButtonToggle
to
SymphonyDocument.announceFormattingGestureChange
SymphonyDocument.script_toggleTextAttribute
to
SymphonyDocument.script_changeTextFormatting
The
space
keyword argument for
brailleDisplayDrivers.seikantk.InputGesture
now expects an
int
rather than a
bool
. (
#17047
@school510587
The
[upgrade]
configuration section including
[upgrade][newLaptopKeyboardLayout]
has been removed. (
#17191
updateCheck.checkForUpdate
now returns an
UpdateInfo
object instead of a dictionary. (
#17310
@christopherpross
The constructors of
updateCheck.UpdateResultDialog
and
updateCheck.UpdateDownloader
have been updated to take
UpdateInfo
objects instead of dictionaries of metadata. (
#17310
@christopherpross
Due to the retirement of NVDA's winmm support (
#17496
#17532
#17678
):
The following symbols have been removed from
nvwave
without replacements:
CALLBACK_EVENT
CALLBACK_FUNCTION
CALLBACK_NULL
HWAVEOUT
LPHWAVEOUT
LPWAVEFORMATEX
LPWAVEHDR
MAXPNAMELEN
MMSYSERR_NOERROR
usingWasapiWavePlayer
WAVEHDR
WAVEOUTCAPS
waveOutProc
WAVE_MAPPER
WHDR_DONE
WinmmWavePlayer
, and
winmm
The following symbols have been removed from
nvwave
getOutputDeviceNames
outputDeviceIDToName
outputDeviceNameToID
Use
utils.mmdevice.getOutputDevices
instead.
nvwave.WasapiWavePlayer
has been renamed to
WavePlayer
Additionally, the method signature of its
__init__
has changed as follows:
The
outputDevice
parameter should now only be passed string arguments.
The deprecated
closeWhenIdle
and
buffered
parameters have been removed.
gui.settingsDialogs.AdvancedPanelControls.wasapiComboBox
has been removed.
The
WASAPI
key has been removed from the
audio
section of the config spec.
The configuration key
config.conf["speech"]["outputDevice"]
has been removed.
It has been replaced by
config.conf["audio"]["outputDevice"]
, which stores a Windows core audio endpoint device ID. (
#17547
In
NVDAObjects.window.scintilla.ScintillaTextInfo
, if no text is selected, the
collapse
method is overriden to expand to line if the
end
parameter is set to
True
#17431
@nvdaes
The following symbols have been removed with no replacement:
languageHandler.getLanguageCliArgs
__main__.quitGroup
and
__main__.installGroup
. (
#17486
@CyrilleB79
Prefix matching on command line flags, e.g. using
--di
for
--disable-addons
is no longer supported. (
#11644
@CyrilleB79
The
useAsFallBack
keyword argument of
bdDetect.DriverRegistrar
has been renamed to
useAsFallback
. (
#17521
@LeonarddeR
The
[addonStore][showWarning]
configuration setting has been removed.
Instead use
addonStore.dataManager.addonDataManager.storeSettings.showWarning
. (
#17597
ui.browseableMessage
now takes a parameter
sanitizeHtmlFunc
This defaults to
nh3.clean
with default arguments.
This means any HTML passed into
ui.browseableMessage
using
isHtml=True
is now sanitized by default.
To change sanitization rules, such as whitelisting tags or attributes, create a function that calls
nh3.clean
with the desired parameters. (
#16985
updateCheck.UpdateAskInstallDialog
no longer automatically performs an action when the update or postpone buttons are pressed.
Instead, a
callback
property has been added, which returns a function that performs the appropriate action when called with the return value from the dialog. (
#17582
Dialogs opened with
gui.runScriptModalDialog
are now recognised as modal by NVDA. (
#17582
The following API symbols related to the setting "Automatically set system focus to focusable elements" have been removed with no replacement: (
#17598
globalCommands.GlobalCommands.script_toggleAutoFocusFocusableElements
config.conf["virtualBuffers"]["autoFocusFocusableElements"]
gui.settingsDialogs.BrowseModePanel.autoFocusFocusableElementsCheckBox
Because SAPI5 voices now use
nvwave.WavePlayer
to output audio: (
#17592
@gexgd0419
synthDrivers.sapi5.SPAudioState
has been removed.
synthDrivers.sapi5.SynthDriver.ttsAudioStream
has been removed.
Instances of
autoSettingsUtils.driverSetting.DriverSetting
with an
id
that starts with an underscore (_) are no longer shown in NVDA's settings. (
#17599
Changed keyboard typing echo configuration from boolean to integer values. (
#17505
@Cary-rowen
config.conf["keyboard"]["speakTypedCharacters"]
and
config.conf["keyboard"]["speakTypedWords"]
now use integer values.
Added
TypingEcho
enum in
config.configFlags
to represent these modes, 0=Off, 1=Only in edit controls, 2=Always.
gui.settingsDialogs.KeyboardSettingsPanel.wordsCheckBox
and
gui.settingsDialogs.KeyboardSettingsPanel.charsCheckBox
has been removed.
The
winUser.paint
has been renamed from
painStruct
to
paintStruct
, fixing a bug where passing in a
PAINTSTRUCT
would raise an exception. (
#17744
documentationUtils.getDocFilePath
and
installer.getDocFilePath
no longer look for
.txt
files in locale documentation folders. (
#17911
@CyrilleB79
config.conf["documentFormatting"]["reportFontAttributes"]
has been removed, use
config.conf["documentFormatting"]["fontAttributeReporting"]
instead. (
#18066
config.conf["speech"]["includeCLDR"]
has been removed, check/modify whether
config.conf["speech"]["symbolDictionaries"]
contains
"cldr"
instead. (
#18066
Deprecations
The
braille.filter_displaySize
extension point is deprecated.
Please use
braille.filter_displayDimensions
instead. (
#17011
The
gui.message.messageBox
and
gui.runScriptModalDialog
functions, and
gui.nvdaControls.MessageDialog
class are deprecated.
Use
gui.message.MessageDialog
instead. (
#17582
The following symbols are deprecated (
#17486
@CyrilleB79
):
NoConsoleOptionParser
stringToBool
stringToLang
in
__main__
; use the same symbols in
argsParsing
instead.
__main__.parser
; use
argsParsing.getParser()
instead.
bdDetect.DeviceType
is deprecated in favour of
bdDetect.ProtocolType
and
bdDetect.CommunicationType
to take into account the fact that both HID and Serial communication can take place over USB and Bluetooth. (
#17537
@LeonarddeR
2024.4.2
This is a patch release to fix bugs with braille devices and reading math in Chromium.
Bug fixes
Fixed bug with with reading math in Chromium Browsers (Chrome, Edge). (
#17421
@NSoiffer
Humanware Brailliant BI 40X devices running firmware version 2.4 now work as expected. (
#17518
@bramd
2024.4.1
This is a patch release to fix a bug when saving speech symbol dictionaries.
Bug fixes
Fixed bug where speech symbols dictionaries were not saved and the dialog would not be closed. (
#17344
2024.4
This release includes a number of improvements in Microsoft Office, braille, and document formatting.
In Word or Excel, it is now possible to double-press the comment gesture to read the comment or note in a browsable dialog.
You can now use the review cursor selection command to select text in PowerPoint.
NVDA also no longer brailles garbage characters when showing row or column header text in tables in Word when using the object model.
NVDA can now be configured to report font attributes in speech and braille separately.
A new setting has been added to configure the timeout to perform a multiple press gesture, such as the report time/date command.
You can now configure how NVDA shows text formatting in braille, and set NVDA to show the start of paragraphs in braille.
NVDA can now speak the character at the cursor when performing a braille cursor routing action.
Cursor routing reliability has been improved, and support for routing keys in PowerPoint has been added.
All lines of cells will now be used when using a multi-line braille display via HID braille.
NVDA is no longer unstable after restarting NVDA during an automatic Braille Bluetooth scan.
The minimum required version of Poedit that works with NVDA is now version 3.5.
eSpeak NG has been updated, adding support for the Faroese and Xextan languages.
LibLouis has been updated, adding new Braille tables for Thai and Greek international braille with single-cell accented letters.
There have also been a number of fixes, including to mouse tracking in Firefox, and the on-demand speech mode.
New Features
New braille features:
It is now possible to change the way NVDA displays certain text formatting attributes in braille.
The available options are:
Liblouis (default): Uses formatting markers defined in the selected braille table.
Tags: Uses start and end tags to denote where certain font attributes begin and end. (
#16864
When the "Read by paragraph" option is enabled, NVDA can now be configured to indicate the start of paragraphs in braille. (
#16895
@nvdaes
When performing a braille cursor routing action, NVDA can now automatically speak the character at the cursor. (
#8072
@LeonarddeR
This option is disabled by default.
You can enable "Speak character when routing cursor in text" in NVDA's braille settings.
The comment command in Microsoft Word and notes command in Microsoft Excel can now be pressed twice to show the comment or note in a browsable message. (
#16800
#16878
@Cary-Rowen
NVDA can now be configured to report font attributes in speech and braille separately. (
#16755
The timeout to perform a multiple keypress is now configurable; this may be especially useful for people with dexterity impairment. (
#11929
@CyrilleB79
Changes
The
-c
--config-path
and
--disable-addons
command line options are now respected when launching an update from within NVDA. (
#16937
Component updates:
Updated LibLouis Braille translator to
3.31.0
. (
#17080
@LeonarddeR
@codeofdusk
Fixed translation of numbers in Spanish Braille.
New Braille tables:
Thai grade 1
Greek international Braille (single-cell accented letters)
Renamed tables:
"Thai 6 dot" was renamed to "Thai grade 0" for consistency reasons.
The existing "Greek international braille" table was renamed to "Greek international braille (2-cell accented letters)" to clarify the distinction between the two Greek systems.
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
961454ff
. (
#16775
Added new languages Faroese and Xextan.
When using a multi-line braille display via the standard HID braille driver, all lines of cells will be used. (
#16993
@alexmoon
The stability of NVDA's Poedit support has been improved with the side effect that the minimum required version of Poedit is now version 3.5. (
#16889
@LeonarddeR
Bug Fixes
Braille fixes:
It is now possible to use braille display routing keys to move the text cursor in Microsoft PowerPoint. (
#9101
When accessing Microsoft Word without UI Automation, NVDA no longer outputs garbage characters in table headers defined with the set row and column header commands. (
#7212
The Seika Notetaker driver now correctly generates braille input for space, backspace and dots with space/backspace gestures. (
#16642
@school510587
Cursor routing is now much more reliable when a line contains one or more Unicode variation selectors or decomposed characters. (
#10960
@mltony
@LeonarddeR
NVDA no longer throws an error when panning the braille display forward in some empty edit controls. (
#12885
NVDA is no longer unstable after restarting NVDA during an automatic Braille Bluetooth scan. (
#16933
It is now possible to use the review cursor selection commands to select text in Microsoft PowerPoint. (
#17004
In on-demand speech mode, NVDA does not talk any more when a message is opened in Outlook, when a new page is loaded in a browser, or when displaying a new slide in a PowerPoint slideshow. (
#16825
@CyrilleB79
In Mozilla Firefox, moving the mouse over text before or after a link now reliably reports the text. (
#15990
@jcsteh
NVDA no longer occasionally fails to open browsable messages (such as pressing
NVDA+f
twice). (
#16806
@LeonarddeR
Updating NVDA while add-on updates are pending no longer results in the add-on being removed. (
#16837
It is now possible to interact with Data validation dropdown lists in Microsoft Excel 365. (
#15138
NVDA is no longer as sluggish when arrowing up and down through large files in VS Code. (
#17039
NVDA no longer becomes unresponsive after holding down an arrow key for a long time while in browse mode, particularly in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook. (
#16812
NVDA no longer reads the last line when the cursor is on the second-last line of a multiline edit control in Java applications. (
#17027
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Component updates:
Updated py2exe to 0.13.0.2 (
#16907
@dpy013
Updated setuptools to 72.0 (
#16907
@dpy013
Updated Ruff to 0.5.6. (
#16868
@LeonarddeR
Updated nh3 to 0.2.18 (
#17020
@dpy013
Added a
.editorconfig
file to NVDA's repository in order for several IDEs to pick up basic NVDA code style rules by default. (
#16795
@LeonarddeR
Added support for custom speech symbol dictionaries. (
#16739
#16823
@LeonarddeR
Dictionaries can be provided in locale specific folders in an add-on package, e.g.
locale\en
Dictionary metadata can be added to an optional
symbolDictionaries
section in the add-on manifest.
Please consult the
Custom speech symbol dictionaries section in the developer guide
for more details.
It is now possible to redirect objects retrieved from on-screen coordinates, by using the
NVDAObject.objectFromPointRedirect
method. (
#16788
@Emil-18
Running SCons with the parameter
--all-cores
will automatically pick the maximum number of available CPU cores. (
#16943
#16868
@LeonarddeR
Developer info now includes information on app architecture (such as AMD64) for the navigator object. (
#16488
@josephsl
Deprecations
The
bool
configuration key
[documentFormatting][reportFontAttributes]
is deprecated for removal in 2025.1, instead use
[fontAttributeReporting]
. (
#16748
The new key has an
int
value matching an
OutputMode
enum
with options for speech, braille, speech and braille and off.
API consumers can use the
bool
value as previously, or check the
OutputMode
if handling speech or braille specifically.
These keys are currently synchronized until 2025.1.
NVDAObjects.UIA.InaccurateTextChangeEventEmittingEditableText
is deprecated with no replacement. (
#16817
@LeonarddeR
2024.3.1
This is a patch release to fix a bug with the automatic add-on update notification.
Bug Fixes
When automatically checking for add-on updates, NVDA no longer freezes on poor connections. (
#17036
2024.3
The Add-on Store will now notify you if any add-on updates are available on NVDA startup.
There are now options to apply Unicode normalization to speech and braille output.
This can be useful when reading characters that are unknown to a particular speech synthesizer or braille table and which have a compatible alternative, like the bold and italic characters commonly used on social media.
It also allows reading of equations in the Microsoft Word equation editor.
Help Tech Activator Pro braille displays are now supported.
Unassigned commands have been added to scroll the mouse wheel vertically and horizontally.
There are several bug fixes, particularly for the Windows 11 Emoji Panel and Clipboard history.
For web browsers, there are fixes for reporting error messages, figures, captions, table labels and checkbox/radio button menu items.
LibLouis has been updated, adding new Braille tables for Cyrillic Serbian, Yiddish, several ancient languages, Turkish, and the International Phonetic Alphabet.
eSpeak has been updated, adding support for the Karakalpak language.
Unicode CLDR has also been updated.
New Features
New key commands:
Added unassigned commands for vertical and horizontal scrolling of the mouse wheel, to enhance navigation on web pages and apps with dynamic content, such as Dism++. (
#16462
@Cary-Rowen
Added support for Unicode Normalization to speech and braille output. (
#11570
#16466
@LeonarddeR
).
This can be useful when reading characters that are unknown to a particular speech synthesizer or braille table and which have a compatible alternative, like the bold and italic characters commonly used on social media.
It also allows reading of equations in the Microsoft Word equation editor. (
#4631
You can enable this functionality for both speech and braille in their respective settings categories in the NVDA Settings dialog.
By default, after NVDA startup, you will be notified if any add-on updates are available. (
#15035
This can be disabled in the "Add-on Store" category of settings.
NVDA checks daily for add-on updates.
Only updates within the same channel will be checked (e.g. installed beta add-ons will only notify for updates in the beta channel).
Added support for the Help Tech Activator Pro displays. (
#16668
Changes
Component updates:
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
54ee11a79
. (
#16495
Added new language Karakalpak.
Updated Unicode CLDR to version 45.0. (
#16507
@OzancanKaratas
Updated fast_diff_match_patch (used to detect changes in terminals and other dynamic content) to version 2.1.0. (
#16508
@codeofdusk
Updated LibLouis braille translator to
3.30.0
. (
#16652
@codeofdusk
New braille tables:
Cyrillic Serbian.
Yiddish.
Several ancient languages: Biblical Hebrew, Akkadian, Syriac, Ugaritic and transliterated Cuneiform text.
Turkish grade 2. (
#16735
International Phonetic Alphabet. (
#16773
Updated NSIS to 3.10 (
#16674
@dpy013
Updated markdown to 3.6 (
#16725
@dpy013
Updated nh3 to 0.2.17 (
#16725
@dpy013
The fallback braille input table is now equal to the fallback output table, which is Unified English Braille Code grade 1. (
#9863
@JulienCochuyt
@LeonarddeR
NVDA will now report figures with no accessible children, but with a label or description. (
#14514
When reading by line in browse mode, "caption" is no longer reported on each line of a long figure or table caption. (
#14874
In the Python console, the last unexecuted command will no longer be lost when moving in the input history. (
#16653
@CyrilleB79
A unique anonymous ID is now sent as part of optional NVDA usage statistics gathering. (
#16266
By default, a new folder will be created when making a portable copy.
A warning message will inform you if you try writing to a non-empty directory. (
#16686
Bug Fixes
Windows 11 fixes:
NVDA will no longer appear to get stuck when closing the clipboard history and emoji panel. (
#16346
#16347
@josephsl
NVDA will announce visible candidates again when opening the IME interface. (
#14023
@josephsl
NVDA will no longer announce "clipboard history" twice when navigating through the emoji panel menu items. (
#16532
@josephsl
NVDA will no longer cut off speech and braille when reviewing kaomojis and symbols in the emoji panel. (
#16533
@josephsl
Web browser fixes:
Error messages referenced with
aria-errormessage
are now reported in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. (
#8318
If present, NVDA will now use
aria-labelledby
to provide accessible names for tables in Mozilla Firefox. (
#5183
NVDA will correctly announce radio and checkbox menu items when first entering sub-menus in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. (
#14550
NVDA's browse mode find functionality is now more accurate when the page contains emojis. (
#16317
@LeonarddeR
In Mozilla Firefox, NVDA now correctly reports the current character, word and line when the cursor is at the insertion point at the end of a line. (
#3156
@jcsteh
No longer cause Google Chrome to crash when closing a document or exiting Chrome. (
#16893
NVDA will announce correctly the autocomplete suggestions in Eclipse and other Eclipse-based environments on Windows 11. (
#16416
@thgcode
Improved reliability of automatic text readout, particularly in terminal applications. (
#15850
#16027
@Danstiv
It is once again possible to reset the configuration to factory defaults reliably. (
#16755
@Emil-18
NVDA will correctly announce selection changes when editing a cell's text in Microsoft Excel. (
#15843
In applications using Java Access Bridge, NVDA will now correctly read the last blank line of a text instead of repeating the previous line. (
#9376
@dmitrii-drobotov
In LibreOffice Writer (version 24.8 and newer), when toggling text formatting (bold, italic, underline, subscript/superscript, alignment) using the corresponding keyboard shortcut, NVDA announces the new formatting attribute (e.g. "Bold on", "Bold off"). (
#4248
@michaelweghorn
When navigating with the cursor keys in text boxes in applications which use UI Automation, NVDA no longer sometimes reports the wrong character, word, etc. (
#16711
@jcsteh
When pasting into the Windows 10/11 Calculator, NVDA now correctly reports the full number pasted. (
#16573
@TristanBurchett
Speech is no longer silent after disconnecting from and reconnecting to a Remote Desktop session. (
#16722
@jcsteh
Support added for text review commands for an object's name in Visual Studio Code. (
#16248
@Cary-Rowen
Playing NVDA sounds no longer fails on a mono audio device. (
#16770
@jcsteh
NVDA will report addresses when arrowing through To/CC/BCC fields in outlook.com / Modern Outlook. (
#16856
NVDA now handles add-on installation failures more gracefully. (
#16704
Changes for Developers
NVDA now uses Ruff instead of flake8 for linting. (
#14817
Fixed NVDA's build system to work properly when using Visual Studio 2022 version 17.10 and above. (
#16480
@LeonarddeR
A fixed width font is now used in Log Viewer and in the NVDA Python Console so that the cursor remains in the same column during vertical navigation.
It is especially useful to read the error location markers in tracebacks. (
#16321
@CyrilleB79
Support for custom braille tables has been added. (
#3304
#16208
@JulienCochuyt
@LeonarddeR
Tables can be provided in the
brailleTables
folder in an add-on package.
Table metadata can be added to an optional
brailleTables
section in the add-on manifest or to a
.ini
file with the same format found in the brailleTables subdirectory of the scratchpad directory.
Please consult the
braille translation tables section in the developer guide
for more details.
When a
gainFocus
event is queued with an object that has a valid
focusRedirect
property, the object pointed to by the
focusRedirect
property is now held by
eventHandler.lastQueuedFocusObject
, rather than the originally queued object. (
#15843
NVDA will log its executable architecture (x86) at startup. (
#16432
@josephsl
wx.CallAfter
, which is wrapped in
monkeyPatches/wxMonkeyPatches.py
, now includes proper
functools.wraps
indication. (
#16520
@XLTechie
There is a new module for scheduling tasks
utils.schedule
, using the pip module
schedule
. (
#16636
You can use
scheduleThread.scheduleDailyJobAtStartUp
to automatically schedule a job that happens after NVDA starts, and every 24 hours after that.
Jobs are scheduled with a delay to avoid conflicts.
scheduleThread.scheduleDailyJob
and
scheduleJob
can be used to schedule jobs at custom times, where a
JobClashError
will be raised on a known job scheduling clash.
It is now possible to create app modules for apps hosting Edge WebView2 (msedgewebview2.exe) controls. (
#16705
@josephsl
2024.2
There is a new feature called sound split.
This allows splitting NVDA sounds into one channel (e.g. left) while sounds from all other applications are directed to the other channel (e.g. right).
There are new commands for modifying the synth settings ring, allowing users to jump to the first or last setting, and to increase or decrease the current setting in larger steps.
There are also new quick navigation commands, allowing users to bind gestures to quickly jump between: paragraph, vertically aligned paragraph, same style text, different style text, menu item, toggle button, progress bar, figure, and math formula.
There are many new braille features and bug fixes.
A new braille mode called "display speech output" has been added.
When active, the braille display shows exactly what NVDA speaks.
Support was also added for the BrailleEdgeS2 and BrailleEdgeS3 displays.
LibLouis was updated, adding new detailed (with capital letters indicated) Belarusian and Ukrainian Braille tables, a Lao table, and a Spanish table for reading Greek texts.
eSpeak was updated, adding new language Tigrinya.
There are many minor bug fixes for applications, such as Thunderbird, Adobe Reader, web browsers, Nudi and Geekbench.
New Features
New key commands:
New Quick Navigation command
for jumping to next/previous text paragraph in browse mode. (
#15998
@mltony
New unassigned Quick Navigation commands, which can be used to jump to the next/previous:
figure (
#10826
vertically aligned paragraph (
#15999
@mltony
menu item (
#16001
@mltony
toggle button (
#16001
@mltony
progress bar (
#16001
@mltony
math formula (
#16001
@mltony
same style text (
#16000
@mltony
different style text (
#16000
@mltony
Added commands to jump first, last, forward and backward through the synth settings ring. (
#13768
#16095
@rmcpantoja
Setting the first/last setting in the synth settings ring has no assigned gesture. (
#13768
Decrease and increase the current setting of the synth settings ring in a larger step (
#13768
):
Desktop:
NVDA+control+pageUp
and
NVDA+control+pageDown
Laptop:
NVDA+control+shift+pageUp
and
NVDA+control+shift+pageDown
Added a new unassigned input gesture to toggle the reporting of figures and captions. (
#10826
#14349
Braille:
Added support for the BrailleEdgeS2 and BrailleEdgeS3 displays. (
#16033
#16279
@EdKweon
A new braille mode called "display speech output" has been added. (
#15898
@Emil-18
When active, the braille display shows exactly what NVDA speaks.
It can be toggled by pressing
NVDA+alt+t
, or from the braille settings dialog.
Sound split: (
#12985
@mltony
Allows splitting NVDA sounds into one channel (e.g. left) while sounds from all other applications are directed to the other channel (e.g. right).
Toggled by
NVDA+alt+s
Reporting row and column headers is now supported in contenteditable HTML elements. (
#14113
Added an option to disable the reporting of figures and captions in Document Formatting settings. (
#10826
#14349
In Windows 11, NVDA will announce alerts from voice typing and suggested actions including the top suggestion when copying data such as phone numbers to the clipboard (Windows 11 2022 Update and later). (
#16009
@josephsl
NVDA will keep the audio device awake after speech stops, in order to prevent the start of the next speech being clipped with some audio devices such as Bluetooth headphones. (
#14386
@jcsteh
@mltony
HP Secure Browser is now supported. (
#16377
Changes
Add-on Store:
The minimum and the last tested NVDA version for an add-on are now displayed in the "other details" area. (
#15776
@Nael-Sayegh
The community reviews action will be available in all tabs of the store. (
#16179
@nvdaes
Component updates:
Updated LibLouis Braille translator to
3.29.0
. (
#16259
@codeofdusk
New detailed (with capital letters indicated) Belarusian and Ukrainian Braille tables.
New Spanish table for reading Greek texts.
New table for Lao Grade 1. (
#16470
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
cb62d93fd7
. (
#15913
Added new language Tigrinya.
Changed several gestures for BrailleSense devices to avoid conflicts with characters of the French braille table. (
#15306
alt+leftArrow
is now mapped to
dot2+dot7+space
alt+rightArrow
is now mapped to
dot5+dot7+space
alt+upArrow
is now mapped to
dot2+dot3+dot7+space
alt+downArrow
is now mapped to
dot5+dot6+dot7+space
Padding dots commonly used in tables of contents are not reported anymore at low punctuation levels. (
#15845
@CyrilleB79
Bug Fixes
Fixed math attributes being read in Adobe Reader, this resulted in poor or wrong speech and braille. (
#17980
Windows 11 fixes:
NVDA will once again announce hardware keyboard input suggestions. (
#16283
@josephsl
In Version 24H2 (2024 Update and Windows Server 2025), mouse and touch interaction can be used in quick settings. (
#16348
@josephsl
Add-on Store:
When pressing
ctrl+tab
, focus properly moves to the new current tab title. (
#14986
@ABuffEr
If cache files are not correct, NVDA no longer will restart. (
#16362
@nvdaes
Fixes for Chromium-based browsers when used with UIA:
Fixed bugs causing NVDA to hang. (
#16393
#16394
Backspace key is now working correctly in Gmail sign-in fields. (
#16395
Backspace now works correctly when using Nudi 6.1 with NVDA's "Handle keys from other applications" setting enabled. (
#15822
@jcsteh
Fixed a bug where audio coordinates would be played while the application is in sleep mode when "Play audio coordinates when mouse moves" is enabled. (
#8059
@hwf1324
In Adobe Reader, NVDA no longer ignores alternative text set on formulas in PDFs. (
#12715
Fixed a bug causing NVDA to fail to read the ribbon and options within Geekbench. (
#16251
@mzanm
Fixed a rare case when saving the configuration may fail to save all profiles. (
#16343
@CyrilleB79
In Firefox and Chromium-based browsers, NVDA will correctly enter focus mode when pressing enter when positioned within a presentational list (ul / ol) inside editable content. (
#16325
Column state change is now correctly reported when selecting columns to display in Thunderbird message list. (
#16323
The command line switch
-h
--help
works properly again. (
#16522
@XLTechie
NVDA's support for the Poedit translation software version 3.4 or higher correctly functions when translating languages with 1 or more than 2 plural forms (e.g. Chinese, Polish). (
#16318
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Instantiating
winVersion.WinVersion
objects with unknown Windows versions above 10.0.22000 such as 10.0.25398 returns "Windows 11 unknown" instead of "Windows 10 unknown" for release name. (
#15992
@josephsl
Make the AppVeyor build process easier for NVDA forks, by adding configurable variables in appveyor.yml to disable or modify NV Access specific portions of the build scripts. (
#16216
@XLTechie
Added a how-to document, explaining the process of building NVDA forks on AppVeyor. (
#16293
@XLTechie
2024.1
A new "on-demand" speech mode has been added.
When speech is on-demand, NVDA does not speak automatically (e.g. when moving the cursor) but still speaks when calling commands whose goal is explicitly to report something (e.g. report window title).
In the Speech category of NVDA's settings, it is now possible to exclude unwanted speech modes from the Cycle speech modes command (
NVDA+s
).
A new Native Selection mode (toggled by
NVDA+shift+f10
) is now available in NVDA's browse mode for Mozilla Firefox.
When turned on, selecting text in browse mode will also manipulate Firefox's own native selection.
Copying text with
control+c
will pass straight through to Firefox, thus copying the rich content, rather than NVDA's plain text representation.
The Add-on Store now supports bulk actions (e.g. installing, enabling add-ons) by selecting multiple add-ons
There is a new action to open a reviews webpage for the selected add-on.
The audio output device and ducking mode options have been removed from the "Select Synthesizer" dialog.
They can be found in the audio settings panel which can be opened with
NVDA+control+u
eSpeak-NG, LibLouis braille translator, and Unicode CLDR have been updated.
New Thai, Filipino and Romanian braille tables are available.
There are many bug fixes, particularly for the Add-on Store, braille, Libre Office, Microsoft Office and audio.
Important notes
This release breaks compatibility with existing add-ons.
Windows 7, and Windows 8 are no longer supported.
Windows 8.1 is the minimum Windows version supported.
New Features
Add-on Store:
The Add-on Store now supports bulk actions (e.g. installing, enabling add-ons) by selecting multiple add-ons. (
#15350
#15623
@CyrilleB79
A new action has been added to open a dedicated webpage to see or provide feedback about the selected add-on. (
#15576
@nvdaes
Added support for Bluetooth Low Energy HID Braille displays. (
#15470
A new Native Selection mode (toggled by
NVDA+shift+f10
) is now available in NVDA's browse mode for Mozilla Firefox.
When turned on, selecting text in browse mode will also manipulate Firefox's own native selection.
Copying text with
control+c
will pass straight through to Firefox, thus copying the rich content, rather than NVDA's plain text representation.
Note however that as Firefox is handling the actual copy, NVDA will not report a "copy to clipboard" message in this mode. (
#15830
When copying text in Microsoft Word with NVDA's browse mode enabled, formatting is now also included.
A side affect of this is that NVDA will no longer report a "copy to clipboard" message when pressing
control+c
in Microsoft Word / Outlook browse mode, as the application is now handling the copy, not NVDA. (
#16129
A new "on-demand" speech mode has been added.
When speech is on-demand, NVDA does not speak automatically (e.g. when moving the cursor) but still speaks when calling commands whose goal is explicitly to report something (e.g. report window title). (
#481
@CyrilleB79
In the Speech category of NVDA's settings, it is now possible to exclude unwanted speech modes from the Cycle speech modes command (
NVDA+s
). (
#15806
@lukaszgo1
If you are currently using the NoBeepsSpeechMode add-on consider uninstalling it, and disabling "beeps" and "on-demand" modes in the settings.
Changes
NVDA no longer supports Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Windows 8.1 is the minimum Windows version supported. (
#15544
Component updates:
Updated LibLouis braille translator to
3.28.0
. (
#15435
#15876
@codeofdusk
Added new Thai, Romanian, and Filipino Braille tables.
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
530bf0abf
. (
#15036
CLDR emoji and symbol annotations has been updated to version 44.0. (
#15712
@OzancanKaratas
Updated Java Access Bridge to 17.0.9+8Zulu (17.46.19). (
#15744
Key Commands:
The following commands now support two and three presses to spell the reported information and spell with character descriptions: report selection, report clipboard text and report focused object. (
#15449
@CyrilleB79
The command to toggle the screen curtain now has a default gesture:
NVDA+control+escape
. (
#10560
@CyrilleB79
When pressed four times, the report selection command now shows the selection in a browsable message. (
#15858
@Emil-18
Microsoft Office:
When requesting formatting information on Excel cells, borders and background will only be reported if there is such formatting. (
#15560
@CyrilleB79
NVDA will again no longer report unlabelled groupings such as in recent versions of Microsoft Office 365 menus. (
#15638
The audio output device and ducking mode options have been removed from the "Select Synthesizer" dialog.
They can be found in the audio settings panel which can be opened with
NVDA+control+u
. (
#15512
@codeofdusk
The option "Report role when mouse enters object" in NVDA's mouse settings category has been renamed to "Report object when mouse enters it".
This option now announces additional relevant information about an object when the mouse enters it, such as states (checked/pressed) or cell coordinates in a table. (
#15420
@LeonarddeR
New items have been added to the Help menu for the NV Access "Get Help" page and Shop. (
#14631
NVDA's support for
Poedit
is overhauled for Poedit version 3 and above.
Users of Poedit 1 are encouraged to update to Poedit 3 if they want to rely on enhanced accessibility in Poedit, such as shortcuts to read translator notes and comments. (
#15313
#7303
@LeonarddeR
Braille viewer and speech viewer are now disabled in secure mode. (
#15680
During object navigation, disabled (unavailable) objects will not be ignored anymore. (
#15477
@CyrilleB79
Added table of contents to key commands document. (
#16106
Bug Fixes
Add-on Store:
When the status of an add-on is changed while it has focus, e.g. a change from "downloading" to "downloaded", the updated item is now announced correctly. (
#15859
@LeonarddeR
When installing add-ons install prompts are no longer overlapped by the restart dialog. (
#15613
@lukaszgo1
When reinstalling an incompatible add-on it is no longer forcefully disabled. (
#15584
@lukaszgo1
Disabled and incompatible add-ons can now be updated. (
#15568
#15029
NVDA now recovers and displays an error in a case where an add-on fails to download correctly. (
#15796
NVDA no longer fails to restart intermittently after opening and closing Add-on Store. (
#16019
@lukaszgo1
Audio:
NVDA no longer freezes briefly when multiple sounds are played in rapid succession. (
#15311
#15757
@jcsteh
If the audio output device is set to something other than the default and that device becomes available again after being unavailable, NVDA will now switch back to the configured device instead of continuing to use the default device. (
#15759
@jcsteh
NVDA now resumes audio if the configuration of the output device changes or another application releases exclusive control of the device. (
#15758
#15775
@jcsteh
Braille:
Multi line braille displays will no longer crash the BRLTTY driver and are treated as one continuous display. (
#15386
More objects which contain useful text are detected, and text content is displayed in braille. (
#15605
Contracted braille input works properly again. (
#15773
@aaclause
Braille is now updated when moving the navigator object between table cells in more situations (
#15755
@Emil-18
The result of reporting current focus, current navigator object, and current selection commands is now shown in braille. (
#15844
@Emil-18
The Albatross braille driver no longer handles a Esp32 microcontroller as an Albatross display. (
#15671
LibreOffice:
Words deleted using the
control+backspace
keyboard shortcut are now also properly announced when the deleted word is followed by whitespace (like spaces and tabs). (
#15436
@michaelweghorn
Announcement of the status bar using the
NVDA+end
keyboard shortcut now also works for dialogs in LibreOffice version 24.2 and newer. (
#15591
@michaelweghorn
All expected text attributes are now supported in LibreOffice versions 24.2 and above.
This makes the announcement of spelling errors work when announcing a line in Writer. (
#15648
@michaelweghorn
Announcement of heading levels now also works for LibreOffice versions 24.2 and newer. (
#15881
@michaelweghorn
Microsoft Office:
In Excel with UIA disabled, braille is updated, and the active cell content is spoken, when
control+y
control+z
or
alt+backspace
is pressed. (
#15547
In Word with UIA disabled braille is updated when
control+v
control+x
control+y
control+z
alt+backspace
backspace
or
control+backspace
is pressed.
It is also updated with UIA enabled, when typing text and braille is tethered to review and review follows caret. (
#3276
In Word, the landing cell will now be correctly reported when using the native Word commands for table navigation
alt+home
alt+end
alt+pageUp
and
alt+pageDown
. (
#15805
@CyrilleB79
Reporting of object shortcut keys has been improved. (
#10807
#15816
@CyrilleB79
The SAPI4 synthesizer now properly supports volume, rate and pitch changes embedded in speech. (
#15271
@LeonarddeR
Multi line state is now correctly reported in applications using Java Access Bridge. (
#14609
NVDA will announce dialog content for more Windows 10 and 11 dialogs. (
#15729
@josephsl
NVDA will no longer fail to read a newly loaded page in Microsoft Edge when using UI Automation. (
#15736
When using say all or commands which spell text, pauses between sentences or characters no longer gradually decrease over time. (
#15739
@jcsteh
NVDA no longer sometimes freezes when speaking a large amount of text. (
#15752
@jcsteh
When accessing Microsoft Edge using UI Automation, NVDA is able to activate more controls in browse mode. (
#14612
NVDA will not fail to start anymore when the configuration file is corrupted, but it will restore the configuration to default as it did in the past. (
#15690
@CyrilleB79
Fixed support for System List view (
SysListView32
) controls in Windows Forms applications. (
#15283
@LeonarddeR
It is not possible anymore to overwrite NVDA's Python console history. (
#15792
@CyrilleB79
NVDA should remain responsive when being flooded with many UI Automation events, e.g. when large chunks of text are printed to a terminal or when listening to voice messages in WhatsApp messenger. (
#14888
#15169
This new behavior can be disabled using the new "Use enhanced event processing" setting in NVDA's advanced settings.
NVDA is again able to track the focus in applications running within Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG). (
#15164
The speech text is no longer updated when the mouse moves in the Speech Viewer. (
#15952
@hwf1324
NVDA will again switch back to browse mode when closing combo boxes with
escape
or
alt+upArrow
in Firefox or Chrome. (
#15653
Arrowing up and down in combo boxes in iTunes will no longer inappropriately switch back to browse mode. (
#15653
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Note: this is an Add-on API compatibility breaking release.
Add-ons will need to be re-tested and have their manifest updated.
Building NVDA now requires Visual Studio 2022.
Please refer to the
NVDA docs
for the specific list of Visual Studio components. (
#14313
Added the following extension points:
treeInterceptorHandler.post_browseModeStateChange
. (
#14969
@nvdaes
speech.speechCanceled
. (
#15700
@LeonarddeR
_onErrorSoundRequested
(should be retrieved calling
logHandler.getOnErrorSoundRequested()
) (
#15691
@CyrilleB79
It is now possible to use plural forms in an add-on's translations. (
#15661
@beqabeqa473
Included python3.dll in the binary distribution for use by add-ons with external libraries utilizing the
stable ABI
. (
#15674
@mzanm
The
BrailleDisplayDriver
base class now has
numRows
and
numCols
properties to provide information about multi line braille displays.
Setting
numCells
is still supported for single line braille displays and
numCells
will return the total number of cells for multi line braille displays. (
#15386
Updated BrlAPI for BRLTTY to version 0.8.5, and its corresponding python module to a Python 3.11 compatible build. (
#15652
@LeonarddeR
Added the
speech.speakSsml
function, which allows you to write NVDA speech sequences using
SSML
. (
#15699
@LeonarddeR
The following tags are currently supported and translated to appropriate NVDA speech commands:
Prosody
pitch
rate
and
volume
). Only multiplication (e.g.
200%
are supported.
say-as
with the
interpret
attribute set to
characters
voice
with the
xml:lang
set to an XML language
break
with the
time
attribute set to a value in milliseconds, e.g.
200ms
mark
with the
name
attribute set to a mark name, e.g.
mark1
, requires providing a callback
Example:
speech.speakSsml('helloJohn')
The SSML parsing capabilities are backed by the
SsmlParser
class in the
speechXml
module.
Changes to the NVDA Controller Client library:
The file names of the library no longer contain a suffix denoting the architecture, i.e.
nvdaControllerClient32/64.dll
are now called
nvdaControllerClient.dll
. (
#15718
#15717
@LeonarddeR
Added an example to demonstrate using nvdaControllerClient.dll from Rust. (
#15771
@LeonarddeR
Added the following functions to the controller client: (
#15734
#11028
#5638
@LeonarddeR
nvdaController_getProcessId
: To get the process id (PID) of the current instance of NVDA the controller client is using.
nvdaController_speakSsml
: To instruct NVDA to speak according to the given SSML. This function also supports:
Providing the symbol level.
Providing the priority of speech to be spoken.
Speaking both synchronously (blocking) and asynchronously (instant return).
nvdaController_setOnSsmlMarkReachedCallback
: To register a callback of type
onSsmlMarkReachedFuncType
that is called in synchronous mode for every

tag encountered in the SSML sequence provided to
nvdaController_speakSsml
Note: the new functions in the controller client only support NVDA 2024.1 and above.
Updated
include
dependencies:
detours to
4b8c659f549b0ab21cf649377c7a84eb708f5e68
. (
#15695
ia2 to
3d8c7f0b833453f761ded6b12d8be431507bfe0b
. (
#15695
sonic to
8694c596378c24e340c09ff2cd47c065494233f1
. (
#15695
w3c-aria-practices to
9a5e55ccbeb0f1bf92b6127c9865da8426d1c864
. (
#15695
wil to
5e9be7b2d2fe3834a7107f430f7d4c0631f69833
. (
#15695
Device info yielded by
hwPortUtils.listUsbDevices
now contain the bus reported description of the USB device (key
busReportedDeviceDescription
). (
#15764
@LeonarddeR
For USB serial devices,
bdDetect.getConnectedUsbDevicesForDriver
and
bdDetect.getDriversForConnectedUsbDevices
now yield device matches containing a
deviceInfo
dictionary enriched with data about the USB device, such as
busReportedDeviceDescription
. (
#15764
@LeonarddeR
When the configuration file
nvda.ini
is corrupted, a backup copy is saved before it is reinitialized. (
#15779
@CyrilleB79
When defining a script with the script decorator, the
speakOnDemand
boolean argument can be specified to control if a script should speak while in "on-demand" speech mode. (
#481
@CyrilleB79
Scripts that provide information (e.g. say window title, report time/date) should speak in the "on-demand" mode.
Scripts that perform an action (e.g. move the cursor, change a parameter) should not speak in the "on-demand" mode.
Fixed bug where deleting git-tracked files during
scons -c
resulted in missing UIA COM interfaces on rebuild. (
#7070
#10833
@hwf1324
Fix a bug where some code changes were not detected when building
dist
, that prevented a new build from being triggered.
Now
dist
always rebuilds. (
#13372
@hwf1324
gui.nvdaControls.MessageDialog
with default type of standard, no longer throws a None conversion exception because no sound is assigned. (
#16223
@XLTechie
API Breaking Changes
These are breaking API changes.
Please open a GitHub issue if your Add-on has an issue with updating to the new API.
NVDA is now built with Python 3.11. (
#12064
Updated pip dependencies:
configobj to 5.1.0dev commit
e2ba4457c4651fa54f8d59d8dcdd3da950e956b8
. (
#15544
Comtypes to 1.2.0. (
#15513
@codeofdusk
Flake8 to 4.0.1. (
#15636
@lukaszgo1
py2exe to 0.13.0.1dev commit
4e7b2b2c60face592e67cb1bc935172a20fa371d
. (
#15544
robotframework to 6.1.1. (
#15544
SCons to 4.5.2. (
#15529
@LeonarddeR
sphinx to 7.2.6. (
#15544
wxPython to 4.2.2a commit
0205c7c1b9022a5de3e3543f9304cfe53a32b488
. (
#12551
#16257
Removed pip dependencies:
typing_extensions, these should be supported natively in Python 3.11 (
#15544
nose, instead unittest-xml-reporting is used to generate XML reports. (
#15544
IAccessibleHandler.SecureDesktopNVDAObject
has been removed.
Instead, when NVDA is running on the user profile, track the existence of the secure desktop with the extension point:
winAPI.secureDesktop.post_secureDesktopStateChange
. (
#14488
braille.BrailleHandler.handlePendingCaretUpdate
has been removed with no public replacement. (
#15163
@LeonarddeR
bdDetect.addUsbDevices and bdDetect.addBluetoothDevices
have been removed.
Braille display drivers should implement the
registerAutomaticDetection
class method instead.
That method receives a
DriverRegistrar
object on which the
addUsbDevices
and
addBluetoothDevices
methods can be used. (
#15200
@LeonarddeR
The default implementation of the check method on
BrailleDisplayDriver
now requires both the
threadSafe
and
supportsAutomaticDetection
attributes to be set to
True
. (
#15200
@LeonarddeR
Passing lambda functions to
hwIo.ioThread.IoThread.queueAsApc
is no longer possible, as functions should be weakly referenceable. (
#14627
@LeonarddeR
IoThread.autoDeleteApcReference
has been removed. (
#14924
@LeonarddeR
To support capital pitch changes, synthesizers must now explicitly declare their support for the
PitchCommand
in the
supportedCommands
attribute on the driver. (
#15433
@LeonarddeR
speechDictHandler.speechDictVars
has been removed. Use
NVDAState.WritePaths.speechDictsDir
instead of
speechDictHandler.speechDictVars.speechDictsPath
. (
#15614
@lukaszgo1
languageHandler.makeNpgettext
and
languageHandler.makePgettext
have been removed.
npgettext
and
pgettext
are supported natively now. (
#15546
The app module for
Poedit
has been changed significantly. The
fetchObject
function has been removed. (
#15313
#7303
@LeonarddeR
The following redundant types and constants have been removed from
hwPortUtils
: (
#15764
@LeonarddeR
PCWSTR
HWND
(replaced by
ctypes.wintypes.HWND
ULONG_PTR
ULONGLONG
NULL
GUID
(replaced by
comtypes.GUID
gui.addonGui.AddonsDialog
has been removed. (
#15834
touchHandler.TouchInputGesture.multiFingerActionLabel
has been removed with no replacement. (
#15864
@CyrilleB79
NVDAObjects.IAccessible.winword.WordDocument.script_reportCurrentHeaders
has been removed with no replacement. (
#15904
@CyrilleB79
The following app modules are removed.
Code which imports from one of them, should instead import from the replacement module. (
#15618
@lukaszgo1
Removed module name
Replacement module
azardi-2.0
azardi20
azuredatastudio
code
azuredatastudio-insiders
code
calculatorapp
calculator
code - insiders
code
commsapps
hxmail
dbeaver
eclipse
digitaleditionspreview
digitaleditions
esybraille
esysuite
hxoutlook
hxmail
miranda64
miranda32
mpc-hc
mplayerc
mpc-hc64
mplayerc
notepad++
notepadPlusPlus
searchapp
searchui
searchhost
searchui
springtoolsuite4
eclipse
sts
eclipse
teamtalk3
teamtalk4classic
textinputhost
windowsinternal_composableshell_experiences_textinput_inputapp
totalcmd64
totalcmd
win32calc
calc
winmail
msimn
zend-eclipse-php
eclipse
zendstudio
eclipse
Deprecations
Using
watchdog.getFormattedStacksForAllThreads
is deprecated - please use
logHandler.getFormattedStacksForAllThreads
instead. (
#15616
@lukaszgo1
easeOfAccess.canConfigTerminateOnDesktopSwitch
has been deprecated, as it became obsolete since Windows 7 is no longer supported. (
#15644
@LeonarddeR
winVersion.isFullScreenMagnificationAvailable
has been deprecated - use
visionEnhancementProviders.screenCurtain.ScreenCurtainProvider.canStart
instead. (
#15664
@josephsl
The following Windows release constants has been deprecated from winVersion module (
#15647
@josephsl
):
winVersion.WIN7
winVersion.WIN7_SP1
winVersion.WIN8
The
bdDetect.KEY_*
constants have been deprecated.
Use
bdDetect.DeviceType.*
instead. (
#15772
@LeonarddeR
).
The
bdDetect.DETECT_USB
and
bdDetect.DETECT_BLUETOOTH
constants have been deprecated with no public replacement. (
#15772
@LeonarddeR
).
Using
gui.ExecAndPump
is deprecated - please use
systemUtils.ExecAndPump
instead. (
#15852
@lukaszgo1
2023.3.4
This is a patch release to fix a security issue and installer issue.
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Security Fixes
Prevents loading custom configuration while secure mode is forced.
GHSA-727q-h8j2-6p45
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug which caused the NVDA process to fail to exit correctly. (
#16123
Fixed bug where if the previous NVDA process failed to exit correctly, an NVDA installation could fail to an unrecoverable state. (
#16122
2023.3.3
This is a patch release to fix a security issue.
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Security Fixes
Prevents possible reflected XSS attack from crafted content to cause arbitrary code execution.
GHSA-xg6w-23rw-39r8
2023.3.2
This is a patch release to fix a security issue.
The security patch in 2023.3.1 was not resolved correctly.
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Security Fixes
The security patch in 2023.3.1 was not resolved correctly.
Prevents possible system access and arbitrary code execution with system privileges for unauthenticated users.
GHSA-h7pp-6jqw-g3pj
2023.3.1
This is a patch release to fix a security issue.
Please responsibly disclose security issues following NVDA's
security policy
Security Fixes
Prevents possible system access and arbitrary code execution with system privileges for unauthenticated users.
GHSA-h7pp-6jqw-g3pj
2023.3
This release includes improvements to performance, responsiveness and stability of audio output.
Options have been added to control the volume of NVDA sounds and beeps, or to have them follow the volume of the voice you are using.
NVDA can now periodically refresh OCR results, speaking new text as it appears.
This can be configured in the Windows OCR category of NVDA's settings dialog.
There's been several braille fixes, improving device detection and caret movement.
It is now possible to opt-out unwanted drivers from automatic detection, to improve autodetection performance.
There are also new BRLTTY commands.
There's also been bug fixes for the Add-on Store, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge context menus, and Windows Calculator.
New Features
Enhanced sound management:
A new Audio Settings panel:
This can be opened with
NVDA+control+u
. (
#15497
An option in Audio settings to have the volume of NVDA sounds and beeps follow the volume setting of the voice you are using. (
#1409
An option in Audio settings to separately configure the volume of NVDA sounds. (
#1409
#15038
The settings to change audio output device and toggle audio ducking have been moved to the new Audio settings panel from the Select Synthesizer dialog.
These options will be removed from the "select synthesizer" dialog in 2024.1. (
#15486
#8711
NVDA will now output audio via the Windows Audio Session API (WASAPI), which may improve the responsiveness, performance and stability of NVDA speech and sounds. (
#14697
#11169
#11615
#5096
#10185
#11061
Note: WASAPI is incompatible with some add-ons.
Compatible updates are available for these add-ons, please update them before updating NVDA.
Incompatible versions of these add-ons will be disabled when updating NVDA:
Tony's Enhancements version 1.15 or older. (
#15402
NVDA global commands extension 12.0.8 or older. (
#15443
NVDA is now able to continually update the result when performing optical character recognition (OCR), speaking new text as it appears. (
#2797
To enable this functionality, enable the option "Periodically refresh recognized content" in the Windows OCR category of NVDA's settings dialog.
Once enabled, you can toggle speaking new text by toggling report dynamic content changes (pressing
NVDA+5
).
When using automatic detection of braille displays, it is now possible to opt-out drivers from detection from the braille display selection dialog. (
#15196
A new option in Document Formatting settings, "Ignore blank lines for line indentation reporting". (
#13394
Added an unassigned gesture to navigate by tab groupings in browse mode. (
#15046
Changes
Braille:
When the text in a terminal changes without updating the caret, the text on a braille display will now properly update when positioned on a changed line.
This includes situations where braille is tethered to review. (
#15115
More BRLTTY key bindings are now mapped to NVDA commands (
#6483
):
learn
: toggle NVDA input help
prefmenu
: open the NVDA menu
prefload
prefsave
: Load/save NVDA configuration
time
: Show time
say_line
: Speak the current line where the review cursor is located
say_below
: Say all using review cursor
The BRLTTY driver is only available when a BRLTTY instance with BrlAPI enabled is running. (
#15335
The advanced setting to enable support for HID braille has been removed in favor of a new option.
You can now disable specific drivers for braille display auto detection in the braille display selection dialog. (
#15196
Add-on Store: Installed add-ons will now be listed in the Available Add-ons tab, if they are available in the store. (
#15374
Some shortcut keys have been updated in the NVDA menu. (
#15364
Bug Fixes
Microsoft Office:
Fixed crash in Microsoft Word when Document formatting options "report headings" and "report comments and notes" were not enabled. (
#15019
In Word and Excel, text alignment will be correctly reported in more situations. (
#15206
#15220
Fixes the announcement of some cell formatting shortcuts in Excel. (
#15527
Microsoft Edge:
NVDA will no longer jump back to the last browse mode position when opening the context menu in Microsoft Edge. (
#15309
NVDA is once again able to read context menus of downloads in Microsoft Edge. (
#14916
Braille:
The braille cursor and selection indicators will now always be updated correctly after showing or hiding respective indicators with a gesture. (
#15115
Fixed bug where Albatross braille displays try to initialize although another braille device has been connected. (
#15226
Add-on Store:
Fixed bug where unchecking "include incompatible add-ons" would result in incompatible add-ons still being listed in the store. (
#15411
Add-ons blocked due to compatibility reasons should now be filtered correctly when toggling the filter for enabled/disabled status. (
#15416
Fixed bug preventing overridden enabled incompatible add-ons being upgraded or replaced using the external install tool. (
#15417
Fixed bug where NVDA would not speak until restarted after add-on installation. (
#14525
Fixed bug where add-ons cannot be installed if a previous download failed or was cancelled. (
#15469
Fixed issues with handling incompatible add-ons when upgrading NVDA. (
#15414
#15412
#15437
NVDA once again announces calculation results in the Windows 32bit calculator on Server, LTSC and LTSB versions of Windows. (
#15230
NVDA no longer ignores focus changes when a nested window (grand child window) gets focus. (
#15432
Fixed a potential cause of crashing during NVDA startup. (
#15517
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
braille.handler.handleUpdate
and
braille.handler.handleReviewMove
have been changed in order not to update instantly.
Before this change, when either of these methods was called very often, this would drain many resources.
These methods now queue an update at the end of every core cycle instead.
They should also be thread safe, making it possible to call them from background threads. (
#15163
Added official support to register custom braille display drivers in the automatic braille display detection process.
Consult the
braille.BrailleDisplayDriver
class documentation for more details.
Most notably, the
supportsAutomaticDetection
attribute must be set to
True
and the
registerAutomaticDetection
classmethod
must be implemented. (
#15196
Deprecations
braille.BrailleHandler.handlePendingCaretUpdate
is now deprecated with no public replacement.
It will be removed in 2024.1. (
#15163
Importing the constants
xlCenter
xlJustify
xlLeft
xlRight
xlDistributed
xlBottom
xlTop
from
NVDAObjects.window.excel
is deprecated.
Use
XlHAlign
or
XlVAlign
enumerations instead. (
#15205
The mapping
NVDAObjects.window.excel.alignmentLabels
is deprecated.
Use the
displayString
methods of
XlHAlign
or
XlVAlign
enumerations instead. (
#15205
bdDetect.addUsbDevices
and
bdDetect.addBluetoothDevices
have been deprecated.
Braille display drivers should implement the
registerAutomaticDetection
classmethod instead.
That method receives a
DriverRegistrar
object on which the
addUsbDevices
and
addBluetoothDevices
methods can be used. (
#15200
The default implementation of the check method on
BrailleDisplayDriver
uses
bdDetect.driverHasPossibleDevices
for devices that are marked as thread safe.
Starting from NVDA 2024.1, in order for the base method to use
bdDetect.driverHasPossibleDevices
, the
supportsAutomaticDetection
attribute must be set to
True
as well. (
#15200
2023.2
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.
You can now manually override incompatibility issues with outdated add-ons at your own risk.
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 improved.
There are many bug fixes, particularly for braille, Microsoft Office, web browsers and Windows 11.
eSpeak-NG, LibLouis braille translator, and Unicode CLDR have been updated.
New Features
Add-on Store has been added to NVDA. (
#13985
Browse, search, install and update community add-ons.
Manually override incompatibility issues with outdated add-ons.
The Add-ons Manager has been removed and replaced by the Add-on Store.
For more information please read the updated user guide.
New input gestures:
An unbound gesture to cycle through the available languages for Windows OCR. (
#13036
An unbound gesture to cycle through the braille show messages modes. (
#14864
An unbound gesture to toggle showing the selection indicator for braille. (
#14948
Added default keyboard gesture assignments to move to the next or previous object in a flattened view of the object hierarchy. (
#15053
Desktop:
NVDA+numpad9
and
NVDA+numpad3
to move to the previous and next objects respectively.
Laptop:
shift+NVDA+[
and
shift+NVDA+]
to move to the previous and next objects respectively.
New braille features:
Added support for the Help Tech Activator braille display. (
#14917
A new option to toggle showing the selection indicator (dots 7 and 8). (
#14948
A new option to optionally move the system caret or focus when changing the review cursor position with braille routing keys. (
#14885
#3166
When pressing
numpad2
three times to report the numerical value of the character at the position of the review cursor, the information is now also provided in braille. (
#14826
Added support for the
aria-brailleroledescription
ARIA 1.3 attribute, allowing web authors to override the type of an element shown on the braille display. (
#14748
Baum braille driver: added several braille chord gestures for performing common keyboard commands such as
windows+d
and
alt+tab
Please refer to the NVDA User Guide for a full list. (
#14714
Added pronunciation of Unicode symbols:
braille symbols such as
⠐⠣⠃⠗⠇⠐⠜
. (
#13778
Mac Option key symbol
. (
#14682
Added gestures for Tivomatic Caiku Albatross braille displays. (
#14844
#15002
showing the braille settings dialog
accessing the status bar
cycling the braille cursor shape
cycling the braille show messages mode
toggling the braille cursor on/off
toggling the "braille show selection indicator" state
cycling the "braille move system caret when routing review cursor" mode. (
#15122
Microsoft Office features:
When highlighted text is enabled Document Formatting, highlight colours are now reported in Microsoft Word. (
#7396
#12101
#5866
When colors are enabled Document Formatting, background colours are now reported in Microsoft Word. (
#5866
When using Excel shortcuts to toggle format such as bold, italic, underline and strike through of a cell in Excel, the result is now reported. (
#14923
Experimental enhanced sound management:
NVDA can now output audio via the Windows Audio Session API (WASAPI), which may improve the responsiveness, performance and stability of NVDA speech and sounds. (
#14697
WASAPI usage can be enabled in Advanced settings.
Additionally, if WASAPI is enabled, the following Advanced settings can also be configured.
An option to have the volume of NVDA sounds and beeps follow the volume setting of the voice you are using. (
#1409
An option to separately configure the volume of NVDA sounds. (
#1409
#15038
There is a known issue with intermittent crashing when WASAPI is enabled. (
#15150
In Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, NVDA now reports when a control opens a dialog, grid, list or tree if the author has specified this using
aria-haspopup
. (
#8235
It is now possible to use system variables (such as
%temp%
or
%homepath%
) in the path specification while creating portable copies of NVDA. (
#14680
In Windows 10 May 2019 Update and later, NVDA can announce virtual desktop names when opening, changing, and closing them. (
#5641
A system wide parameter has been added to allow users and system administrators to force NVDA to start in secure mode. (
#10018
Changes
Component updates:
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
ed9a7bcf
. (
#15036
Updated LibLouis braille translator to
3.26.0
. (
#14970
CLDR has been updated to version 43.0. (
#14918
LibreOffice changes:
When reporting the review cursor location, the current cursor/caret location is now reported relative to the current page in LibreOffice Writer 7.6 and newer, similar to what is done for Microsoft Word. (
#11696
Announcement of the status bar (e.g. triggered by
NVDA+end
) works for LibreOffice. (
#11698
When moving to a different cell in LibreOffice Calc, NVDA no longer incorrectly announces the coordinates of the previously focused cell when cell coordinate announcement is disabled in NVDA's settings. (
#15098
Braille changes:
When using a braille display via the Standard HID braille driver, the dpad can be used to emulate the arrow keys and enter.
Also
space+dot1
and
space+dot4
now map to up and down arrow respectively. (
#14713
Updates to dynamic web content (ARIA live regions) are now displayed in braille.
This can be disabled in the Advanced Settings panel. (
#7756
Dash and em-dash symbols will always be sent to the synthesizer. (
#13830
Distance reported in Microsoft Word will now honour the unit defined in Word's advanced options even when using UIA to access Word documents. (
#14542
NVDA responds faster when moving the cursor in edit controls. (
#14708
Script for reporting the destination of a link now reports from the caret / focus position rather than the navigator object. (
#14659
Portable copy creation no longer requires that a drive letter be entered as part of the absolute path. (
#14680
If Windows is configured to display seconds in the system tray clock, using
NVDA+f12
to report the time now honors that setting. (
#14742
NVDA will now report unlabeled groupings that have useful position information, such as in recent versions of Microsoft Office 365 menus. (
#14878
Bug Fixes
Braille:
Several stability fixes to input/output for braille displays, resulting in less frequent errors and crashes of NVDA. (
#14627
NVDA will no longer unnecessarily switch to no braille multiple times during auto detection, resulting in a cleaner log and less overhead. (
#14524
NVDA will now switch back to USB if a HID Bluetooth device (such as the HumanWare Brailliant or APH Mantis) is automatically detected and an USB connection becomes available.
This only worked for Bluetooth Serial ports before. (
#14524
When no braille display is connected and the braille viewer is closed by pressing
alt+f4
or clicking the close button, the display size of the braille subsystem will again be reset to no cells. (
#15214
Web browsers:
NVDA no longer occasionally causes Mozilla Firefox to crash or stop responding. (
#14647
In Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, typed characters are no longer reported in some text boxes even when speak typed characters is disabled. (
#8442
You can now use browse mode in Chromium Embedded Controls where it was not possible previously. (
#13493
#8553
In Mozilla Firefox, moving the mouse over text after a link now reliably reports the text. (
#9235
The destination of graphic links is now reported accurately in more cases in Chrome and Edge. (
#14783
When trying to report the URL for a link without a href attribute NVDA is no longer silent.
Instead NVDA reports that the link has no destination. (
#14723
In Browse mode, NVDA will no longer incorrectly ignore focus moving to a parent or child control e.g. moving from a control to its parent list item or gridcell. (
#14611
Note however that this fix only applies when the Automatically set focus to focusable elements" option in Browse Mode settings is turned off (which is the default).
Fixes for Windows 11:
NVDA can once again announce Notepad status bar contents. (
#14573
Switching between tabs will announce the new tab name and position for Notepad and File Explorer. (
#14587
#14388
NVDA will once again announce candidate items when entering text in languages such as Chinese and Japanese. (
#14509
It is once again possible to open the Contributors and License items on the NVDA Help menu. (
#14725
Microsoft Office fixes:
When rapidly moving through cells in Excel, NVDA is now less likely to report the wrong cell or selection. (
#14983
#12200
#12108
When landing on an Excel cell from outside a work sheet, braille and focus highlighter are no longer needlessly updated to the object that had focus previously. (
#15136
NVDA no longer fails to announce focusing password fields in Microsoft Excel and Outlook. (
#14839
For symbols which do not have a symbol description in the current locale, the default English symbol level will be used. (
#14558
#14417
It is now possible to use the backslash character in the replacement field of a dictionaries entry, when the type is not set to regular expression. (
#14556
In Windows 10 and 11 Calculator, a portable copy of NVDA will no longer do nothing or play error tones when entering expressions in standard calculator in compact overlay mode. (
#14679
NVDA again recovers from many more situations such as applications that stop responding which previously caused it to freeze completely. (
#14759
When forcing UIA support with certain terminal and consoles, a bug is fixed which caused a freeze and the log file to be spammed. (
#14689
NVDA will no longer refuse to save the configuration after a configuration reset. (
#13187
When running a temporary version from the launcher, NVDA will not mislead users into thinking they can save the configuration. (
#14914
NVDA now generally responds slightly faster to commands and focus changes. (
#14928
Displaying the OCR settings will not fail on some systems anymore. (
#15017
Fix bug related to saving and loading the NVDA configuration, including switching synthesizers. (
#14760
Fix bug causing text review "flick up" touch gesture to move pages rather than move to previous line. (
#15127
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
Suggested conventions have been added to the add-on manifest specification.
These are optional for NVDA compatibility, but are encouraged or required for submitting to the Add-on Store. (
#14754
Use
lowerCamelCase
for the name field.
Use
..
format for the version field (required for add-on datastore).
Use
as the schema for the url field (required for add-on datastore).
Added a new extension point type called
Chain
, which can be used to iterate over iterables returned by registered handlers. (
#14531
Added the
bdDetect.scanForDevices
extension point.
Handlers can be registered that yield
BrailleDisplayDriver/DeviceMatch
pairs that don't fit in existing categories, like USB or Bluetooth. (
#14531
Added extension point:
synthDriverHandler.synthChanged
. (
#14618
The NVDA Synth Settings Ring now caches available setting values the first time they're needed, rather than when loading the synthesizer. (
#14704
You can now call the export method on a gesture map to export it to a dictionary.
This dictionary can be imported in another gesture by passing it either to the constructor of
GlobalGestureMap
or to the update method on an existing map. (
#14582
hwIo.base.IoBase
and its derivatives now have a new constructor parameter to take a
hwIo.ioThread.IoThread
If not provided, the default thread is used. (
#14627
hwIo.ioThread.IoThread
now has a
setWaitableTimer
method to set a waitable timer using a python function.
Similarly, the new
getCompletionRoutine
method allows you to convert a python method into a completion routine safely. (
#14627
offsets.OffsetsTextInfo._get_boundingRects
should now always return
List[locationHelper.rectLTWH]
as expected for a subclass of
textInfos.TextInfo
. (
#12424
highlight-color
is now a format field attribute. (
#14610
NVDA should more accurately determine if a logged message is coming from NVDA core. (
#14812
NVDA will no longer log inaccurate warnings or errors about deprecated appModules. (
#14806
All NVDA extension points are now briefly described in a new, dedicated chapter in the Developer Guide. (
#14648
scons checkpot
will no longer check the
userConfig
subfolder anymore. (
#14820
Translatable strings can now be defined with a singular and a plural form using
ngettext
and
npgettext
. (
#12445
Deprecations
Passing lambda functions to
hwIo.ioThread.IoThread.queueAsApc
is deprecated.
Instead, functions should be weakly referenceable. (
#14627
Importing
LPOVERLAPPED_COMPLETION_ROUTINE
from
hwIo.base
is deprecated.
Instead import from
hwIo.ioThread
. (
#14627
IoThread.autoDeleteApcReference
is deprecated.
It was introduced in NVDA 2023.1 and was never meant to be part of the public API.
Until removal, it behaves as a no-op, i.e. a context manager yielding nothing. (
#14924
gui.MainFrame.onAddonsManagerCommand
is deprecated, use
gui.MainFrame.onAddonStoreCommand
instead. (
#13985
speechDictHandler.speechDictVars.speechDictsPath
is deprecated, use
NVDAState.WritePaths.speechDictsDir
instead. (
#15021
Importing
voiceDictsPath
and
voiceDictsBackupPath
from
speechDictHandler.dictFormatUpgrade
is deprecated.
Instead use
WritePaths.voiceDictsDir
and
WritePaths.voiceDictsBackupDir
from
NVDAState
. (
#15048
config.CONFIG_IN_LOCAL_APPDATA_SUBKEY
is deprecated.
Instead use
config.RegistryKey.CONFIG_IN_LOCAL_APPDATA_SUBKEY
. (
#15049
2023.1
A new option has been added, "Paragraph Style" in "Document Navigation".
This can be used with text editors that do not support paragraph navigation natively, such as Notepad and Notepad++.
There is a new global command to report the destination of a link, mapped to
NVDA+k
Support for annotated web content (such as comments and footnotes) has improved.
Press
NVDA+d
to cycle through summaries when annotations are reported (e.g. "has comment, has footnote").
Tivomatic Caiku Albatross 46/80 braille displays are now supported.
Support for ARM64 and AMD64 versions of Windows has improved.
There are many bug fixes, notably Windows 11 fixes.
eSpeak, LibLouis, Sonic rate boost and Unicode CLDR have been updated.
There are new Georgian, Swahili (Kenya) and Chichewa (Malawi) braille tables.
Note:
This release breaks compatibility with existing add-ons.
New Features
Microsoft Excel via UI Automation: Automatic reporting of column and row headers in tables. (
#14228
Note: This is referring to tables formatted via the "Table" button on the Insert pane of the Ribbon.
"First Column" and "Header Row" in "Table Style Options" correspond to column and row headers respectively.
This is not referring to screen reader specific headers via named ranges, which is currently not supported via UI Automation.
An unassigned script has been added to toggle delayed character descriptions. (
#14267
Added an experimental option to leverage the UIA notification support in Windows Terminal to report new or changed text in the terminal, resulting in improved stability and responsivity. (
#13781
Consult the user guide for limitations of this experimental option.
On Windows 11 ARM64, browse mode is now available in AMD64 apps such as Firefox, Google Chrome and 1Password. (
#14397
A new option has been added, "Paragraph Style" in "Document Navigation".
This adds support for single line break (normal) and multi line break (block) paragraph navigation.
This can be used with text editors that do not support paragraph navigation natively, such as Notepad and Notepad++. (
#13797
The presence of multiple annotations are now reported.
NVDA+d
now cycles through reporting the summary of each annotation target for origins with multiple annotation targets.
For example, when text has a comment and a footnote associated with it. (
#14507
#14480
Added support for Tivomatic Caiku Albatross 46/80 braille displays. (
#13045
New global command: Report link destination (
NVDA+k
).
Pressed once will speak/braille the destination of the link that is in the navigator object.
Pressing twice will show it in a window, for more detailed review. (
#14583
New unmapped global command (Tools category): Report link destination in a window.
Same as pressing
NVDA+k
twice, but may be more useful for braille users. (
#14583
Changes
Updated LibLouis braille translator to
3.24.0
. (
#14436
Major updates to Hungarian, UEB, and Chinese bopomofo braille.
Support for the Danish braille standard 2022.
New braille tables for Georgian literary braille, Swahili (Kenya) and Chichewa (Malawi).
Updated Sonic rate boost library to commit
1d70513
. (
#14180
CLDR has been updated to version 42.0. (
#14273
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
f520fecb
. (
#14281
#14675
Fixed reporting of large numbers. (
#14241
Java applications with controls using the selectable state will now announce when an item is not selected rather than when the item is selected. (
#14336
Bug Fixes
Windows 11 fixes:
NVDA will announce search highlights when opening Start menu. (
#13841
On ARM, x64 apps are no longer identified as ARM64 applications. (
#14403
Clipboard history menu items such as "pin item" can be accessed. (
#14508
In Windows 11 22H2 and newer, it is again possible to use mouse and touch interaction to interact with areas such as the system tray overflow window and "Open With" dialog. (
#14538
#14539
Suggestions are reported when typing an
@mention
in in Microsoft Excel comments. (
#13764
In the Google Chrome location bar, suggestion controls (switch to tab, remove suggestion etc) are now reported when selected. (
#13522
When requesting formatting information, colors are now explicitly reported in Wordpad or log viewer, rather than only "Default color". (
#13959
In Firefox, activating the "Show options" button on GitHub issue pages now works reliably. (
#14269
The date picker controls in Outlook 2016 / 365 Advanced search dialog now report their label and value. (
#12726
ARIA switch controls are now actually reported as switches in Firefox, Chrome and Edge, rather than checkboxes. (
#11310
NVDA will automatically announce the sort state on an HTML table column header when changed by pressing an inner button. (
#10890
A landmark or region's name is always automatically spoken when jumping inside from outside using quick navigation or focus in browse mode. (
#13307
When beep or announce 'cap' for capitals is enabled with delayed character descriptions, NVDA no longer beeps or announces 'cap' twice. (
#14239
Controls in tables in Java applications will now be announced more accurately by NVDA. (
#14347
Some settings will no longer be unexpectedly different when used with multiple profiles. (
#14170
The following settings have been addressed:
Line indentation in Document formatting settings.
Cell borders in doc formatting settings
Show messages in braille settings
Tether Braille in braille settings
In some rare cases, these settings used in profiles may be unexpectedly modified when installing this version of NVDA.
Please check these options in your profiles after upgrading NVDA to this version.
Emojis should now be reported in more languages. (
#14433
The presence of an annotation is no longer missing in braille for some elements. (
#13815
Fixed an issue where config changes not save correctly when changing between a "Default" option and the value of the "Default" option. (
#14133
When configuring NVDA there will always be at least one key defined as an NVDA key. (
#14527
When accessing the NVDA menu via the notification area, NVDA will not suggest a pending update anymore when no update is available. (
#14523
Remaining, elapsed and total time is now reported correctly for audio files over a day long in foobar2000. (
#14127
In web browsers such as Chrome and Firefox, alerts such as file downloads are shown in braille in addition to being spoken. (
#14562
Bug fixed when navigating to the first and last column in a table in Firefox (
#14554
When NVDA is launched with
--lang=Windows
parameter, it is again possible to open NVDA's General settings dialog. (
#14407
NVDA no longer fails to continue reading in Kindle for PC after turning the page. (
#14390
Changes for Developers
Note: this is an Add-on API compatibility breaking release.
Add-ons will need to be re-tested and have their manifest updated.
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
System tests should now pass when run locally on non-English systems. (
#13362
In Windows 11 on ARM, x64 apps are no longer identified as ARM64 applications. (
#14403
It is no longer necessary to use
SearchField
and
SuggestionListItem
UIA
NVDAObjects
in new UI Automation scenarios, where automatic reporting of search suggestions, and where typing has been exposed via UI Automation with the
controllerFor
pattern.
This functionality is now available generically via
behaviours.EditableText
and the base
NVDAObject
respectively. (
#14222
The UIA debug logging category when enabled now produces significantly more logging for UIA event handlers and utilities. (
#14256
NVDAHelper build standards updated. (
#13072
Now uses the C++20 standard, was C++17.
Now uses the
/permissive-
compiler flag which disables permissive behaviors, and sets the
/Zc
compiler options for strict conformance.
Some plugin objects (e.g. drivers and add-ons) now have a more informative description in the NVDA python console. (
#14463
NVDA can now be fully compiled with Visual Studio 2022, no longer requiring the Visual Studio 2019 build tools. (
#14326
More detailed logging for NVDA freezes to aid debugging. (
#14309
The singleton
braille._BgThread
class has been replaced with
hwIo.ioThread.IoThread
. (
#14130
A single instance
hwIo.bgThread
(in NVDA core) of this class provides background i/o for thread safe braille display drivers.
This new class is not a singleton by design, add-on authors are encouraged to use their own instance when doing hardware i/o.
The processor architecture for the computer can be queried from
winVersion.WinVersion.processorArchitecture attribute.
#14439
New extension points have been added. (
#14503
inputCore.decide_executeGesture
tones.decide_beep
nvwave.decide_playWaveFile
braille.pre_writeCells
braille.filter_displaySize
braille.decide_enabled
braille.displayChanged
braille.displaySizeChanged
It is possible to set useConfig to False on supported settings for a synthesizer driver. (
#14601
API Breaking Changes
These are breaking API changes.
Please open a GitHub issue if your Add-on has an issue with updating to the new API.
The configuration specification has been altered, keys have been removed or modified:
In
[documentFormatting]
section (
#14233
):
reportLineIndentation
stores an int value (0 to 3) instead of a boolean
reportLineIndentationWithTones
has been removed.
reportBorderStyle
and
reportBorderColor
have been removed and are replaced by
reportCellBorders
In
[braille]
section (
#14233
):
noMessageTimeout
has been removed, replaced by a value for
showMessages
messageTimeout
cannot take the value 0 anymore, replaced by a value for
showMessages
autoTether
has been removed;
tetherTo
can now take the value "auto" instead.
In
[keyboard]
section (
#14528
):
useCapsLockAsNVDAModifierKey
useNumpadInsertAsNVDAModifierKey
useExtendedInsertAsNVDAModifierKey
have been removed.
They are replaced by
NVDAModifierKeys
The
NVDAHelper.RemoteLoader64
class has been removed with no replacement. (
#14449
The following functions in
winAPI.sessionTracking
are removed with no replacement. (
#14416
#14490
isWindowsLocked
handleSessionChange
unregister
isLockStateSuccessfullyTracked
It is no longer possible to enable/disable the braille handler by setting
braille.handler.enabled
To disable the braille handler programatically, register a handler to
braille.handler.decide_enabled
. (
#14503
It is no longer possible to update the display size of the handler by setting
braille.handler.displaySize
To update the displaySize programatically, register a handler to
braille.handler.filter_displaySize
Refer to
brailleViewer
for an example on how to do this. (
#14503
There have been changes to the usage of
addonHandler.Addon.loadModule
. (
#14481
loadModule
now expects dot as a separator, rather than backslash.
For example "lib.example" instead of "lib\example".
loadModule
now raises an exception when a module can't be loaded or has errors, instead of silently returning
None
without giving information about the cause.
The following symbols have been removed from
appModules.foobar2000
with no direct replacement. (
#14570
statusBarTimes
parseIntervalToTimestamp
getOutputFormat
getParsingFormat
The following are no longer singletons - their get method has been removed.
Usage of
Example.get()
is now
Example()
. (
#14248
UIAHandler.customAnnotations.CustomAnnotationTypesCommon
UIAHandler.customProps.CustomPropertiesCommon
NVDAObjects.UIA.excel.ExcelCustomProperties
NVDAObjects.UIA.excel.ExcelCustomAnnotationTypes
Deprecations
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.WinTerminalUIA
is deprecated and usage is discouraged. (
#14047
config.addConfigDirsToPythonPackagePath
has been moved.
Use
addonHandler.packaging.addDirsToPythonPackagePath
instead. (
#14350
braille.BrailleHandler.TETHER_*
are deprecated.
Use
configFlags.TetherTo.*.value
instead. (
#14233
utils.security.postSessionLockStateChanged
is deprecated.
Use
utils.security.post_sessionLockStateChanged
instead. (
#14486
NVDAObject.hasDetails
NVDAObject.detailsSummary
NVDAObject.detailsRole
has been deprecated.
Use
NVDAObject.annotations
instead. (
#14507
keyboardHandler.SUPPORTED_NVDA_MODIFIER_KEYS
is deprecated with no direct replacement.
Consider using the class
config.configFlags.NVDAKey
instead. (
#14528
gui.MainFrame.evaluateUpdatePendingUpdateMenuItemCommand
has been deprecated.
Use
gui.MainFrame.SysTrayIcon.evaluateUpdatePendingUpdateMenuItemCommand
instead. (
#14523
2022.4
This release includes several new key commands, including table say all commands.
A "Quick Start Guide" section has been added to the User Guide.
There are also several bug fixes.
eSpeak has been updated and LibLouis has been updated.
There are new Chinese, Swedish, Luganda and Kinyarwanda braille tables.
New Features
Added a "Quick Start Guide" section to the User Guide. (
#13934
Introduced a new command to check the keyboard shortcut of the current focus. (
#13960
Desktop:
shift+numpad2
Laptop:
NVDA+ctrl+shift+.
Introduced new commands to move the review cursor by page where supported by the application. (
#14021
Move to previous page:
Desktop:
NVDA+pageUp
Laptop:
NVDA+shift+pageUp
Move to next page:
Desktop:
NVDA+pageDown
Laptop:
NVDA+shift+pageDown
Added the following table commands. (
#14070
Say all in column:
NVDA+control+alt+downArrow
Say all in row:
NVDA+control+alt+rightArrow
Read entire column:
NVDA+control+alt+upArrow
Read entire row:
NVDA+control+alt+leftArrow
Microsoft Excel via UI Automation: NVDA now announces when moving out of a table within a spreadsheet. (
#14165
Reporting table headers can now be configured separately for rows and columns. (
#14075
Changes
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
735ecdb8
. (
#14060
#14079
#14118
#14203
Fixed reporting of Latin characters when using Mandarin. (
#12952
#13572
#14197
Updated LibLouis braille translator to
3.23.0
. (
#14112
Added braille tables:
Chinese common braille (simplified Chinese characters)
Kinyarwanda literary braille
Luganda literary braille
Swedish uncontracted braille
Swedish partially contracted braille
Swedish contracted braille
Chinese (China, Mandarin) Current Braille System (no tones) (
#14138
NVDA now includes the architecture of the operating system as part of user statistics tracking. (
#14019
Bug Fixes
When updating NVDA using the Windows Package Manager CLI (aka winget), a released version of NVDA is no longer always treated as newer than whatever alpha version is installed. (
#12469
NVDA will now correctly announce Group boxes in Java applications. (
#13962
Caret properly follows spoken text during "say all" in applications such as Bookworm, WordPad, or the NVDA log viewer. (
#13420
#9179
In programs using UI Automation, partially checked checkboxes will be reported correctly. (
#13975
Improved performance and stability in Microsoft Visual Studio, Windows Terminal, and other UI Automation based applications. (
#11077
#11209
These fixes apply to Windows 11 Sun Valley 2 (version 22H2) and later.
Selective registration for UI Automation events and property changes now enabled by default.
Text reporting, Braille output, and password suppression now work as expected in the embedded Windows Terminal control in Visual Studio 2022. (
#14194
NVDA is now DPI aware when using multiple monitors.
There are several fixes for using a DPI setting higher than 100% or multiple monitors.
Issues may still exist with versions of Windows older than Windows 10 1809.
For these fixes to work, applications which NVDA interacts with also need to be DPI aware.
Note there are still known issues with Chrome and Edge. (
#13254
Visual highlighting frames should now be correctly placed in most applications. (
#13370
#3875
#12070
Touch screen interaction should now be accurate for most applications. (
#7083
Mouse tracking should now work for most applications. (
#6722
Orientation state (landscape/portrait) changes are now correctly ignored when there is no change (e.g. monitor changes). (
#14035
NVDA will announce dragging items on screen in places such as rearranging Windows 10 Start menu tiles and virtual desktops in Windows 11. (
#12271
#14081
In advanced settings, "Play a sound for logged errors" option is now correctly restored to its default value when pressing the "Restore defaults" button. (
#14149
NVDA can now select text using the
NVDA+f10
keyboard shortcut on Java applications. (
#14163
NVDA will no longer get stuck in a menu when arrowing up and down threaded conversations in Microsoft Teams. (
#14355
Changes for Developers
Please refer to
the developer guide
for information on NVDA's API deprecation and removal process.
The
NVDA API Announcement mailing list
was created. (
#13999
NVDA no longer processes
textChange
events for most UI Automation applications due to their extreme negative performance impact. (
#11002
#14067
Deprecations
core.post_windowMessageReceipt
is deprecated, use
winAPI.messageWindow.pre_handleWindowMessage
instead.
winKernel.SYSTEM_POWER_STATUS
is deprecated and usage is discouraged, this has been moved to
winAPI._powerTracking.SystemPowerStatus
winUser.SM_*
constants are deprecated, use
winAPI.winUser.constants.SystemMetrics
instead.
2022.3.3
This is a minor release to fix issues with 2022.3.2, 2022.3.1 and 2022.3.
This also addresses a security issue.
Security Fixes
Prevents possible system access (e.g. NVDA Python console) for unauthenticated users.
GHSA-fpwc-2gxx-j9v7
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where if NVDA freezes when locking, NVDA will allow access to the users desktop while on the Windows lock screen. (
#14416
Fixed bug where if NVDA freezes when locking, NVDA will not behave correctly, as if the device was still locked. (
#14416
Fixed accessibility issues with the Windows "forgot my PIN" process and Windows update/install experience. (
#14368
Fixed bug when trying to install NVDA in some Windows environments, e.g. Windows Server. (
#14379
Changes for Developers
Deprecations
utils.security.isObjectAboveLockScreen(obj)
is deprecated, instead use
obj.isBelowLockScreen
. (
#14416
The following functions in
winAPI.sessionTracking
are deprecated for removal in 2023.1. (
#14416
isWindowsLocked
handleSessionChange
unregister
isLockStateSuccessfullyTracked
2022.3.2
This is a minor release to fix regressions with 2022.3.1 and address a security issue.
Security Fixes
Prevents possible system level access for unauthenticated users.
GHSA-3jj9-295f-h69w
Bug Fixes
Fixes a regression from 2022.3.1 where certain functionality was disabled on secure screens. (
#14286
Fixes a regression from 2022.3.1 where certain functionality was disabled after sign-in, if NVDA started on the lock screen. (
#14301
2022.3.1
This is a minor release to fix several security issues.
Please responsibly disclose security issues to
[email protected]
Security Fixes
Fixed exploit where it was possible to elevate from user to system privileges.
GHSA-q7c2-pgqm-vvw5
Fixed a security issue allowing access to the python console on the lock screen via a race condition for NVDA startup.
GHSA-72mj-mqhj-qh4w
Fixed issue where speech viewer text is cached when locking Windows.
GHSA-grvr-j2h8-3qm4
Bug Fixes
Prevent an unauthenticated user from updating settings for speech and Braille viewer on the lock screen. (
GHSA-grvr-j2h8-3qm4
2022.3
A significant amount of this release was contributed by the NVDA development community.
This includes delayed character descriptions and improved Windows Console support.
This release also includes several bug fixes.
Notably, up-to-date versions of Adobe Acrobat/Reader will no longer crash when reading a PDF document.
eSpeak has been updated, which introduces 3 new languages: Belarusian, Luxembourgish and Totontepec Mixe.
New Features
In the Windows Console Host used by Command Prompt, PowerShell, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux on Windows 11 version 22H2 (Sun Valley 2) and later:
Vastly improved performance and stability. (
#10964
When pressing
control+f
to find text, the review cursor position is updated to follow the found term. (
#11172
Reporting of typed text that does not appear on-screen (such as passwords) is disabled by default.
It can be re-enabled in NVDA's advanced settings panel. (
#11554
Text that has scrolled offscreen can be reviewed without scrolling the console window. (
#12669
More detailed text formatting information is available. (
microsoft/terminal PR 10336
A new Speech option has been added to read character descriptions after a delay. (
#13509
A new Braille option has been added to determine if scrolling the display forward/back should interrupt speech. (
#2124
Changes
eSpeak NG has been updated to 1.52-dev commit
9de65fcb
. (
#13295
Added languages:
Belarusian
Luxembourgish
Totontepec Mixe
When using UI Automation to access Microsoft Excel spreadsheet controls, NVDA is now able to report when a cell is merged. (
#12843
Instead of reporting "has details" the purpose of details is included where possible, for example "has comment". (
#13649
The installation size of NVDA is now shown in Windows Programs and Feature section. (
#13909
Bug Fixes
Adobe Acrobat / Reader 64 bit will no longer crash when reading a PDF document. (
#12920
Note that the most up to date version of Adobe Acrobat / Reader is also required to avoid the crash.
Font size measurements are now translatable in NVDA. (
#13573
Ignore Java Access Bridge events where no window handle can be found for Java applications.
This will improve performance for some Java applications including IntelliJ IDEA. (
#13039
Announcement of selected cells for LibreOffice Calc is more efficient and no longer results in a Calc freeze when many cells are selected. (
#13232
When running under a different user, Microsoft Edge is no longer inaccessible. (
#13032
When rate boost is off, eSpeak's rate does not drop anymore between rates 99% and 100%. (
#13876
Fix bug which allowed 2 Input Gestures dialogs to open. (
#13854
Changes for Developers
Updated Comtypes to version 1.1.11. (
#12953
In builds of Windows Console (
conhost.exe
) with an NVDA API level of 2 (
FORMATTED
) or greater, such as those included with Windows 11 version 22H2 (Sun Valley 2), UI Automation is now used by default. (
#10964
This can be overridden by changing the "Windows Console support" setting in NVDA's advanced settings panel.
To find your Windows Console's NVDA API level, set "Windows Console support" to "UIA when available", then check the NVDA+F1 log opened from a running Windows Console instance.
The Chromium virtual buffer is now loaded even when the document object has the MSAA
STATE_SYSTEM_BUSY
exposed via IA2. (
#13306
A config spec type
featureFlag
has been created for use with experimental features in NVDA. See
devDocs/featureFlag.md
for more information. (
#13859
Deprecations
There are no deprecations proposed in 2022.3.
2022.2.4
This is a patch release to fix a security issue.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an exploit where it was possible to open the NVDA python console via the log viewer on the lock screen.
GHSA-585m-rpvv-93qg
2022.2.3
This is a patch release to fix an accidental API breakage introduced in 2022.2.1.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug where NVDA did not announce "Secure Desktop" when entering a secure desktop.
This caused NVDA remote to not recognize secure desktops. (
#14094
2022.2.2
This is a patch release to fix a bug introduced in 2022.2.1 with input gestures.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug where input gestures didn't always work. (
#14065
2022.2.1
This is a minor release to fix a security issue.
Please responsibly disclose security issues to
[email protected]
Security Fixes
Fixed exploit where it was possible to run a python console from the lockscreen. (GHSA-rmq3-vvhq-gp32)
Fixed exploit where it was possible to escape the lockscreen using object navigation. (GHSA-rmq3-vvhq-gp32)
Changes for Developers
Deprecations
These deprecations are currently not scheduled for removal.
The deprecated aliases will remain until further notice.
Please test the new API and provide feedback.
For add-on authors, please open a GitHub issue if these changes stop the API from meeting your needs.
appModules.lockapp.LockAppObject
should be replaced with
NVDAObjects.lockscreen.LockScreenObject
. (GHSA-rmq3-vvhq-gp32)
appModules.lockapp.AppModule.SAFE_SCRIPTS
should be replaced with
utils.security.getSafeScripts()
. (GHSA-rmq3-vvhq-gp32)
2022.2
This release includes many bug fixes.
Notably, there are significant improvements for Java based applications, braille displays and Windows features.
New table navigation commands have been introduced.
Unicode CLDR has been updated.
LibLouis has been updated, which includes a new German braille table.
New Features
Support for interacting with Microsoft Loop Components in Microsoft Office products. (
#13617
New table navigation commands have been added. (
#957
control+alt+home/end
to jump to first/last column.
control+alt+pageUp/pageDown
to jump to first/last row.
An unassigned script to cycle through language and dialect switching modes has been added. (
#10253
Changes
NSIS has been updated to version 3.08. (
#9134
CLDR has been updated to version 41.0. (
#13582
Updated LibLouis braille translator to
3.22.0
. (
#13775
New braille table: German grade 2 (detailed)
Added new role for "busy indicator" controls. (
#10644
NVDA now announces when an NVDA action cannot be performed. (
#13500
This includes when:
Using the NVDA Windows Store version.
In a secure context.
Waiting for a response to a modal dialog.
Bug Fixes
Fixes for Java based applications:
NVDA will now announce read-only state. (
#13692
NVDA will now announce disabled/enabled state correctly. (
#10993
NVDA will now announce function key shortcuts. (
#13643
NVDA can now beep or speak on progress bars. (
#13594
NVDA will no longer incorrectly remove text from widgets when presenting to the user. (
#13102
NVDA will now announce the state of toggle buttons. (
#9728
NVDA will now identify the window in a Java application with multiple windows. (
#9184
NVDA will now announce position information for tab controls. (
#13744
Braille fixes:
Fix braille output when navigating certain text in Mozilla rich edit controls, such as drafting a message in Thunderbird. (
#12542
When braille is tethered automatically and the mouse is moved with mouse tracking enabled,
text review commands now update the braille display with the spoken content. (
#11519
It is now possible to pan the braille display through content after use of text review commands. (
#8682
The NVDA installer can now run from directories with special characters. (
#13270
In Firefox, NVDA no longer fails to report items in web pages when aria-rowindex, aria-colindex, aria-rowcount or aria-colcount attributes are invalid. (
#13405
The cursor does not switch row or column anymore when using table navigation to navigate through merged cells. (
#7278
When reading non-interactive PDFs in Adobe Reader, the type and state of form fields (such as checkboxes and radio buttons) are now reported. (
#13285
"Reset configuration to factory defaults" is now accessible in the NVDA menu during secure mode. (
#13547
Any locked mouse keys will be unlocked when NVDA exits, previously the mouse button would remain locked. (
#13410
Visual Studio now reports line numbers. (
#13604
Note that for line number reporting to work, showing line numbers must be enabled in Visual Studio and NVDA.
Visual Studio now correctly reports line indentation. (
#13574
NVDA will once again announce Start menu search result details in recent Windows 10 and 11 releases. (
#13544
In Windows 10 and 11 Calculator version 10.1908 and later,
NVDA will announce results when more commands are pressed, such as commands from scientific mode. (
#13383
In Windows 11, it is again possible to navigate and interact with user interface elements,
such as Taskbar and Task View using mouse and touch interaction. (
#13506
NVDA will announce status bar content in Windows 11 Notepad. (
#13688
Navigator object highlighting now shows up immediately upon activation of the feature. (
#13641
Fix reading single column list view items. (
#13659
#13735
Fix eSpeak automatic language switching for English and French falling back to British English and French (France). (
#13727
Fix OneCore automatic language switching when trying to switch to a formerly installed language. (
#13732
Changes for Developers
Compiling NVDA dependencies with Visual Studio 2022 (17.0) is now supported.
For development and release builds, Visual Studio 2019 is still used. (
#13033
When retrieving the count of selected children via accSelection,
the case where a negative child ID or an IDispatch is returned by
IAccessible::get_accSelection
is now handled properly. (
#13277
New convenience functions
registerExecutableWithAppModule
and
unregisterExecutable
were added to the
appModuleHandler
module.
They can be used to use a single App Module with multiple executables. (
#13366
Deprecations
These are proposed API breaking changes.
The deprecated part of the API will continue to be available until the specified release.
If no release is specified, the plan for removal has not been determined.
Note, the roadmap for removals is 'best effort' and may be subject to change.
Please test the new API and provide feedback.
For add-on authors, please open a GitHub issue if these changes stop the API from meeting your needs.
appModuleHandler.NVDAProcessID
is deprecated, use
globalVars.appPid
instead. (
#13646
gui.quit
is deprecated, use
wx.CallAfter(mainFrame.onExitCommand, None)
instead. (
#13498
Some alias appModules are marked as deprecated.
Code which imports from one of them, should instead import from the replacement module. (
#13366
Removed module name
Replacement module
azuredatastudio
code
azuredatastudio-insiders
code
calculatorapp
calculator
code - insiders
code
commsapps
hxmail
dbeaver
eclipse
digitaleditionspreview
digitaleditions
esybraille
esysuite
hxoutlook
hxmail
miranda64
miranda32
mpc-hc
mplayerc
mpc-hc64
mplayerc
notepad++
notepadPlusPlus
searchapp
searchui
searchhost
searchui
springtoolsuite4
eclipse
sts
eclipse
teamtalk3
teamtalk4classic
textinputhost
windowsinternal_composableshell_experiences_textinput_inputapp
totalcmd64
totalcmd
win32calc
calc
winmail
msimn
zend-eclipse-php
eclipse
zendstudio
eclipse
2022.1
This release includes major improvements to UIA support with MS Office.
For Microsoft Office 16.0.15000 and higher on Windows 11, NVDA will use UI Automation to access Microsoft Word documents by default.
This provides a significant performance improvement over the old Object model access.
There are improvements to braille display drivers including Seika Notetaker, Papenmeier and HID Braille.
There are also various Windows 11 bug fixes, for apps such as Calculator, Console, Terminal, Mail and Emoji Panel.
eSpeak-NG and LibLouis have been updated, adding new Japanese, German and Catalan tables.
Note:
This release breaks compatibility with existing add-ons.
New Features
Support for reporting notes in MS Excel with UI Automation enabled on Windows 11. (
#12861
In recent builds of Microsoft Word via UI Automation on Windows 11, the existence of bookmarks, draft comments and resolved comments are now reported in both speech and braille. (
#12861
The new
--lang
command line parameter allows overriding the configured NVDA language. (
#10044
NVDA now warns about command line parameters which are unknown and not used by any add-ons. (
#12795
In Microsoft Word accessed via UI Automation, NVDA will now make use of mathPlayer to read and navigate Office math equations. (
#12946
For this to work, you must be running Microsoft Word 365/2016 build 14326 or later.
MathType equations must also be manually converted to Office Math by selecting each, opening the context menu, choosing Equation options, Convert to Office Math.
Reporting of "has details" and the associated command to summarize the details relation have been updated to work in focus mode. (
#13106
Seika Notetaker can now be auto-detected when connected via USB and Bluetooth. (
#13191
#13142
This affects the following devices: MiniSeika (16, 24 cells), V6, and V6Pro (40 cells)
Manually selecting the bluetooth COM port is also now supported.
Added a command to toggle the braille viewer; there is no default associated gesture. (
#13258
Added commands for toggling multiple modifiers simultaneously with a Braille display (
#13152
The Speech Dictionary dialog now features a "Remove all" button to help clear a whole dictionary. (
#11802
Added support for Windows 11 Calculator. (
#13212
In Microsoft Word with UI Automation enabled on Windows 11, line numbers and section numbers can now be reported. (
#13283
#13515
For Microsoft Office 16.0.15000 and higher on Windows 11, NVDA will use UI Automation to access Microsoft Word documents by default, providing a significant performance improvement over the old Object model access. (
#13437
This includes documents in Microsoft Word itself, and also the message reader and composer in Microsoft Outlook.
Changes
Espeak-ng has been updated to 1.51-dev commit
7e5457f91e10
. (
#12950
Updated liblouis braille translator to
3.21.0
. (
#13141
#13438
Added new braille table: Japanese (Kantenji) literary braille.
Added new German 6 dot computer braille table.
Added Catalan grade 1 braille table. (
#13408
NVDA will report selection and merged cells in LibreOffice Calc 7.3 and above. (
#9310
#6897
Updated Unicode Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR) to 40.0. (
#12999
NVDA+Numpad Delete
reports the location of the caret or focused object by default. (
#13060
NVDA+Shift+Numpad Delete
reports the location of the review cursor. (
#13060
Added default bindings for toggling modifier keys to Freedom Scientific displays (
#13152
"Baseline" is no longer reported via the report text formatting command (
NVDA+f
). (
#11815
Activate long description no longer has a default gesture assigned. (
#13380
Report details summary now has a default gesture (
NVDA+d
). (
#13380
NVDA needs to be restarted after installing MathPlayer. (
#13486
Bug Fixes
Clipboard manager pane should no longer incorrectly steal focus when opening some Office programs. (
#12736
On a system where the user has chosen to swap the primary mouse button from the left to the right, NVDA will no longer accidentally bring up a context menu instead of activating an item, in applications such as web browsers. (
#12642
When moving the review cursor past the end of text controls, such as in Microsoft Word with UI Automation, "bottom" is correctly reported in more situations. (
#12808
NVDA can report the application name and version for binaries placed in system32 when running under 64-bit version of Windows. (
#12943
Improved consistency of output reading in terminal programs. (
#12974
Note that in some situations, when inserting or deleting characters in the middle of a line, the characters after the caret may again be read out.
MS word with UIA: heading quick nav in browse mode no longer gets stuck on the final heading of a document, nor is this heading shown twice in the NVDA elements list. (
#9540
In Windows 8 and later, the File Explorer status bar can now be retrieved using the standard gesture NVDA+end (desktop) / NVDA+shift+end (laptop). (
#12845
Incoming messages in the chat of Skype for Business are reported again. (
#9295
NVDA can again duck audio when using the SAPI5 synthesizer on Windows 11. (
#12913
In Windows 10 Calculator, NVDA will announce labels for history and memory list items. (
#11858
Gestures such as scrolling and routing again work with HID Braille devices. (
#13228
Windows 11 Mail: After switching focus between apps, while reading a long email, NVDA no longer gets stuck on a line of the email. (
#13050
HID braille: chorded gestures (e.g.
space+dot4
) can be successfully performed from the Braille display. (
#13326
Fixed an issue where multiple settings dialogs could be opened at the same time. (
#12818
Fixed a problem where some Focus Blue Braille displays would stop working after waking the computer from sleep. (
#9830
"Baseline" is no longer spuriously reported when the "report superscript and subscript" option is active. (
#11078
In Windows 11, NVDA will no longer prevent navigation in emoji panel when selecting emojis. (
#13104
Prevents a bug causing double-reporting when using Windows Console and Terminal. (
#13261
Fixed several cases where list items could not be reported in 64 bit applications, such as REAPER. (
#8175
In the Microsoft Edge downloads manager, NVDA will now automatically switch to focus mode once the list item with the most recent download gains focus. (
#13221
NVDA no longer causes 64-bit versions of Notepad++ 8.3 and above to crash. (
#13311
Adobe Reader no longer crashes on startup if Adobe Reader's protected mode is enabled. (
#11568
Fixed a bug where selecting the Papenmeier Braille Display Driver caused NVDA to crash. (
#13348
In Microsoft word with UIA: page number and other formatting is no longer inappropriately announced when moving from a blank table cell to a cell with content, or from the end of the document into existing content. (
#13458
#13459
NVDA will no longer fail to report the page title and start automatically reading, when a page loads in Google chrome 100. (
#13571
NVDA no longer crashes when resetting the NVDA configuration to factory defaults while speak command keys is on. (
#13634
Changes for Developers
Note: this is a Add-on API compatibility breaking release. Add-ons will need to be re-tested and have their manifest updated.
Although NVDA still requires Visual Studio 2019, Builds should no longer fail if a newer version of Visual Studio (E.g. 2022) is installed along side 2019. (
#13033
#13387
Updated SCons to version 4.3.0. (
#13033
Updated py2exe to version 0.11.1.0. (
#13510
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.WinConsoleUIA.isImprovedTextRangeAvailable
has been removed. Use
apiLevel
instead. (
#12955
#12660
TVItemStruct
has been removed from
sysTreeView32
. (
#12935
MessageItem
has been removed from the Outlook appModule. (
#12935
audioDucking.AUDIODUCKINGMODE_*
constants are now a
DisplayStringIntEnum
. (
#12926
usages should be replaced with
AudioDuckingMode.*
usages of
audioDucking.audioDuckingModes
should be replaced with
AudioDuckingMode.*.displayString
audioDucking.ANRUS_ducking_*
constants usages should be replaced with
ANRUSDucking.*
. (
#12926
synthDrivers.sapi5
changes (
#12927
):
SPAS_*
usages should be replaced with
SPAudioState.*
constants.SVSF*
usages should be replaced with
SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags.*
Note:
SVSFlagsAsync
should be replaced with
SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags.Async
not
SpeechVoiceSpeakFlags.lagsAsync
constants.SVE*
usages should be replaced with
SpeechVoiceEvents.*
The
soffice
appModule has the following classes and functions removed
JAB_OOTableCell
JAB_OOTable
gridCoordStringToNumbers
. (
#12849
core.CallCancelled
is now
exceptions.CallCancelled
. (
#12940
All constants starting with RPC from
core
and
logHandler
are moved into
RPCConstants.RPC
enum. (
#12940
It is recommended that
mouseHandler.doPrimaryClick
and
mouseHandler.doSecondaryClick
functions should be used to click the mouse to perform a logical action such as activating (primary) or secondary (show context menu),
rather than using
executeMouseEvent
and specifying the left or right mouse button specifically.
This ensures code will honor the Windows user setting for swapping the primary mouse button. (
#12642
config.getSystemConfigPath
has been removed - there is no replacement. (
#12943
shlobj.SHGetFolderPath
has been removed - please use
shlobj.SHGetKnownFolderPath
instead. (
#12943
shlobj
constants have been removed. A new enum has been created,
shlobj.FolderId
for usage with
SHGetKnownFolderPath
. (
#12943
diffHandler.get_dmp_algo
and
diffHandler.get_difflib_algo
have been replaced with
diffHandler.prefer_dmp
and
diffHandler.prefer_difflib
respectively. (
#12974
languageHandler.curLang
has been removed - to get the current NVDA language use
languageHandler.getLanguage()
. (
#13082
getStatusBarText
method can be implemented on an appModule to customize the way NVDA fetches the text from the status bar. (
#12845
globalVars.appArgsExtra
has been removed. (
#13087
If your add-on need to process additional command line arguments see the documentation of
addonHandler.isCLIParamKnown
and the developer guide for details.
The UIA handler module and other UIA support modules are now part of a UIAHandler package. (
#10916
UIAUtils
is now
UIAHandler.utils
UIABrowseMode
is now
UIAHandler.browseMode
_UIAConstants
is now
UIAHandler.constants
_UIACustomProps
is now
UIAHandler.customProps
_UIACustomAnnotations
is now
UIAHandler.customAnnotations
The
IAccessibleHandler
IA2_RELATION_*
constants have been replaced with the
IAccessibleHandler.RelationType
enum. (
#13096
Removed
IA2_RELATION_FLOWS_FROM
Removed
IA2_RELATION_FLOWS_TO
Removed
IA2_RELATION_CONTAINING_DOCUMENT
LOCALE_SLANGUAGE
LOCALE_SLIST
and
LOCALE_SLANGDISPLAYNAME
are removed from
languageHandler
- use members of
languageHandler.LOCALE
instead. (
#12753
Switched from Minhook to Microsoft Detours as a hooking library for NVDA. Hooking with this library is mainly used to aid the display model. (
#12964
winVersion.WIN10_RELEASE_NAME_TO_BUILDS
is removed. (
#13211
SCons now warns to build with a number of jobs that is equal to the number of logical processors in the system.
This can dramatically decrease build times on multi core systems. (
#13226
#13371
characterProcessing.SYMLVL_*
constants are removed - please use
characterProcessing.SymbolLevel.*
instead. (
#13248
Functions
loadState
and
saveState
are removed from addonHandler - please use
addonHandler.state.load
and
addonHandler.state.save
instead. (
#13245
Moved the UWP/OneCore interaction layer of NVDAHelper
from C++/CX to C++/Winrt
. (
#10662
It is now mandatory to subclass
DictionaryDialog
to use it. (
#13268
config.RUN_REGKEY
config.NVDA_REGKEY
are deprecated, please use
config.RegistryKey.RUN
config.RegistryKey.NVDA
instead. These will be removed in 2023. (
#13242
easeOfAccess.ROOT_KEY
easeOfAccess.APP_KEY_PATH
are deprecated, please use
easeOfAccess.RegistryKey.ROOT
easeOfAccess.RegistryKey.APP
instead. These will be removed in 2023. (
#13242
easeOfAccess.APP_KEY_NAME
has been deprecated, to be removed in 2023. (
#13242
DictionaryDialog
and
DictionaryEntryDialog
are moved from
gui.settingsDialogs
to
gui.speechDict
. (
#13294
IAccessible2 relations are now shown in developer info for IAccessible2 objects. (
#13315
languageHandler.windowsPrimaryLCIDsToLocaleNames
has been removed, instead use
languageHandler.windowsLCIDToLocaleName
or
winKernel.LCIDToLocaleName
. (
#13342
UIAAutomationId
property for UIA objects should be preferred over
cachedAutomationId
. (
#13125
#11447
cachedAutomationId
can be used if obtained directly from the element.
NVDAObjects.window.scintilla.CharacterRangeStruct
has moved to
NVDAObjects.window.scintilla.Scintilla.CharacterRangeStruct
. (
#13364
Boolean
gui.isInMessageBox
is removed, please use the function
gui.message.isModalMessageBoxActive
instead. (
#12984
#13376
controlTypes
has been split up into various submodules. (
#12510
#13588
ROLE_*
and
STATE_*
have been replaced with
Role.*
and
State.*
Although still available, the following should be considered deprecated:
ROLE_*
and
STATE_*
, use
Role.*
and
State.*
instead.
roleLabels
stateLabels
and
negativeStateLabels
, usages like
roleLabels[ROLE_*]
should be replaced with their equivalent
Role.*.displayString
or
State.*.negativeDisplayString
processPositiveStates
and
processNegativeStates
should use
processAndLabelStates
instead.
Excel cell state constants (
NVSTATE_*
) are now values in the
NvCellState
enum, mirrored in the
NvCellState
enum in
NVDAObjects/window/excel.py
and mapped to
controlTypes.State
via _nvCellStatesToStates. (
#13465
EXCEL_CELLINFO
struct member
state
is now
nvCellStates
mathPres.ensureInit
has been removed, MathPlayer is now initialized when NVDA starts. (
#13486
2021.3.5
This is a minor release to fix a security issue.
Please responsibly disclose security issues to
[email protected]
Security Fixes
Addressed security advisory
GHSA-xc5m-v23f-pgr7
The symbol pronunciation dialog is now disabled in secure mode.
2021.3.4
This is a minor release to fix several security issues raised.
Please responsibly disclose security issues to
[email protected]
Security Fixes
Addressed security advisory
GHSA-354r-wr4v-cx28
. (
#13488
Remove the ability to start NVDA with debug logging enabled when NVDA runs in secure mode.
Remove the ability to update NVDA when NVDA runs in secure mode.
Addressed security advisory
GHSA-wg65-7r23-h6p9
. (
#13489
Remove the ability to open the input gestures dialog in secure mode.
Remove the ability to open the default, temporary and voice dictionary dialogs in secure mode.
Addressed security advisory
GHSA-mvc8-5rv9-w3hx
. (
#13487
The wx GUI inspection tool is now disabled in secure mode.
2021.3.3
This release is identical to 2021.3.2.
A bug existed in NVDA 2021.3.2 where it incorrectly identified itself as 2021.3.1.
This release correctly identifies itself as 2021.3.3.
2021.3.2
This is a minor release to fix several security issues raised.
Please responsibly disclose security issues to
[email protected]
Bug Fixes
Security fix: Prevent object navigation outside of the lockscreen on Windows 10 and Windows 11. (
#13328
Security fix: The addons manager dialog is now disabled on secure screens. (
#13059
Security fix: NVDA context help is no longer available on secure screens. (
#13353
2021.3.1
This is a minor release to fix several issues in 2021.3.
Changes
The new HID Braille protocol is no longer preferred when another braille display driver can be used. (
#13153
The new HID Braille protocol can be disabled via a setting in the advanced settings panel. (
#13180
Bug Fixes
Landmark is once again abbreviated in braille.
#13158
Fixed unstable braille display auto detection for Humanware Brailliant and APH Mantis Q40 braille displays when using Bluetooth. (
#13153
2021.3
This release introduces support for the new HID Braille specification.
This specification aims to standardise support for Braille Displays without needing individual drivers.
There are updates to eSpeak-NG and LibLouis, including new Russian and Tshivenda tables.
Error sounds can be enabled in stable builds of NVDA via a new advanced settings option.
Say all in Word now scrolls the view to keep the current position visible.
There are lots of improvements when using Office with UIA.
One UIA fix is that Outlook now ignores more types of layout tables in messages.
Important notes:
Due to an update to our security certificate, a small number of users get an error when NVDA 2021.2 checks for updates.
NVDA now asks Windows to update security certificates, which will prevent this error in future.
Affected users will need to download this update manually.
New Features
Adds an input gesture for toggling settings for reporting the style of cell borders. (
#10408
Support for the new HID Braille specification which aims to standardise support for Braille Displays. (
#12523
Devices that support this specification will be auto detected by NVDA.
For technical details on NVDA's implementation of this specification, see https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/blob/master/devDocs/hidBrailleTechnicalNotes.md
Add support for the VisioBraille Vario 4 Braille Device. (
#12607
Error notifications can be enabled (advanced settings) when using any version of NVDA. (
#12672
In Windows 10 and later, NVDA will announce the suggestion count when entering search terms in apps such as Settings and Microsoft Store. (
#7330
#12758
#12790
Table navigation is now supported in grid controls created using the Out-GridView cmdlet in PowerShell. (
#12928
Changes
Espeak-ng has been updated to 1.51-dev commit
74068b91bcd578bd7030a7a6cde2085114b79b44
. (
#12665
NVDA will default to eSpeak if no installed OneCore voices support the NVDA preferred language. (
#10451
If OneCore voices consistently fail to speak, revert to eSpeak as a synthesizer. (
#11544
When reading status bar with
NVDA+end
, the review cursor is no longer moved to its location.
If you need this functionality please assign a gesture to the appropriate script in the Object Navigation category in the Input Gestures dialog. (
#8600
When opening a settings dialog which is already open, NVDA sets focus on the existing dialog rather than raise an error. (
#5383
Updated liblouis braille translator to
3.19.0
. (
#12810
New braille tables: Russian grade 1, Tshivenda grade 1, Tshivenda grade 2
Instead of "marked content" or "mrkd", "highlight" or "hlght" will be announced for speech and braille respectively. (
#12892
NVDA will no longer attempt to exit when dialogs are awaiting a required action (eg Confirm/Cancel). (
#12984
Bug Fixes
Tracking keyboard modifiers (such as Control, or Insert) is more robust when watchdog is recovering. (
#12609
It is once again possible to check for NVDA updates on certain systems; e.g. clean Windows installs. (
#12729
NVDA correctly announces blank table cells in Microsoft Word when using UI automation. (
#11043
In ARIA data grid cells on the web, the Escape key will now be passed through to the grid and no longer turn off focus mode unconditionally. (
#12413
When reading a header cell of a table in Chrome, fix the column name being announced twice. (
#10840
NVDA no longer reports a numerical value for UIA sliders that have a textual representation of their value defined. (UIA ValuePattern is now preferred over RangeValuePattern). (
#12724
NVDA no longer treats the value of UIA sliders as always percentage based.
Reporting the location of a cell in Microsoft Excel when accessed via UI Automation again works correctly on Windows 11. (
#12782
NVDA no longer sets invalid Python locales. (
#12753
If a disabled addon is uninstalled and then re-installed it is re-enabled. (
#12792
Fixed bugs around updating and removing addons where the addon folder has been renamed or has files opened. (
#12792
#12629
When using UI Automation to access Microsoft Excel spreadsheet controls, NVDA no longer redundantly announces when a single cell is selected. (
#12530
More dialog text is automatically read in LibreOffice Writer, such as in confirmation dialogs. (
#11687
Reading / navigating with browse mode in Microsoft Word via UI automation now ensures the document is always scrolled so that the current browse mode position is visible, and that the caret position in focus mode correctly reflects the browse mode position. (
#9611
When performing Say all in Microsoft Word via UI automation, the document is now automatically scrolled, and the caret position is correctly updated. (
#9611
When reading emails in Outlook and NVDA is accessing the message with UI Automation, certain tables are now marked as layout tables, which means they will no longer be reported by default. (
#11430
A rare error when changing audio devices has been fixed. (
#12620
Input with literary braille tables should behave more reliably when in edit fields. (
#12667
When navigating the Windows system tray calendar, NVDA now reports the day of the week in full. (
#12757
When using a Chinese input method such as Taiwan - Microsoft Quick in Microsoft Word, scrolling the braille display forward and backward no longer incorrectly keeps jumping back to the original caret position. (
#12855
When accessing Microsoft Word documents via UIA, navigating by sentence (alt+downArrow / alt+upArrow) is again possible. (
#9254
When accessing MS Word with UIA, paragraph indenting is now reported. (
#12899
When accessing MS Word with UIA, change tracking command and some other localized commands are now reported in Word . (
#12904
Fixed duplicate braille and speech when 'description' matches 'content' or 'name'. (
#12888
In MS Word with UIA enabled, more accurate playing of spelling error sounds as you type. (
#12161
In Windows 11, NVDA will no longer announce "pane" when pressing Alt+Tab to switch between programs. (
#12648
The new Modern Comments side track pane is now supported in MS Word when not accessing the document via UIA. Press alt+f12 to move between the side track pane and the document. (
#12982
Changes for Developers
Building NVDA now requires Visual Studio 2019 16.10.4 or later.
To match the production build environment, update Visual Studio to keep in sync with the
current version AppVeyor is using
. (
#12728
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.WinConsoleUIA.isImprovedTextRangeAvailable
has been deprecated for removal in 2022.1. (
#12660
Instead use
apiLevel
(see the comments at
_UIAConstants.WinConsoleAPILevel
for details).
Transparency of text background color sourced from GDI applications (via the display model), is now exposed for add-ons or appModules. (
#12658
LOCALE_SLANGUAGE
LOCALE_SLIST
and
LOCALE_SLANGDISPLAYNAME
are moved to the
LOCALE
enum in languageHandler.
They are still available at the module level but are deprecated and to be removed in NVDA 2022.1. (
#12753
The usage of functions
addonHandler.loadState
and
addonHandler.saveState
should be replaced with their equivalents
addonHandler.state.save
and
addonHandler.state.load
before 2022.1. (
#12792
Braille output can now be checked in system tests. (
#12917
2021.2
This release introduces preliminary Windows 11 support.
While Windows 11 is yet to be released, this release has been tested on preview versions of Windows 11.
This includes an important fix for Screen Curtain (see important notes).
The COM Registration Fixing Tool can now resolve more problems when running NVDA.
There are updates to the synthesizer eSpeak and braille translator LibLouis.
There are also various bug fixes and improvements, notably for braille support and Windows terminals, calculator, emoji panel and clipboard history.
Important notes
Due to a change in the Windows Magnification API, Screen Curtain had to be updated to support the newest versions of Windows.
Use NVDA 2021.2 to activate Screen Curtain with Windows 10 21H2 (10.0.19044) or later.
This includes Windows 10 Insiders and Windows 11.
For security purposes, when using a new version of Windows, get visual confirmation that the Screen Curtain makes the screen entirely black.
New Features
Experimental support for ARIA annotations:
adds a command to read a summary of details of an object with aria-details. (
#12364
adds an option in advanced preferences to report if an object has details in browse mode. (
#12439
In Windows 10 Version 1909 and later (including Windows 11), NVDA will announce suggestion count when performing searches in File Explorer. (
#10341
#12628
In Microsoft Word, NVDA now announces the result of indent and hanging indent shortcuts when executed. (
#6269
Changes
Espeak-ng has been updated to 1.51-dev commit
ab11439b18238b7a08b965d1d5a6ef31cbb05cbb
. (
#12449
#12202
#12280
#12568
If article is enabled in the user preferences for document formatting, NVDA announces "article" after the content. (
#11103
Updated liblouis braille translator to
3.18.0
. (
#12526
New braille tables: Bulgarian grade 1, Burmese grade 1, Burmese grade 2, Kazakh grade 1, Khmer grade 1, Northern Kurdish grade 0, Sepedi grade 1, Sepedi grade 2, Sesotho grade 1, Sesotho grade 2, Setswana grade 1, Setswana grade 2, Tatar grade 1, Vietnamese grade 0, Vietnamese grade 2, Southern Vietnamese grade 1, Xhosa grade 1, Xhosa grade 2, Yakut grade 1, Zulu grade 1, Zulu grade 2
Windows 10 OCR was renamed to Windows OCR. (
#12690
Bug Fixes
In Windows 10 Calculator, NVDA will announce calculator expressions on a braille display. (
#12268
In terminal programs on Windows 10 version 1607 and later, when inserting or deleting characters in the middle of a line, the characters to the right of the caret are no longer read out. (
#3200
Diff Match Patch now enabled by default. (
#12485
The braille input works properly with the following contracted tables: Arabic grade 2, Spanish grade 2, Urdu grade 2, Chinese (China, Mandarin) grade 2. (
#12541
The COM Registration Fixing Tool now resolves more issues, especially on 64 bit Windows. (
#12560
Improvements to button handling for the Seika Notetaker braille device from Nippon Telesoft. (
#12598
Improvements to announcing the Windows emoji panel and clipboard history. (
#11485
Updated the Bengali alphabet character descriptions. (
#12502
NVDA exits safely when a new process is started. (
#12605
Reselecting the Handy Tech braille display driver from the Select Braille Display dialog no longer causes errors. (
#12618
Windows version 10.0.22000 or later is recognized as Windows 11, not Windows 10. (
#12626
Screen curtain support has been fixed and tested for Windows versions up until 10.0.22000. (
#12684
If no results are shown when filtering input gestures, the input gesture configuration dialog continues to work as expected. (
#12673
Fixed a bug where the first menu item of a submenu is not announced in some contexts. (
#12624
Changes for Developers
characterProcessing.SYMLVL_*
constants should be replaced using their equivalent
SymbolLevel.*
before 2022.1. (
#11856
#12636
controlTypes
has been split up into various submodules, symbols marked for deprecation must be replaced before 2022.1. (
#12510
ROLE_*
and
STATE_*
constants should be replaced to their equivalent
Role.*
and
State.*
roleLabels
stateLabels
and
negativeStateLabels
have been deprecated, usages such as
roleLabels[ROLE_*]
should be replaced to their equivalent
Role.*.displayString
or
State.*.negativeDisplayString
processPositiveStates
and
processNegativeStates
have been deprecated for removal.
On Windows 10 Version 1511 and later (including Insider Preview builds), the current Windows feature update release name is obtained from Windows Registry. (
#12509
Deprecated:
winVersion.WIN10_RELEASE_NAME_TO_BUILDS
will be removed in 2022.1, there is no direct replacement. (
#12544
2021.1
This release includes optional experimental support for UIA in Excel and Chromium browsers.
There are fixes for several languages, and for accessing links in Braille.
There are updates to Unicode CLDR, mathematical symbols, and LibLouis.
As well as many bug fixes and improvements, including in Office, Visual Studio, and several languages.
Note:
This release breaks compatibility with existing add-ons.
This release also drops support for Adobe Flash.
New Features
Early support for UIA with Chromium based browsers (such as Edge). (
#12025
Optional experimental support for Microsoft Excel via UI Automation. Only recommended for Microsoft Excel build 16.0.13522.10000 or higher. (
#12210
Easier navigation of output in NVDA Python Console. (
#9784
alt+up/down jumps to the previous/next output result (add shift for selecting).
control+l clears the output pane.
NVDA now reports the categories assigned to an appointment in Microsoft Outlook, if any. (
#11598
Support for the Seika Notetaker braille display from Nippon Telesoft. (
#11514
Changes
In browse mode, controls can now be activated with braille cursor routing on their descriptor (ie. "lnk" for a link). This is especially useful for activating eg. check-boxes with no labels. (
#7447
NVDA now prevents the user from performing Windows 10 OCR if screen curtain is enabled. (
#11911
Updated Unicode Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR) to 39.0. (
#11943
#12314
Added more mathematical symbols to the symbols dictionary. (
#11467
The user guide, changes file, and key commands listing now have a refreshed appearance. (
#12027
"Unsupported" now reported when attempting to toggle screen layout in applications that do not support it, such as Microsoft Word. (
#7297
'Attempt to cancel speech for expired focus events' option in the advanced settings panel now enabled by default. (
#10885
This behaviour can be disabled by setting this option to "No".
Web applications (E.G. Gmail) no longer speak outdated information when moving focus rapidly.
Updated liblouis braille translator to
3.17.0
. (
#12137
New braille tables: Belarusian literary braille, Belarusian computer braille, Urdu grade 1, Urdu grade 2.
Support for Adobe Flash content has been removed from NVDA due to the use of Flash being actively discouraged by Adobe. (
#11131
NVDA will exit even with windows still open, the exit process now closes all NVDA windows and dialogs. (
#1740
The Speech Viewer can now be closed with
alt+F4
and has a standard close button for easier interaction with users of pointing devices. (
#12330
The Braille Viewer now has a standard close button for easier interaction with users of pointing devices. (
#12328
In the Elements List dialog, the accelerator key on the "Activate" button has been removed in some locales to avoid collision with an element type radio button label. When available, the button is still the default of the dialog and as such can still be invoked by simply pressing enter from the elements list itself. (
#6167
Bug Fixes
The list of messages in Outlook 2010 is once again readable. (
#12241
In terminal programs on Windows 10 version 1607 and later, when inserting or deleting characters in the middle of a line, the characters to the right of the caret are no longer read out. (
#3200
This experimental fix must be manually enabled in NVDA's advanced settings panel by changing the diff algorithm to Diff Match Patch.
In MS Outlook, inappropriate distance reporting when shift+tabbing from the message body to the subject field should not occur anymore. (
#10254
In the Python Console, inserting a tab for indentation at the beginning of a non-empty input line and performing tab-completion in the middle of an input line are now supported. (
#11532
Formatting information and other browseable messages no longer present unexpected blank lines when screen layout is turned off. (
#12004
It is now possible to read comments in MS Word with UIA enabled. (
#9285
Performance when interacting with Visual Studio has been improved. (
#12171
Fix graphical bugs such as missing elements when using NVDA with a right-to-left layout. (
#8859
Respect the GUI layout direction based on the NVDA language, not the system locale. (
#638
known issue for right-to-left languages: the right border of groupings clips with labels/controls. (
#12181
The python locale is set to match the language selected in preferences consistently, and will occur when using the default language. (
#12214
TextInfo.getTextInChunks no longer freezes when called on Rich Edit controls such as the NVDA log viewer. (
#11613
It is once again possible to use NVDA in languages containing underscores in the locale name such as de_CH on Windows 10 1803 and 1809. (
#12250
In WordPad, configuration of superscript/subscript reporting works as expected. (
#12262
NVDA no longer fails to announce the newly focused content on a web page if the old focus disappears and is replaced by the new focus in the same position. (
#12147
Strikethrough, superscript and subscript formatting for entire Excel cells are now reported if the corresponding option is enabled. (
#12264
Fixed copying config during installation from a portable copy when default destination config directory is empty. (
#12071
#12205
Fixed incorrect announcement of some letters with accents or diacritic when 'Say cap before capitals' option is checked. (
#11948
Fixed the pitch change failure in SAPI4 speech synthesizer. (
#12311
The NVDA installer now also honors the
--minimal
command line parameter and does not play the start-up sound, following the same documented behavior as an installed or portable copy NVDA executable. (
#12289
In MS Word or Outlook, the table quick navigation key can now jump to layout table if "Include layout tables" option is enabled in Browse mode settings. (
#11899
NVDA will no longer announce "↑↑↑" for emojis in particular languages. (
#11963
Espeak now supports Cantonese and Mandarin again. (
#10418
In the new Chromium based Microsoft Edge, text fields such as the address bar are now announced when empty. (
#12474
Fix Seika Braille driver. (
#10787
Changes for Developers
Note: this is an Add-on API compatibility breaking release. Add-ons will need to be re-tested and have their manifest updated.
NVDA's build system now fetches all Python dependencies with pip and stores them in a Python virtual environment. This is all done transparently.
To build NVDA, SCons should continue to be used in the usual way. E.g. executing scons.bat in the root of the repository. Running
py -m SCons
is no longer supported, and
scons.py
has also been removed.
To run NVDA from source, rather than executing
source/nvda.pyw
directly, the developer should now use
runnvda.bat
in the root of the repository. If you do try to execute
source/nvda.pyw
, a message box will alert you this is no longer supported.
To perform unit tests, execute
rununittests.bat []
To perform system tests: execute
runsystemtests.bat []
To perform linting, execute
runlint.bat
Please refer to readme.md for more details.
The following Python dependencies have also been upgraded:
comtypes updated to 1.1.8.
pySerial updated to 3.5.
wxPython updated to 4.1.1.
Py2exe updated to 0.10.1.0.
LiveText._getTextLines
has been removed. (
#11639
Instead, override
_getText
which returns a string of all text in the object.
LiveText
objects can now calculate diffs by character. (
#11639
To alter the diff behaviour for some object, override the
diffAlgo
property (see the docstring for details).
When defining a script with the script decorator, the 'allowInSleepMode' boolean argument can be specified to control if a script is available in sleep mode or not. (
#11979
The following functions are removed from the config module. (
#11935
canStartOnSecureScreens - use config.isInstalledCopy instead.
hasUiAccess and execElevated - use them from the systemUtils module.
getConfigDirs - use globalVars.appArgs.configPath instead.
Module level REASON_* constants are removed from controlTypes - please use controlTypes.OutputReason instead. (
#11969
REASON_QUICKNAV has been removed from browseMode - use controlTypes.OutputReason.QUICKNAV instead. (
#11969
NVDAObject
(and derivatives) property
isCurrent
now strictly returns Enum class
controlTypes.IsCurrent
. (
#11782
isCurrent
is no longer Optional, and thus will not return None.
When an object is not current
controlTypes.IsCurrent.NO
is returned.
The
controlTypes.isCurrentLabels
mapping has been removed. (
#11782
Instead use the
displayString
property on a
controlTypes.IsCurrent
enum value.
For example:
controlTypes.IsCurrent.YES.displayString
winKernel.GetTimeFormat
has been removed - use
winKernel.GetTimeFormatEx
instead. (
#12139
winKernel.GetDateFormat
has been removed - use
winKernel.GetDateFormatEx
instead. (
#12139
gui.DriverSettingsMixin
has been removed - use
gui.AutoSettingsMixin
. (
#12144
speech.getSpeechForSpelling
has been removed - use
speech.getSpellingSpeech
. (
#12145
Commands cannot be directly imported from speech as
import speech; speech.ExampleCommand()
or
import speech.manager; speech.manager.ExampleCommand()
- use
from speech.commands import ExampleCommand
instead. (
#12126
speakTextInfo
will no longer send speech through
speakWithoutPauses
if reason is
SAYALL
, as
SayAllHandler
does this manually now. (
#12150
The
synthDriverHandler
module is no longer star imported into
globalCommands
and
gui.settingsDialogs
- use
from synthDriverHandler import synthFunctionExample
instead. (
#12172
ROLE_EQUATION
has been removed from controlTypes - use
ROLE_MATH
instead. (
#12164
autoSettingsUtils.driverSetting
classes are removed from
driverHandler
- please use them from
autoSettingsUtils.driverSetting
. (
#12168
autoSettingsUtils.utils
classes are removed from
driverHandler
- please use them from
autoSettingsUtils.utils
. (
#12168
Support of
TextInfo
s that do not inherit from
contentRecog.BaseContentRecogTextInfo
is removed. (
#12157
speech.speakWithoutPauses
has been removed - please use
speech.speechWithoutPauses.SpeechWithoutPauses(speakFunc=speech.speak).speakWithoutPauses
instead. (
#12195
#12251
speech.re_last_pause
has been removed - please use
speech.speechWithoutPauses.SpeechWithoutPauses.re_last_pause
instead. (
#12195
#12251
WelcomeDialog
LauncherDialog
and
AskAllowUsageStatsDialog
are moved to the
gui.startupDialogs
. (
#12105
getDocFilePath
has been moved from
gui
to the
documentationUtils
module. (
#12105
The gui.accPropServer module as well as the AccPropertyOverride and ListCtrlAccPropServer classes from the gui.nvdaControls module have been removed in favor of WX native support for overriding accessibility properties. When enhancing accessibility of WX controls, implement wx.Accessible instead. (
#12215
Files in
source/comInterfaces/
are now more easily consumable by developer tools such as IDEs. (
#12201
Convenience methods and types have been added to the winVersion module for getting and comparing Windows versions. (
#11909
isWin10 function found in winVersion module has been removed.
class winVersion.WinVersion is a comparable and order-able type encapsulating Windows version information.
Function winVersion.getWinVer has been added to get a winVersion.WinVersion representing the currently running OS.
Convenience constants have been added for known Windows releases, see winVersion.WIN* constants.
IAccessibleHandler no longer star imports everything from IAccessible and IA2 COM interfaces - please use them directly. (
#12232
TextInfo objects now have start and end properties which can be compared mathematically with operators such as < <= == != >= >. (
#11613
E.g. ti1.start <= ti2.end
This usage is now prefered instead of ti1.compareEndPoints(ti2,"startToEnd") <= 0
TextInfo start and end properties can also be set to each other. (
#11613
E.g. ti1.start = ti2.end
This usage is prefered instead of ti1.SetEndPoint(ti2,"startToEnd")
wx.CENTRE_ON_SCREEN
and
wx.CENTER_ON_SCREEN
are removed, use
self.CentreOnScreen()
instead. (
#12309
easeOfAccess.isSupported
has been removed, NVDA only supports versions of Windows where this evaluates to
True
. (
#12222
sayAllHandler
has been moved to
speech.sayAll
. (
#12251
speech.sayAll.SayAllHandler
exposes the functions
stop
isRunning
readObjects
readText
lastSayAllMode
SayAllHandler.stop
also resets the
SayAllHandler
SpeechWithoutPauses
instance.
CURSOR_REVIEW
and
CURSOR_CARET
has been replaced with
CURSOR.REVIEW
and
CURSOR.CARET
speech.SpeechWithoutPauses
has been moved to
speech.speechWithoutPauses.SpeechWithoutPauses
. (
#12251
speech.curWordChars
has been renamed
speech._curWordChars
. (
#12395
the following have been removed from
speech
and can be accessed through
speech.getState()
. These are readonly values now. (
#12395
speechMode
speechMode_beeps_ms
beenCanceled
isPaused
to update
speech.speechMode
use
speech.setSpeechMode
. (
#12395
the following have been moved to
speech.SpeechMode
. (
#12395
speech.speechMode_off
becomes
speech.SpeechMode.off
speech.speechMode_beeps
becomes
speech.SpeechMode.beeps
speech.speechMode_talk
becomes
speech.SpeechMode.talk
IAccessibleHandler.IAccessibleObjectIdentifierType
is now
IAccessibleHandler.types.IAccessibleObjectIdentifierType
. (
#12367
The following in
NVDAObjects.UIA.WinConsoleUIA
have been changed (
#12094
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.is21H1Plus
renamed
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.isImprovedTextRangeAvailable
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.consoleUIATextInfo
renamed to start class name with upper case.
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.consoleUIATextInfoPre21H1
renamed
NVDAObjects.UIA.winConsoleUIA.ConsoleUIATextInfoWorkaroundEndInclusive
The implementation works around both end points being inclusive (in text ranges) before
microsoft/terminal PR 4018
Workarounds for
expand
collapse
compareEndPoints
setEndPoint
, etc
2020.4
This release includes new Chinese Input methods, an update to Liblouis and the elements list (NVDA+f7) now works in focus mode.
Context sensitive help is now available when pressing F1 in NVDA dialogs.
Improvements to symbol pronunciation rules, speech dictionary, Braille message and skim reading.
Bug fixes and improvements to Mail, Outlook, Teams, Visual Studio, Azure Data Studio, Foobar2000.
On the web, there are improvements to Google Docs, and greater support for ARIA.
Plus many other important bug fixes and improvements.
New Features
Pressing F1 inside NVDA dialogs will now open the help file to most relevant section. (
#7757
Support for auto complete suggestions (IntelliSense) in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio plus Visual Studio 2017 and higher. (
#7504
Symbol pronunciation: Support for grouping in a complex symbol definition and support group references in a replacement rule making them simpler and more powerful. (
#11107
Users are now notified when attempting to create Speech Dictionary entries with invalid regular expression substitutions. (
#11407
Specifically grouping errors are now detected.
Added support for the new chinese Traditional Quick and Pinyin Input methods in Windows 10. (
#11562
Tab headers are now considered form fields with quick navigation f key. (
#10432
Added a command to toggle reporting of marked (highlighted) text; There is no default associated gesture. (
#11807
Added the --copy-portable-config command line parameter that allows you to automatically copy the provided configuration to the user account when silently installing NVDA. (
#9676
Braille routing is now supported with the Braille Viewer for mouse users, hover to route to a braille cell. (
#11804
NVDA will now automatically detect the Humanware Brailliant BI 40X and 20X devices via both USB and Bluetooth. (
#11819
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator to version 3.16.1:
Addresses multiple crashes
Adds Bashkir grade 1 Braille table
Adds Coptic 8 dot computer braille table
Adds Russian literary braille and Russian literary braille (detailed) tables
Adds Added Afrikaans grade 2 braille table
Removes the Russian grade 1 Braille table
When reading with say all in browse mode, the find next and find previous commands do not stop reading anymore if Allow skim reading option is enabled; say all rather resumes from after the next or previous found term. (
#11563
For HIMS braille displays F3 has been remapped to Space + dots 148. (
#11710
Improvements to the UX of the "braille message timeout" and "Show messages indefinitely" options. (
#11602
In web browsers and other applications that support browse mode, the Elements List dialog (NVDA+F7) can now be invoked when in focus mode. (
#10453
Updates to ARIA live regions are now suppressed when reporting of dynamic content changes is disabled. (
#9077
NVDA will now report "Copied to clipboard" before the copied text. (
#6757
Presentation of graphical view table in disk management has been improved. (
#10048
Labels for controls are now disabled (greyed out) when the control is disabled. (
#11809
Updated CLDR emoji annotation to version 38. (
#11817
The inbuilt "Focus Highlight" feature has been renamed "Vision Highlight". (
#11700
Bug Fixes
NVDA once again works correctly with edit fields when using the Fast Log Entry application. (
#8996
Report elapsed time in Foobar2000 if no total time is available (e.g. when playing a live stream). (
#11337
NVDA now honors the aria-roledescription attribute on elements in editable content in web pages. (
#11607
'list' is no longer announced on every line of a list in Google Docs or other editable content in Google Chrome. (
#7562
When arrowing by character or word from one list item to another in editable content on the web, entering the new list item is now announced. (
#11569
NVDA now reads the correct line when the caret is placed at the end of a link on the end of a list item in Google Docs or other editable content on the web. (
#11606
On Windows 7, opening and closing the start menu from the desktop now sets focus correctly. (
#10567
When "attempt to cancel expired focus events" is enabled, the title of the tab is now announced again when switching tabs in Firefox. (
#11397
NVDA no longer fails to announce a list item after typing a character in a list when speaking with the SAPI5 Ivona voices. (
#11651
It is again possible to use browse mode when reading emails in Windows 10 Mail 16005.13110 and later. (
#11439
When using the SAPI5 Ivona voices from harposoftware.com, NVDA is now able to save configuration, switch synthesizers, and no longer will stay silent after restarting. (
#11650
It is now possible to enter number 6 in computer braille from a braille keyboard on HIMS displays. (
#11710
Major performance improvements in Azure Data Studio. (
#11533
#11715
With "Attempt to Cancel speech for expired focus events" enabled the title of the NVDA Find dialog is announced again. (
#11632
NVDA should no longer freeze when waking the computer and focus lands in a Microsoft Edge document. (
#11576
It is no longer necessary to press tab or move focus after closing a context menu in MS Edge for browse mode to be functional again. (
#11202
NVDA no longer fails to read items in list views within a 64-bit application such as Tortoise SVN. (
#8175
ARIA treegrids are now exposed as normal tables in browse mode in both Firefox and Chrome. (
#9715
A reverse search can now be initiated with 'find previous' via NVDA+shift+F3 (
#11770
An NVDA script is no longer treated as being repeated if an unrelated key press happens in between the two executions of the script. (
#11388
Strong and emphasis tags in Internet Explorer can again be suppressed from being reported by turning off Report Emphasis in NVDA's Document Formatting settings. (
#11808
A freeze of several seconds experienced by a small amount of users when arrowing between cells in Excel should no longer occur. (
#11818
In Microsoft Teams builds with version numbers like 1.3.00.28xxx, NVDA no longer fails reading messages in chats or Teams channels due to an incorrectly focused menu. (
#11821
Text marked both as being a spelling and grammar error at the same time in Google Chrome will be appropriately announced as both a spelling and grammar error by NVDA. (
#11787
When using Outlook (French locale), the shortcut for 'Reply all' (control+shift+R) works again. (
#11196
In Visual Studio, IntelliSense tool tips that provide additional details about the currently selected IntelliSense item are now only reported once. (
#11611
In Windows 10 Calculator, NVDA will not announce progress of calculations if speak typed characters is disabled. (
#9428
NVDA no longer crashes when using English US grade 2 and expand to computer Braille at the cursor is on, when displaying certain content such as a URL in Braille. (
#11754
It is again possible to report formatting information for the focused Excel cell using NVDA+F. (
#11914
QWERTY input on Papenmeier braille displays that support it again works and no longer causes NVDA to randomly freeze. (
#11944
In Chromium based browsers, several cases were solved where table navigation didn't work and NVDA didn't report the number of rows/columns of the table. (
#12359
Changes for Developers
System tests can now send keys using spy.emulateKeyPress, which takes a key identifier that conforms to NVDA's own key names, and by default also blocks until the action is executed. (
#11581
NVDA no longer requires the current directory to be the NVDA application directory in order to function. (
#6491
The aria live politeness setting for live regions can now be found on NVDA Objects using the liveRegionPoliteness property. (
#11596
It is now possible to define separate gestures for Outlook and Word document. (
#11196
2020.3
This release includes several large improvements to stability and performance particularly in Microsoft Office applications. There are new settings to toggle touchscreen support and graphics reporting.
The existence of marked (highlighted) content can be reported in browsers, and there are new German braille tables.
New Features
You can now toggle reporting of graphics from NVDA's document formatting settings. Note that disabling this option will still read the alternative texts of graphics. (
#4837
You can now toggle NVDA's touchscreen support. An option has been added to the Touch Interaction panel of NVDA's settings. The default gesture is NVDA+control+alt+t. (
#9682
Added new German braille tables. (
#11268
NVDA now detects read-only text UIA controls. (
#10494
The existence of marked (highlighted) content is reported in both speech and braille in all web browsers. (
#11436
This can be toggled on and off by a new NVDA Document Formatting option for Highlighting.
New emulated system keyboard keys can be added from NVDA's Input gestures dialog. (
#6060
To do this, press the add button after you selected the Emulated system keyboard keys category.
Handy Tech Active Braille with joystick is now supported. (
#11655
"Automatic focus mode for caret movement" setting is now compatible with disabling "Automatically set focus to focusable elements". (
#11663
Changes
The Report formatting script (NVDA+f) has now been changed to report the formatting at the system caret rather than at the review cursor position. To report formatting at the review cursor position now use NVDA+shift+f. (
#9505
NVDA no longer automatically sets the system focus to focusable elements by default in browse mode, improving performance and stability. (
#11190
CLDR updated from version 36.1 to version 37. (
#11303
Updated eSpeak-NG to 1.51-dev, commit 1fb68ffffea4
You can now utilize table navigation in list boxes with checkable list items when the particular list has multiple columns. (
#8857
In the Add-ons manager, when prompted to confirm removal of an add-on, "No" is now the default. (
#10015
In Microsoft Excel, the Elements List dialog now presents formulas in their localized form. (
#9144
NVDA now reports the correct terminology for notes in MS Excel. (
#11311
When using the "move review cursor to focus" command in browse mode, the review cursor is now set at the position of the virtual caret. (
#9622
Information reported in browse mode, such as the formatting info with NVDA+F, are now displayed in a slightly bigger window centered on screen. (
#9910
Bug Fixes
NVDA now always speaks when navigating by word and landing on any single symbol followed by white space, whatever the verbosity settings. (
#5133
In applications using QT 5.11 or newer, object descriptions are again reported. (
#8604
When deleting a word with control+delete, NVDA no longer remains silent. (
#3298
#11029
Now the word to the right of the deleted word is announced.
In general settings panel, the language list is now sorted correctly. (
#10348
In the Input Gestures dialog, significantly improved performance while filtering. (
#10307
You can now send Unicode characters beyond U+FFFF from a braille display. (
#10796
NVDA will announce Open With dialog content in Windows 10 May 2020 Update. (
#11335
A new experimental option in Advanced settings (Enable selective registration for UI Automation events and property changes) can provide major performance improvements in Microsoft Visual Studio and other UIAutomation based applications if enabled. (
#11077
#11209
For checkable list items, the selected state is no longer announced redundantly, and if applicable, the unselected state is announced instead. (
#8554
On Windows 10 May 2020 Update, NVDA now shows the Microsoft Sound Mapper when viewing output devices from synthesizer dialog. (
#11349
In Internet Explorer, numbers are now announced correctly for ordered lists if the list does not start with 1. (
#8438
In Google chrome, NVDA will now report not checked for all checkable controls (not just check boxes) that are currently not checked. (
#11377
It is once again possible to navigate in various controls when NVDA's language is set to Aragonese. (
#11384
NVDA should no longer sometimes freeze in Microsoft Word when rapidly arrowing up and down or typing characters with Braille enabled. (
#11431
#11425
#11414
NVDA no longer appends nonexistent trailing space when copying the current navigator object to the clipboard. (
#11438
NVDA no longer activates the Say All profile if there is nothing to read. (
#10899
#9947
NVDA is no longer unable to read the features list in Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. (
#11468
NVDA now keeps the audio device open improving performance on some sound cards (
#5172
#10721
NVDA will no longer freeze or exit when holding down control+shift+downArrow in Microsoft Word. (
#9463
The expanded / collapsed state of directories in the navigation treeview on drive.google.com is now always reported by NVDA. (
#11520
NVDA will auto detect the NLS eReader Humanware braille display via Bluetooth as its Bluetooth name is now "NLS eReader Humanware". (
#11561
Major performance improvements in Visual Studio Code. (
#11533
Changes For Developers
The GUI Helper's BoxSizerHelper.addDialogDismissButtons supports a new "separated" keyword argument, for adding a standard horizontal separator to dialogs (other than messages and single input dialogs). (
#6468
Additional properties were added to app modules, including path for the executable (appPath), is a Windows Store app (isWindowsStoreApp), and machine architecture for the app (appArchitecture). (
#7894
It is now possible to create app modules for apps hosted inside wwahost.exe on Windows 8 and later. (
#4569
A fragment of the log can now be delimited and then copied to clipboard using NVDA+control+shift+F1. (
#9280
NVDA-specific objects that are found by Python's cyclic garbage collector are now logged when being deleted by the collector to aide in removing reference cycles from NVDA. (
#11499
The majority of NVDA's classes are tracked including NVDAObjects, appModules, GlobalPlugins, SynthDrivers, and TreeInterceptors.
A class that needs to be tracked should inherit from garbageHandler.TrackedObject.
Significant debug logging for MSAA events can be now enabled in NVDA's Advanced settings. (
#11521
MSAA winEvents for the currently focused object are no longer filtered out along with other events if the event count for a given thread is exceeded. (
#11520
2020.2
Highlights of this release include support for a new braille display from Nattiq, better support for ESET antivirus GUI and Windows Terminal, performance improvements in 1Password, and with Windows OneCore synthesizer. Plus many other important bug fixes and improvements.
New Features
Support for new braille displays:
Nattiq nBraille (
#10778
Added script to open NVDA configuration directory (no default gesture). (
#2214
Better support for ESET antivirus GUI. (
#10894
Added support for Windows Terminal. (
#10305
Added a command to report the active configuration profile (no default gesture). (
#9325
Added a command to toggle reporting of subscripts and superscripts (no default gesture). (
#10985
Web applications (E.G. Gmail) no longer speak outdated information when moving focus rapidly. (
#10885
This experimental fix must be manually enabled via the 'Attempt to cancel speech for expired focus events' option in the advanced settings panel.
Many more symbols have been added to the default symbols dictionary. (
#11105
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator from 3.12 to
3.14.0
. (
#10832
#11221
The reporting of superscripts and subscripts is now controlled separately to the reporting of font attributes. (
#10919
Due to changes made in VS Code, NVDA no longer disables browse mode in Code by default. (
#10888
NVDA no longer reports "top" and "bottom" messages when moving the review cursor directly to the first or last line of the current navigator object with the move to top and move to bottom review cursor scripts respectively. (
#9551
NVDA no longer reports "left" and "right" messages when directly moving the review cursor to the first or last character of the line for the current navigator object with the move to beginning of line and move to end of line review cursor scripts respectively. (
#9551
Bug Fixes
NVDA now starts correctly when the log file cannot be created. (
#6330
In recent releases of Microsoft Word 365, NVDA will no longer announce "delete back word" when Control+Backspace is pressed while editing a document. (
#10851
In Winamp, NVDA will once again announce toggle status of shuffle and repeat. (
#10945
NVDA is no longer extremely sluggish when moving within the list of items in 1Password. (
#10508
The Windows OneCore speech synthesizer no longer lags between utterances. (
#10721
NVDA no longer freezes when you open the context menu for 1Password in the system notification area. (
#11017
In Office 2013 and older:
Ribbons are announced when focus moves to them for the first time. (
#4207
Context menu items are once again reported properly. (
#9252
Ribbon sections are consistently announced when navigating with Control+arrows. (
#7067
In browse mode in Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, text no longer incorrectly appears on a separate line when web content uses CSS display: inline-flex. (
#11075
In browse mode with Automatically set system focus to focusable elements disabled, it is now possible to activate elements that aren't focusable.
In browse mode with Automatically set system focus to focusable elements disabled, it is now possible to activate elements reached by pressing the tab key. (
#8528
In browse mode with Automatically set system focus to focusable elements disabled, activating certain elements no longer clicks in an incorrect location. (
#9886
NVDA error sounds are no longer heard when accessing DevExpress text controls. (
#10918
The tool-tips of the icons in the system tray are no longer reported upon keyboard navigation if their text is equal to the name of the icons, to avoid double announcing. (
#6656
In browse mode with 'Automatically set system focus to focusable elements' disabled, switching to focus mode with NVDA+space now focuses the element under the caret. (
#11206
It is once again possible to check for NVDA updates on certain systems; e.g. clean Windows installs. (
#11253
Focus is not moved in Java application when the selection is changed in an unfocused tree, table or list. (
#5989
Changes For Developers
execElevated and hasUiAccess have moved from config module to systemUtils module. Usage via config module is deprecated. (
#10493
Updated configobj to 5.1.0dev commit f9a265c4. (
#10939
Automated testing of NVDA with Chrome and a HTML sample is now possible. (
#10553
IAccessibleHandler has been converted into a package, OrderedWinEventLimiter has been extracted to a module and unit tests added (
#10934
Updated BrlApi to version 0.8 (BRLTTY 6.1). (
#11065
Status bar retrieval may now be customized by an AppModule. (
#2125
#4640
NVDA no longer listens for IAccessible EVENT_OBJECT_REORDER. (
#11076
A broken ScriptableObject (such as a GlobalPlugin missing a call to its base class' init method) no longer breaks NVDA's script handling. (
#5446
2020.1
Highlights of this release include support for several new braille displays from HumanWare and APH, plus many other important bug fixes such as the ability to again read math in Microsoft Word using MathPlayer / MathType.
New Features
The currently selected item in listboxes is again presented in browse mode in Chrome, similar to NVDA 2019.1. (
#10713
You can now perform right mouse clicks on touch devices by doing a one finger tap and hold. (
#3886
Support for New braille displays: APH Chameleon 20, APH Mantis Q40, HumanWare BrailleOne, BrailleNote Touch v2, and NLS eReader. (
#10830
Changes
NVDA will prevent the system from locking or going to sleep when in say all. (
#10643
Support for out-of-process iframes in Mozilla Firefox. (
#10707
Updated liblouis braille translator to version 3.12. (
#10161
Bug Fixes
Fixed NVDA not announcing Unicode minus symbol (U+2212). (
#10633
When installing add-on from add-ons manager, names of files and folders in the browse window are no longer reported twice. (
#10620
#2395
In Firefox, when loading Mastodon with the advanced web interface enabled, all timelines now render correctly in browse mode. (
#10776
In browse mode, NVDA now reports "not checked" for unchecked check boxes where it sometimes didn't previously. (
#10781
ARIA switch controls no longer report confusing information such as "not pressed checked" or "pressed checked". (
#9187
SAPI4 voices should no longer refuse to speak certain text. (
#10792
NVDA can again read and interact with math equations in Microsoft Word. (
#10803
NVDA will again announce text being unselected in browse mode if pressing an arrow key while text is selected. (
#10731
).
NVDA no longer exits if there is an error initializing eSpeak. (
#10607
Errors caused by unicode in translations for shortcuts no longer stop the installer, mitigated by falling back to the English text. (
#5166
#6326
Arrowing out and away from lists and tables in sayAll with skim reading enabled no longer continuously announces exiting the list or table. (
#10706
Fix mouse tracking for some MSHTML elements in Internet Explorer. (
#10736
Changes for Developers
Developer documentation is now build using sphinx. (
#9840
Several speech functions have been split into two. (
#10593
The speakX version remains, but now depends on a getXSpeech function which returns a speech sequence.
speakObjectProperties now relies on getObjectPropertiesSpeech
speakObject now relies on getObjectSpeech
speakTextInfo now relies on getTextInfoSpeech
speakWithoutPauses has been converted into a class, and refactored, but should not break compatibility.
getSpeechForSpelling is deprecated (though still available) use getSpellingSpeech instead.
Private changes that should not affect addon developers:
_speakPlaceholderIfEmpty is now _getPlaceholderSpeechIfTextEmpty
_speakTextInfo_addMath is now _extendSpeechSequence_addMathForTextInfo
Speech 'reason' has been converted to an Enum, see controlTypes.OutputReason class. (
#10703
Module level 'REASON_*' constants are deprecated.
Compiling NVDA dependencies now requires Visual Studio 2019 (16.2 or newer). (
#10169
Updated SCons to version 3.1.1. (
#10169
Again allow behaviors._FakeTableCell to have no location defined (
#10864
2019.3
NVDA 2019.3 is a very significant release containing many under-the-hood changes including the upgrade of Python 2 to Python 3, and a major re-write of NVDA's speech subsystem.
Although these changes do break compatibility with older NVDA add-ons, the upgrade to Python 3 is necessary for security, and the changes to speech allow for some exciting innovations in the near future.
Other highlights in this release include 64 bit support for Java VMs, Screen Curtain and Focus Highlight functionality, support for more braille displays and a new Braille viewer, and many many other bug fixes.
New Features
The accuracy of the move mouse to navigator object command has been improved in text fields in Java applications. (
#10157
Added support for the following Handy Tech Braille displays (
#8955
):
Basic Braille Plus 40
Basic Braille Plus 32
Connect Braille
All user-defined gestures can now be removed via a new "Reset to factory defaults" button in the Input Gestures dialog. (
#10293
Font reporting in Microsoft Word now includes if text is marked as hidden. (
#8713
Added a command to move the review cursor to the position previously set as start marker for selection or copy: NVDA+shift+F9. (
#1969
In Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge and recent versions of Firefox and Chrome, landmarks are now reported in focus mode and object navigation. (
#10101
In Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, You can now navigate by article and grouping using quick navigation scripts. These scripts are unbound by default and can be assigned in the Input Gestures dialog when the dialog is opened from a browse mode document. (
#9485
#9227
Figures are also reported. They are considered objects and therefore navigable with the o quick navigation key.
In Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, article elements are now reported with object navigation, and optionally in browse mode if turned on in Document Formatting settings. (
#10424
Added screen curtain, which when enabled, makes the whole screen black on Windows 8 and later. (
#7857
Added a script to enable screen curtain (until next restart with one press, or always while NVDA is running with two presses), no default gesture is assigned.
Can be enabled and configured via the 'vision' category in NVDA's settings dialog.
Added screen highlight functionality to NVDA. (
#971
#9064
Highlighting of the focus, navigator object, and browse mode caret position can be enabled and configured via the 'vision' category in NVDA's settings dialog.
Note: This feature is incompatible with the focus highlight add-on, however, the add-on can still be used while the built-in highlighter is disabled.
Added Braille Viewer tool, allows viewing braille output via an on-screen window. (
#7788
Changes
The user guide now describes how to use NVDA in the Windows Console. (
#9957
Running nvda.exe now defaults to replacing an already running copy of NVDA. The -r|--replace command line parameter is still accepted, but ignored. (
#8320
On Windows 8 and later, NVDA will now report product name and version information for hosted apps such as apps downloaded from Microsoft Store using information provided by the app. (
#4259
#10108
When toggling track changes on and off with the keyboard in Microsoft Word, NVDA will announce the state of the setting. (
#942
The NVDA version number is now logged as the first message in the log. This occurs even if logging has been disabled from the GUI. (
#9803
The settings dialog no longer allows for changing the configured log level if it has been overridden from the command line. (
#10209
In Microsoft Word, NVDA now announces the display state of non printable characters when pressing the toggle shortcut Ctrl+Shift+8 . (
#10241
Updated Liblouis braille translator to commit 58d67e63. (
#10094
When CLDR characters (including emojis) reporting is enabled, they are announced at all punctuation levels. (
#8826
Third party python packages included in NVDA, such as comtypes, now log their warnings and errors to the NVDA log. (
#10393
Updated Unicode Common Locale Data Repository emoji annotations to version 36.0. (
#10426
When focussing a grouping in browse mode, the description is now also read. (
#10095
The Java Access Bridge is now included with NVDA to enable access to Java applications, including for 64 bit Java VMs. (
#7724
If the Java Access Bridge is not enabled for the user, NVDA automatically enables it at NVDA startup. (
#7952
Updated eSpeak-NG to 1.51-dev, commit
ca65812
. (
#10581
Bug Fixes
Emoji and other 32 bit unicode characters now take less space on a braille display when they are shown as hexadecimal values. (
#6695
In Windows 10, NVDA will announce tooltips from universal apps if NVDA is configured to report tooltips in object presentation dialog. (
#8118
On Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later, typed text is now reported in Mintty. (
#1348
On Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later, output in the Windows Console that appears close to the caret is no longer spelled out. (
#513
Controls in Audacitys compressor dialog are now announced when navigating the dialog. (
#10103
NVDA no longer treats spaces as words in object review in Scintilla based editors such as Notepad++. (
#8295
NVDA will prevent the system from entering sleep mode when scrolling through text with braille display gestures. (
#9175
On Windows 10, braille will now follow when editing cell contents in Microsoft Excel and in other UIA text controls where it was lagging behind. (
#9749
NVDA will once again report suggestions in the Microsoft Edge address bar. (
#7554
NVDA is no longer silent when focusing an HTML tab control header in Internet Explorer. (
#8898
In Microsoft Edge based on EdgeHTML, NVDA will no longer play search suggestion sound when the window becomes maximized. (
#9110
#10002
ARIA 1.1 combo boxes are now supported in Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. (
#9616
NVDA will no longer report content of visually hidden columns for list items in SysListView32 controls. (
#8268
The settings dialog no longer shows "info" as the current log level when in secure mode. (
#10209
In Start menu for Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later, NVDA will announce details of search results. (
#10340
In browse mode, if moving the cursor or using quick navigation causes the document to change, NVDA no longer speaks incorrect content in some cases. (
#8831
#10343
Some bullet names in Microsoft Word have been corrected. (
#10399
In Windows 10 May 2019 Update and later, NVDA will once again announce first selected emoji or clipboard item when emoji panel and clipboard history opens, respectively. (
#9204
In Poedit, it is once again possible to view some translations for right to left languages. (
#9931
In the Settings app in Windows 10 April 2018 Update and later, NVDA will no longer announce progress bar information for volume meters found in the System/Sound page. (
#10412
Invalid regular expressions in speech dictionaries no longer completely break speech in NVDA. (
#10334
When reading bulleted items in Microsoft Word with UIA enabled, the bullet from the next list item is no longer inappropriately announced. (
#9613
Some rare braille translation issues and errors with liblouis have been resolved. (
#9982
Java applications started before NVDA are now accessible without the need to restart the Java app. (
#10296
In Mozilla Firefox, when the focused element becomes marked as current (aria-current), this change is no longer spoken multiple times. (
#8960
NVDA will now treat certain composit unicode characters such as e-acute as one single character when moving through text. (
#10550
Spring Tool Suite Version 4 is now supported. (
#10001
Don't double speak name when aria-labelledby relation target is an inner element. (
#10552
On Windows 10 version 1607 and later, typed characters from Braille keyboards are spoken in more situations. (
#10569
When changing the audio output device, tones played by NVDA will now play through the newly selected device. (
#2167
In Mozilla Firefox, moving focus in browse mode is faster. This makes moving the cursor in browse mode more responsive in many cases. (
#10584
Changes for Developers
Updated Python to 3.7. (
#7105
Updated pySerial to version 3.4. (
#8815
Updated wxPython to 4.0.3 to support Python 3.5 and later. (
#9630
Updated six to version 1.12.0. (
#9630
Updated py2exe to version 0.9.3.2 (in development, commit b372a8e from
albertosottile/py2exe#13
). (
#9856
Updated UIAutomationCore.dll comtypes module to version 10.0.18362. (
#9829
The tab-completion in the Python console only suggests attributes starting with an underscore if the underscore is first typed. (
#9918
Flake8 linting tool has been integrated with SCons reflecting code requirements for Pull Requests. (
#5918
As NVDA no longer depends on pyWin32, modules such as win32api and win32con are no longer available to add-ons. (
#9639
win32api calls can be replaced with direct calls to win32 dll functions via ctypes.
win32con constants should be defined in your files.
The "async" argument in nvwave.playWaveFile has been renamed to "asynchronous". (
#8607
speakText and speakCharacter methods on synthDriver objects are no longer supported.
This functionality is handled by SynthDriver.speak.
SynthSetting classes in synthDriverHandler have been removed. Now use driverHandler.DriverSetting classes instead.
SynthDriver classes should no longer expose index via the lastIndex property.
Instead, they should notify the synthDriverHandler.synthIndexReached action with the index, once all previous audio has finished playing before that index.
SynthDriver classes must now notify the synthDriverHandler.synthDoneSpeaking action, once all audio from a SynthDriver.speak call has completed playing.
SynthDriver classes must support the speech.PitchCommand in their speak method, as changes in pitch for speak spelling now depends on this functionality.
The speech function getSpeechTextForProperties has been renamed to getPropertiesSpeech. (
#10098
The braille function getBrailleTextForProperties has been renamed to getPropertiesBraille. (
#10469
Several speech functions have been changed to return speech sequences. (
#10098
getControlFieldSpeech
getFormatFieldSpeech
getSpeechTextForProperties now called getPropertiesSpeech
getIndentationSpeech
getTableInfoSpeech
Added a textUtils module to simplify string differences between Python 3 strings and Windows unicode strings. (
#9545
See the module documentation and textInfos.offsets module for example implementations.
Deprecated functionality now removed. (
#9548
AppModules removed:
Windows XP sound recorder.
Klango Player, which is abandoned software.
configobj.validate wrapper removed.
New code should use from configobj import validate instead of import validate
textInfos.Point and textInfos.Rect replaced by locationHelper.Point and locationHelper.RectLTRB respectively.
braille.BrailleHandler._get_tether and braille.BrailleHandler.set_tether have been removed.
config.getConfigDirs has been removed.
config.ConfigManager.getConfigValidationParameter has been replaced by getConfigValidation
inputCore.InputGesture.logIdentifier property has been removed.
Use _get_identifiers in inputCore.InputGesture instead.
synthDriverHandler.SynthDriver.speakText/speakCharacter have been removed.
Removed several synthDriverHandler.SynthSetting classes.
Previously kept for backwards compatibility (
#8214
), now considered obsolete.
Drivers that used the SynthSetting classes should be updated to use the DriverSetting classes.
Some legacy code has been removed, particularly:
Support for the Outlook pre 2003 message list.
An overlay class for the classic start menu, only found in Windows Vista and earlier.
Dropped support for Skype 7, as it is definitely not working any more.
Added a framework to create vision enhancement providers; modules that can change screen contents, optionally based on input from NVDA about object locations. (
#9064
Add-ons can bundle their own providers in a visionEnhancementProviders folder.
See the vision and visionEnhancementProviders modules for the implementation of the framework and examples, respectively.
Vision enhancement providers are enabled and configured via the 'vision' category in NVDA's settings dialog.
Abstract class properties are now supported on objects that inherit from baseObject.AutoPropertyObject (e.g. NVDAObjects and TextInfos). (
#10102
Introduced displayModel.UNIT_DISPLAYCHUNK as a textInfos unit constant specific to DisplayModelTextInfo. (
#10165
This new constant allows walking over the text in a DisplayModelTextInfo in a way that more closely resembles how the text chunks are saved in the underlying model.
displayModel.getCaretRect now returns an instance of locationHelper.RectLTRB. (
#10233
The UNIT_CONTROLFIELD and UNIT_FORMATFIELD constants have been moved from virtualBuffers.VirtualBufferTextInfo to the textInfos package. (
#10396
For every entry in the NVDA log, information about the originating thread is now included. (
#10259
UIA TextInfo objects can now be moved/expanded by the page, story and formatField text units. (
#10396
External modules (appModules and globalPlugins) are now less likely to be able to break the creation of NVDAObjects.
Exceptions caused by the "chooseNVDAObjectOverlayClasses" and "event_NVDAObject_init" methods are now properly caught and logged.
The aria.htmlNodeNameToAriaLandmarkRoles dictionary has been renamed to aria.htmlNodeNameToAriaRoles. It now also contains roles that aren't landmarks.
scriptHandler.isCurrentScript has been removed due to lack of use. There is no replacement. (
#8677
2019.2.1
This is a minor release to fix several crashes present in 2019.2. Fixes include:
Addressed several crashes in Gmail seen in both Firefox and Chrome when interacting with particular popup menus such as when creating filters or changing certain Gmail settings. (
#10175
#9402
#8924
In Windows 7, NVDA no longer causes Windows Explorer to crash when the mouse is used in the start menu. (
#9435
Windows Explorer on Windows 7 no longer crashes when accessing metadata edit fields. (
#5337
NVDA no longer freezes when interacting with images with a base64 URI in Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. (
#10227
2019.2
Highlights of this release include auto detection of Freedom Scientific braille displays, an experimental setting in the Advanced panel to stop browse mode from automatically moving focus (which may provide performance improvements), a rate boost option for the Windows OneCore synthesizer to achieve very fast rates, and many other bug fixes.
New Features
NVDA's Miranda NG support works with newer versions of the client. (
#9053
You can now disable browse mode by default by disabling the new "Enable browse mode on page load" option in NVDA's browse mode settings. (
#8716
Note that when this option is disabled, you can still enable browse mode manually by pressing NVDA+space.
You can now filter symbols in the punctuation/symbol pronunciation dialog, similar to how filtering works in the elements list and input gestures dialog. (
#5761
A command has been added to change the mouse text unit resolution (how much text will be spoken when the mouse moves), it has not been assigned a default gesture. (
#9056
The windows OneCore synthesizer now has a rate boost option, which allows for significantly faster speech. (
#7498
The Rate Boost option is now configurable from the Synth Settings Ring for supported speech synthesizers. (Currently eSpeak-NG and Windows OneCore). (
#8934
Configuration profiles can now be manually activated with gestures. (
#4209
The gesture must be configured in the "Input gestures" dialog.
In Eclipse, added support for autocompletion in code editor. (
#5667
Additionally, Javadoc information can be read from the editor when it is present by using NVDA+d.
Added an experimental option to the Advanced Settings panel that allows you to stop the system focus from following the browse mode cursor (Automatically set system focus to focusable elements). (
#2039
) Although this may not be suitable to turn off for all websites, this may fix:
Rubber band effect: NVDA sporadically undoes the last browse mode keystroke by jumping to the previous location.
Edit boxes steal system focus when arrowing down through them on some websites.
Browse mode keystrokes are slow to respond.
For braille display drivers that support it, driver settings can now be changed from the braille settings category in NVDA's settings dialog. (
#7452
Freedom Scientific braille displays are now supported by braille display auto detection. (
#7727
Added a command to show the replacement for the symbol under the review cursor. (
#9286
Added an experimental option to the Advanced Settings panel that allows you to try out a new, work-in-progress rewrite of NVDA's Windows Console support using the Microsoft UI Automation API. (
#9614
In the Python Console, the input field now supports pasting multiple lines from the clipboard. (
#9776
Changes
Synthesizer volume is now increased and decreased by 5 instead of 10 when using the settings ring. (
#6754
Clarified the text in the add-on manager when NVDA is launched with the --disable-addons flag. (
#9473
Updated Unicode Common Locale Data Repository emoji annotations to version 35.0. (
#9445
The hotkey for the filter field in the elements list in browse mode has changed to alt+y. (
#8728
When an auto detected braille display is connected via Bluetooth, NVDA will keep searching for USB displays supported by the same driver and switch to a USB connection if it becomes available. (
#8853
Updated eSpeak-NG to commit 67324cc.
Updated liblouis braille translator to version 3.10.0. (
#9439
#9678
NVDA will now report the word 'selected' after reporting the text a user has just selected.(
#9028
#9909
In Microsoft Visual Studio Code, NVDA is in focus mode by default. (
#9828
Bug Fixes
NVDA no longer crashes when an add-on directory is empty. (
#7686
LTR and RTL marks are no longer reported in Braille or per-character speech when accessing the properties window. (
#8361
When jumping to form fields with Browse Mode quick navigation, the entire form field is now announced rather than just the first line. (
#9388
NVDA will no longer become silent after exiting the Windows 10 Mail app. (
#9341
NVDA no longer fails to start when the users regional settings are set to a locale unknown to NVDA, such as English (Netherlands). (
#8726
When browse mode is enabled in Microsoft Excel and you switch to a browser in focus mode or vice versa, browse mode state is now reported appropriately. (
#8846
NVDA now properly reports the line at the mouse cursor in Notepad++ and other Scintilla based editors. (
#5450
In Google Docs (and other web-based editors), braille no longer sometimes incorrectly shows "lst end" before the cursor in the middle of a list item. (
#9477
In the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, NVDA no longer speaks many volume notifications if changing the volume with hardware buttons when File Explorer has focus. (
#9466
Loading the punctuation/symbol pronunciation dialog is now much faster when using symbol dictionaries containing over 1000 entries. (
#8790
In Scintilla controls such as Notepad++, NVDA can read the correct line when wordwrap is enabled. (
#9424
In Microsoft Excel, the cell location is announced after it changes due to the shift+enter or shift+numpadEnter gestures. (
#9499
In Visual Studio 2017 and up, in the Objects Explorer window, the selected item in objects tree or members tree with categories is now reported correctly. (
#9311
Add-ons with names that only differ in capitalization are no longer treated as separate add-ons. (
#9334
For Windows OneCore voices, the rate set in NVDA is no longer affected by the rate set in Windows 10 Speech Settings. (
#7498
The log can now be opened with NVDA+F1 when there is no developer info for the current navigator object. (
#8613
It is again possible to use NVDA's table navigation commands in Google Docs, in Firefox and Chrome. (
#9494
The bumper keys now work correctly on Freedom Scientific braille displays. (
#8849
When reading the first character of a document in Notepad++ 7.7 X64, NVDA no longer freezes for up to ten seconds. (
#9609
HTCom can now be used with a Handy Tech Braille display in combination with NVDA. (
#9691
In Mozilla Firefox, updates to a live region are no longer reported if the live region is in a background tab. (
#1318
NVDA's browse mode Find dialog no longer fails to function if NVDA's About dialog is currently open in the background. (
#8566
Changes for Developers
You can now set the "disableBrowseModeByDefault" property on app modules to leave browse mode off by default. (
#8846
The extended window style of a window is now exposed using the
extendedWindowStyle
property on Window objects and their derivatives. (
#9136
Updated comtypes package to 1.1.7. (
#9440
#8522
When using the report module info command, the order of information has changed to present the module first. (
#7338
Added an example to demonstrate using nvdaControllerClient.dll from C#. (
#9600
Added a new isWin10 function to the winVersion module which returns whether or not this copy of NVDA is running on (at least) the supplied release version of Windows 10 (such as 1903). (
#9761
The NVDA Python console now contains more useful modules in its namespace (such as appModules, globalPlugins, config and textInfos). (
#9789
The result of the last executed command in the NVDA Python console is now accessible from the _ (line) variable. (
#9782
Note that this shadows the gettext translation function also called "_". To access the translation function: del _
2019.1.1
This point release fixes the following bugs:
NVDA no longer causes Excel 2007 to crash or refuses to report if a cell has a formula. (
#9431
Google Chrome no longer crashes when interacting with certain listboxes. (
#9364
An issue has been fixed which prevented copying a users configuration to the system configuration profile. (
#9448
In Microsoft Excel, NVDA again uses the localized message when reporting the location of merged cells. (
#9471
2019.1
Highlights of this release include performance improvements when accessing both Microsoft word and Excel, stability and security improvements such as support for add-ons with version compatibility information, and many other bug fixes.
Please note that starting from this release of NVDA, custom appModules, globalPlugins, braille display drivers and synth drivers will no longer be automatically loaded from your NVDA user configuration directory.
Rather these should be installed as part of an NVDA add-on. For those developing code for an add-on, code for testing can be placed in a new developer scratchpad directory in the NVDA user configuration directory, if the Developer scratchpad option is turned on in NVDA's new Advanced settings panel.
These changes are necessary to better ensure compatibility of custom code, so that NVDA does not break when this code becomes incompatible with newer releases.
Please refer to the list of changes further down for more details on this and how add-ons are now better versioned.
New Features
New braille tables: Afrikaans, Arabic 8 dot computer braille, Arabic grade 2, Spanish grade 2. (
#4435
#9186
Added an option to NVDA's mouse settings to make NVDA handle situations where the mouse is controlled by another application. (
#8452
This will allow NVDA to track the mouse when a system is controlled remotely using TeamViewer or other remote control software.
Added the
--enable-start-on-logon
command line parameter to allow configuring whether silent installations of NVDA set NVDA to start at Windows logon or not. Specify true to start at logon or false to not start at logon. If the --enable-start-on-logon argument is not specified at all then NVDA will default to starting at logon, unless it was already configured not to by a previous installation. (
#8574
It is possible to turn NVDA's logging features off by setting logging level to "disabled" from General settings panel. (
#8516
The presence of formulae in LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice spreadsheets is now reported. (
#860
In Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, browse mode now reports the selected item in list boxes and trees.
This works in Firefox 66 and later.
This does not work for certain list boxes (HTML select controls) in Chrome.
Early support for apps such as Mozilla Firefox on computers with ARM64 (e.g. Qualcomm Snapdragon) processors. (
#9216
A new Advanced Settings category has been added to NVDA's Settings dialog, including an option to try out NVDA's new support for Microsoft Word via the Microsoft UI Automation API. (
#9200
Added support for the graphical view in Windows Disk Management. (
#1486
Added support for Handy Tech Connect Braille and Basic Braille 84. (
#9249
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator to version 3.8.0. (
#9013
Add-on authors now can enforce a minimum required NVDA version for their add-ons. NVDA will refuse to install or load an add-on whose minimum required NVDA version is higher than the current NVDA version. (
#6275
Add-on authors can now specify the last version of NVDA the add-on has been tested against. If an add-on has been only tested against a version of NVDA lower than the current version, then NVDA will refuse to install or load the add-on. (
#6275
This version of NVDA will allow installing and loading of add-ons that do not yet contain Minimum and Last Tested NVDA version information, but upgrading to future versions of NVDA (E.g. 2019.2) may automatically cause these older add-ons to be disabled.
The move mouse to navigator object command is now available in Microsoft Word as well as for UIA controls, particularly Microsoft Edge. (
#7916
#8371
Reporting of text under the mouse has been improved within Microsoft Edge and other UIA applications. (
#8370
When NVDA is started with the
--portable-path
command line parameter, the provided path is automatically filled in when trying to create a portable copy of NVDA using the NVDA menu. (
#8623
Updated the path to the Norwegian braille table to reflect the standard from the year 2015. (
#9170
When navigating by paragraph (control+up or down arrows) or navigating by table cell (control+alt+arrows), the existence of spelling errors will no longer be announced, even if NVDA is configured to announce these automatically. This is because paragraphs and table cells can be quite large, and detecting spelling errors in some applications can be very costly. (
#9217
NVDA no longer automatically loads custom appModules, globalPlugins and braille and synth drivers from the NVDA user configuration directory. This code should be instead packaged as an add-on with correct version information, ensuring that incompatible code is not run with current versions of NVDA. (
#9238
For developers who need to test code as it is being developed, enable NVDA's developer scratchpad directory in the Advanced category of NVDA settings, and place your code in the 'scratchpad' directory found in the NVDA user configuration directory when this option is enabled.
Bug Fixes
When using OneCore speech synthesizer on Windows 10 April 2018 Update and later, large chunks of silence are no longer inserted between speech utterances. (
#8985
When moving by character in plain text controls (such as Notepad) or browse mode, 32 bit emoji characters consisting of two UTF-16 code points (such as 🤦) will now read properly. (
#8782
Improved restart confirmation dialog after changing NVDA's interface language. The text and the button labels are now more concise and less confusing. (
#6416
If a 3rd party speech synthesizer fails to load, NVDA will fall back to Windows OneCore speech synthesizer on Windows 10, rather than espeak. (
#9025
Removed the "Welcome Dialog" entry in the NVDA menu while on secure screens. (
#8520
When tabbing or using quick navigation in browse mode, legends on tab panels are now reported more consistently. (
#709
NVDA will now announce selection changes for certain time pickers such as in the Alarms and Clock app in Windows 10. (
#5231
In Windows 10's Action Center, NVDA will announce status messages when toggling quick actions such as brightness and focus assist. (
#8954
In action Center in Windows 10 October 2018 Update and earlier, NVDA will recognize brightness quick action control as a button instead of a toggle button. (
#8845
NVDA will again track cursor and announce deleted characters in the Microsoft Excel go to and find edit fields. (
#9042
Fixed a rare browse mode crash in Firefox. (
#9152
NVDA no longer fails to report the focus for some controls in the Microsoft Office 2016 ribbon when collapsed.
NVDA no longer fails to report the suggested contact when entering addresses in new messages in Outlook 2016. (
#8502
The last few cursor routing keys on 80 cell eurobraille displays no longer route the cursor to a position at or just after the start of the braille line. (
#9160
Fixed table navigation in threaded view in Mozilla Thunderbird. (
#8396
In Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, switching to focus mode now works correctly for certain list boxes and trees (where the list box/tree is not itself focusable but its items are) . (
#3573
#9157
Browse mode is now correctly turned on by default when reading messages in Outlook 2016/365 if using NVDA's experimental UI Automation support for Word Documents. (
#9188
NVDA is now less likely to freeze in such a way that the only way to escape is signing out from your current windows session. (
#6291
In Windows 10 October 2018 Update and later, when opening cloud clipboard history with clipboard empty, NVDA will announce clipboard status. (
#9103
In Windows 10 October 2018 Update and later, when searching for emojis in emoji panel, NVDA will announce top search result. (
#9105
NVDA no longer freezes in the main window of Oracle VirtualBox 5.2 and above. (
#9202
Responsiveness in Microsoft Word when navigating by line, paragraph or table cell may be significantly improved in some documents. A reminder that for best performance, set Microsoft Word to Draft view with alt+w,e after opening a document. (
#9217
In Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, empty alerts are no longer reported. (
#5657
Significant performance improvements when navigating cells in Microsoft Excel, particularly when the spreadsheet contains comments and or validation dropdown lists. (
#7348
It should be no longer necessary to turn off in-cell editing in Microsoft Excel's options to access the cell edit control with NVDA in Excel 2016/365. (
#8146
).
Fixed a freeze in Firefox sometimes seen when quick navigating by landmarks, if the Enhanced Aria add-on is in use. (
#8980
Changes for Developers
NVDA can now be built with all editions of Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 (not just the Community edition). (
#8939
You can now include log output from liblouis into the NVDA log by setting the louis boolean flag in the debugLogging section of the NVDA configuration. (
#4554
Add-on authors are now able to provide NVDA version compatibility information in add-on manifests. (
#6275
#9055
minimumNVDAVersion: The minimum required version of NVDA for an add-on to work properly.
lastTestedNVDAVersion: The last version of NVDA an add-on has been tested with.
OffsetsTextInfo objects can now implement the _getBoundingRectFromOffset method to allow retrieval of bounding rectangles per characters instead of points. (
#8572
Added a boundingRect property to TextInfo objects to retrieve the bounding rectangle of a range of text. (
#8371
Properties and methods within classes can now be marked as abstract in NVDA. These classes will raise an error if instantiated. (
#8294
#8652
#8658
NVDA can log the time since input when text is spoken, which helps in measuring perceived responsiveness. This can be enabled by setting the timeSinceInput setting to True in the debugLog section of the NVDA configuration. (
#9167
2018.4.1
This release fixes a crash at start up if NVDA's user interface language is set to Aragonese. (
#9089
2018.4
Highlights of this release include performance improvements in recent Mozilla Firefox versions, announcement of emojis with all synthesizers, reporting of replied/forwarded status in Outlook, reporting the distance of the cursor to the edge of a Microsoft Word page, and many bug fixes.
New Features
New braille tables: Chinese (China, Mandarin) grade 1 and grade 2. (
#5553
Replied / Forwarded status is now reported on mail items in the Microsoft Outlook message list. (
#6911
NVDA is now able to read descriptions for emoji as well as other characters that are part of the Unicode Common Locale Data Repository. (
#6523
In Microsoft Word, the cursor's distance from the top and left edges of the page can be reported by pressing NVDA+numpadDelete. (
#1939
In Google Sheets with braille mode enabled, NVDA no longer announces 'selected' on every cell when moving focus between cells. (
#8879
Added support for Foxit Reader and Foxit Phantom PDF. (
#8944
Added support for the DBeaver database tool. (
#8905
Changes
"Report help balloons" in the Object Presentations dialog has been renamed to "Report notifications" to include reporting of toast notifications in Windows 8 and later. (
#5789
In NVDA's keyboard settings, the checkboxes to enable or disable NVDA modifier keys are now displayed in a list rather than as separate checkboxes.
NVDA will no longer present redundant information when reading clock system tray on some versions of Windows. (
#4364
Updated liblouis braille translator to version 3.7.0. (
#8697
Updated eSpeak-NG to commit 919f3240cbb.
Bug Fixes
In Outlook 2016/365, the category and flag status are reported for messages. (
#8603
When NVDA is set to languages such as Kirgyz, Mongolian or Macedonian, it no longer shows a dialog on start-up warning that the language is not supported by the Operating System. (
#8064
Moving the mouse to the navigator object will now much more accurately move the mouse to the browse mode position in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Acrobat Reader DC. (
#6460
Interacting with combo boxes on the web in Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer has been improved. (
#8664
If running on the Japanese version of Windows XP or Vista, NVDA now displays OS version requirements message as expected. (
#8771
Performance improvements when navigating large pages with lots of dynamic changes in Mozilla Firefox. (
#8678
Braille no longer shows font attributes if they have been disabled in Document Formatting settings. (
#7615
NVDA no longer fails to track focus in File Explorer and other applications using UI Automation when another app is busy (such as batch processing audio). (
#7345
In ARIA menus on the web, the Escape key will now be passed through to the menu and no longer turn off focus mode unconditionally. (
#3215
In the new Gmail web interface, when using quick navigation inside messages while reading them, the entire body of the message is no longer reported after the element to which you just navigated. (
#8887
After updating NVDA, Browsers such as Firefox and google Chrome should no longer crash, and browse mode should continue to correctly reflect updates to any currently loaded documents. (
#7641
NVDA no longer reports clickable multiple times in a row when navigating clickable content in Browse Mode. (
#7430
Gestures performed on baum Vario 40 braille displays will no longer fail to execute. (
#8894
In Google Slides with Mozilla Firefox, NVDA no longer reports selected text on every control with focus. (
#8964
Changes for Developers
gui.nvdaControls now contains two classes to create accessible lists with check boxes. (
#7325
CustomCheckListBox is an accessible subclass of wx.CheckListBox.
AutoWidthColumnCheckListCtrl adds accessible check boxes to an AutoWidthColumnListCtrl, which itself is based on wx.ListCtrl.
If you need to make a wx widget accessible which isn't already, it is possible to do so by using an instance of gui.accPropServer.IAccPropServer_impl. (
#7491
See the implementation of gui.nvdaControls.ListCtrlAccPropServer for more info.
Updated configobj to 5.1.0dev commit 5b5de48a. (
#4470
The config.post_configProfileSwitch action now takes the optional prevConf keyword argument, allowing handlers to take action based on differences between configuration before and after the profile switch. (
#8758
2018.3.2
This is a minor release to work around a crash in Google Chrome when navigating tweetts on
www.twitter.com
. (
#8777
2018.3.1
This is a minor release to fix a critical bug in NVDA which caused 32 bit versions of Mozilla Firefox to crash. (
#8759
2018.3
Highlights of this release include automatic detection of many Braille displays, support for new Windows 10 features including the Windows 10 Emoji input panel, and many other bug fixes.
New Features
NVDA will report grammar errors when appropriately exposed by web pages in Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. (
#8280
Content marked as being either inserted or deleted in web pages is now reported in Google Chrome. (
#8558
Added support for BrailleNote QT and Apex BT's scroll wheel when BrailleNote is used as a braille display with NVDA. (
#5992
#5993
Added scripts for reporting elapsed and total time of current track in Foobar2000. (
#6596
The Mac command key symbol (⌘) is now announced when reading text with any synthesizer. (
#8366
Custom roles via the aria-roledescription attribute are now supported in all web browsers. (
#8448
New braille tables: Czech 8 dot, Central Kurdish, Esperanto, Hungarian, Swedish 8 dot computer braille. (
#8226
#8437
Support has been added to automatically detect braille displays in the background. (
#1271
ALVA, Baum/HumanWare/APH/Orbit, Eurobraille, Handy Tech, Hims, SuperBraille and HumanWare BrailleNote and Brailliant BI/B displays are currently supported.
You can enable this feature by selecting the automatic option from the list of braille displays in NVDA's braille display selection dialog.
Please consult the documentation for additional details.
Added support for various modern input features introduced in recent Windows 10 releases. These include emoji panel (Fall Creators Update), dictation (Fall Creators Update), hardware keyboard input suggestions (April 2018 Update), and cloud clipboard paste (October 2018 Update). (
#7273
Content marked as a block quote using ARIA (role blockquote) is now supported in Mozilla Firefox 63. (
#8577
Changes
The list of available languages in NVDA's General Settings is now sorted based on language names instead of ISO 639 codes. (
#7284
Added default gestures for Alt+Shift+Tab and Windows+Tab with all supported Freedom Scientific braille displays. (
#7387
For ALVA BC680 and protocol converter displays, it is now possible to assign different functions to the left and right smart pad, thumb and etouch keys. (
#8230
For ALVA BC6 displays, the key combination sp2+sp3 will now announce the current date and time, whereas sp1+sp2 emulates the Windows key. (
#8230
The user is asked once when NVDA starts if they are happy sending usage statistics to NV Access when checking for NVDA updates. (
#8217
When checking for updates, if the user has agreed to allow sending usage statistics to NV Access, NVDA will now send the name of the current synth driver and braille display in use, to aide in better prioritization for future work on these drivers. (
#8217
Updated liblouis braille translator to version 3.6.0. (
#8365
Updated the path to the correct Russian eight-dots Braille table. (
#8446
Updated eSpeak-ng to 1.49.3dev commit 910f4c2. (
#8561
Bug Fixes
Accessible labels for controls in Google Chrome are now more readily reported in browse mode when the label does not appear as content itself. (
#4773
Notifications are now supported in Zoom. For example, this includes mute/unmute status, and incoming messages. (
#7754
Switching braille context presentation when in browse mode no longer causes braille output to stop following browse mode cursor. (
#7741
ALVA BC680 braille displays no longer intermittently fail to initialize. (
#8106
By default, ALVA BC6 displays will no longer execute emulated system keyboard keys when pressing key combinations involving sp2+sp3 to trigger internal functionality. (
#8230
Pressing sp2 on an ALVA BC6 display to emulate the alt key now works as advertised. (
#8360
NVDA no longer announces redundant keyboard layout changes. (
#7383
#8419
Mouse tracking is now much more accurate in Notepad and other plain text edit controls when in a document with more than 65535 characters. (
#8397
NVDA will recognize more dialogs in Windows 10 and other modern applications. (
#8405
On Windows 10 October 2018 Update and Server 2019 and above, NVDA no longer fails to track the system focus when an application freezes or floods the system with events. (
#7345
#8535
Users are now informed when attempting to read or copy an empty status bar. (
#7789
Fixed an issue where the "not checked" state on controls is not reported in speech if the control has previously been half checked. (
#6946
In the list of languages in NVDA's General Settings, language name for Burmese is displayed correctly on Windows 7. (
#8544
In Microsoft Edge, NVDA will announce notifications such as reading view availability and page load progress. (
#8423
When navigating into a list on the web, NVDA will now report its label if the web author has provided one. (
#7652
When manually assigning functions to gestures for a particular braille display, these gestures now always show up as being assigned to that display. Previously, they showed up as if they were assigned to the currently active display. (
#8108
The 64-bit version of Media Player Classic is now supported. (
#6066
Several improvements to braille support in Microsoft Word with UI Automation enabled:
Similar to other multiline text fields, When positioned at the start of a document in Braille, the display is now panned such that the first character of the document is at the start of the display. (
#8406
Reduced overly verbose focus presentation in both speech and braille when focusing a Word document. (
#8407
Cursor routing in braille now works correctly when in a list in a Word document. (
#7971
Newly inserted bullets/numbers in a Word document are correctly reported in both speech and braille. (
#7970
In Windows 10 1803 and later, it is now possible to install add-ons if the "Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" feature is enabled. (
#8599
NVDA will no longer make iTunes 12.9 and newer completely unusable to interact with. (
#8744
Changes for Developers
Added scriptHandler.script, which can function as a decorator for scripts on scriptable objects. (
#6266
A system test framework has been introduced for NVDA. (
#708
Some changes have been made to the hwPortUtils module: (
#1271
listUsbDevices now yields dictionaries with device information including hardwareID and devicePath.
Dictionaries yielded by listComPorts now also contain a usbID entry for COM ports with USB VID/PID information in their hardware ID.
Updated wxPython to 4.0.3. (
#7077
As NVDA now only supports Windows 7 SP1 and later, the key "minWindowsVersion" used to check if UIA should be enabled for a particular release of Windows has been removed. (
#8422
You can now register to be notified about configuration saves/reset actions via new config.pre_configSave, config.post_configSave, config.pre_configReset, and config.post_configReset actions. (
#7598
config.pre_configSave is used to be notified when NVDA's configuration is about to be saved, and config.post_configSave is called after configuration has been saved.
config.pre_configReset and config.post_configReset includes a factory defaults flag to specify if settings are reloaded from disk (false) or reset to defaults (true).
config.configProfileSwitch has been renamed to config.post_configProfileSwitch to reflect the fact that this action is called after profile switch takes place. (
#7598
UI Automation interfaces updated to Windows 10 October 2018 Update and Server 2019 (IUIAutomation6 / IUIAutomationElement9). (
#8473
2018.2.1
This release includes translation updates due to last-minute removal of a feature which caused problems.
2018.2
Highlights of this release include Support for tables in Kindle for PC, support for HumanWare BrailleNote Touch and BI14 Braille displays, Improvements to both Onecore and Sapi5 speech synthesizers, improvements in Microsoft Outlook and much more.
New Features
row and column span for table cells is now reported in speech and braille. (
#2642
NVDA table navigation commands are now supported in Google Docs (with Braille mode enabled). (
#7946
Added ability to read and navigate tables in Kindle for PC. (
#7977
Support for HumanWare BrailleNote touch and Brailliant BI 14 braille displays via both USB and bluetooth. (
#6524
In Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and later, NVDA can announce notifications from apps such as Calculator and Windows Store. (
#7984
New braille translation tables: Lithuanian 8 dot, Ukrainian, Mongolian grade 2. (
#7839
Added a script to report formatting information for the text under a specific braille cell. (
#7106
When updating NVDA, it is now possible to postpone the installation of the update to a later moment. (
#4263
New languages: Mongolian, Swiss German.
You can now toggle control, shift, alt, windows and NVDA from your braille keyboard and combine these modifiers with braille input (e.g. press control+s). (
#7306
You can assign these new modifier toggles using the commands found under Emulated system keyboard keys in the Input gestures dialog.
Restored support for Handy Tech Braillino and Modular (with old firmware) displays. (
#8016
Date and time for supported Handy Tech devices (such as Active Braille and Active Star) will now automatically be synchronized by NVDA when out of sync more than five seconds. (
#8016
An input gesture can be assigned to temporarily disable all configuration profile triggers. (
#4935
Changes
The status column in the addons manager has been changed to indicate if the addon is enabled or disabled rather than running or suspended. (
#7929
Updated liblouis braille translator to 3.5.0. (
#7839
The Lithuanian braille table has been renamed to Lithuanian 6 dot to avoid confusion with the new 8 dot table. (
#7839
The French (Canada) grade 1 and grade 2 tables have been removed. Instead, the French (unified) 6 dot computer braille and Grade 2 tables will be used respectively. (
#7839
The secondary routing buttons on Alva BC6, EuroBraille and Papenmeier braille displays now report formatting information for the text under the braille cell of that button. (
#7106
Contracted braille input tables will automatically fall back to uncontracted mode in non-editable cases (i.e. controls where there is no cursor or in browse mode). (
#7306
NVDA is now less verbose when an appointment or time slot in the Outlook calendar covers an entire day. (
#7949
All of NVDA's Preferences can now be found in one settings dialog under NVDA Menu -> Preferences -> Settings, rather than scattered throughout many dialogs. (
#577
The default speech synthesizer when running on Windows 10 is now oneCore speech rather than eSpeak. (
#8176
Bug Fixes
NVDA no longer fails to read focused controls in the Microsoft Account sign-in screen in Settings after entering an email address. (
#7997
NVDA no longer fails to read the page when going back to a previous page in Microsoft Edge. (
#7997
NVDA will no longer incorrectly announce the final character of a windows 10 sign-in PIN as the machine unlocks. (
#7908
Labels of checkboxes and radio buttons in Chrome and Firefox are no longer reported twice when tabbing or using quick navigation in Browse mode. (
#7960
aria-current with a value of false will be announced as "false" instead of "true". (
#7892
).
Windows OneCore Voices no longer fails to load if the configured voice has been uninstalled. (
#7553
Changing voices in the Windows OneCore Voices is now a lot faster. (
#7999
Fixed malformed braille output for several braille tables, including capital signs in 8 dot contracted Danish braille. (
#7526
#7693
NVDA can now report more bullet types in Microsoft Word. (
#6778
Pressing the report formatting script no longer incorrectly moves the reviewPosition and therefore pressing it multiple times no longer gives different results. (
#7869
Braille input no longer allows you to use contracted braille in cases where it is not supported (i.e. whole words will no longer be sent to the system outside text content and in browse mode). (
#7306
Fixed connection stability issues for Handy Tech Easy Braille and Braille Wave displays. (
#8016
On Windows 8 and later, NVDA will no longer announce "unknown" when opening quick link menu )Windows+X) and selecting items from this menu. (
#8137
Model specific gestures to buttons on Hims displays are now working as advertised in the user guide. (
#8096
NVDA will now try to correct system COM registration issues causing programs such as Firefox and Internet Explorer to become inaccessible and report "Unknown" by NVDA. (
#2807
Worked around a bug in Task Manager causing NVDA to not allow users to access the contents of specific details about processes. (
#8147
Newer Microsoft SAPI5 voices no longer lag at the end of speech, making it much more efficient to navigate with these voices. (
#8174
NVDA no longer reports (LTR and RTL marks) in Braille or per-character speech when accessing the clock in recent versions of Windows. (
#5729
Detection of scroll keys on Hims Smart Beetle displays is once more no longer unreliable. (
#6086
In some text controls, particularly in Delphi applications, the information provided about editing and navigating is now much more reliable. (
#636
#8102
In Windows 10 RS5, NVDA no longer reports extra redundant information when switching tasks with alt+tab. (
#8258
Changes for developers
The developer info for UIA objects now contains a list of the UIA patterns available. (
#5712
App modules can now force certain windows to always use UIA by implementing the isGoodUIAWindow method. (
#7961
The hidden boolean flag "outputPass1Only" in the braille section of the configuration has again been removed. Liblouis no longer supports pass 1 only output. (
#7839
2018.1.1
This is a special release of NVDA which addresses a bug in the Onecore Windows Speech synthesizer driver, which was causing it to speak with a higher pitch and speed in Windows 10 Redstone 4 (1803). (
#8082
2018.1
Highlights of this release include support for charts in Microsoft word and PowerPoint, support for new braille displays including Eurobraille and the Optelec protocol converter, improved support for Hims and Optelec braille displays, performance improvements for Mozilla Firefox 58 and higher, and much more.
New Features
It is now possible to interact with charts in Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint, similar to the existing support for charts in Microsoft Excel. (
#7046
In Microsoft Word: When in browse mode, cursor to an embedded chart and press enter to interact with it.
In Microsoft PowerPoint when editing a slide: tab to a chart object, and press enter or space to interact with the chart.
To stop interacting with a chart, press escape.
New language: Kyrgyz.
Added support for VitalSource Bookshelf. (
#7155
Added support for the Optelec protocol converter, a device that allows one to use Braille Voyager and Satellite displays using the ALVA BC6 communication protocol. (
#6731
It is now possible to use braille input with an ALVA 640 Comfort braille display. (
#7733
NVDA's braille input functionality can be used with these as well as other BC6 displays with firmware 3.0.0 and above.
Early support for Google Sheets with Braille mode enabled. (
#7935
Support for Eurobraille Esys, Esytime and Iris braille displays. (
#7488
Changes
The HIMS Braille Sense/Braille EDGE/Smart Beetle and Hims Sync Braille display drivers have been replaced by one driver. The new driver will automatically be activated for former syncBraille driver users. (
#7459
Some keys , notably scroll keys, have been reassigned to follow the conventions used by Hims products. Consult the user guide for more details.
When typing with the on-screen keyboard via touch interaction, by default you now need to double tap each key the same way you would activate any other control. (
#7309
To use the existing "touch typing" mode where simply lifting your finger off the key is enough to activate it, Enable this option in the new Touch Interaction settings dialog found in the Preferences menu.
It is no longer necessary to explicitly tether braille to focus or review, as this will happen automatically by default. (
#2385
Note that automatic tethering to review will only occur when using a review cursor or object navigation command. Scrolling will not activate this new behavior.
Bug Fixes
Browseable messages such as showing current formatting when pressing NVDA+f twice quickly no longer fails when NVDA is installed on a path with non-ASCII characters. (
#7474
Focus is now once again restored correctly when returning to Spotify from another application. (
#7689
In Windows 10 Fall Creaters Update, NVDA no longer fails to update when Controlled Folder Access is enabled from Windows Defender Security Center. (
#7696
Detection of scroll keys on Hims Smart Beetle displays is no longer unreliable. (
#6086
A slight performance improvement when rendering large amounts of content in Mozilla Firefox 58 and later. (
#7719
In Microsoft Outlook, reading emails containing tables no longer causes errors. (
#6827
Braille display gestures that emulate system keyboard key modifiers can now also be combined with other emulated system keyboard keys if one or more of the involved gestures are model specific. (
#7783
In Mozilla Firefox, browse mode now works correctly in pop-ups created by extensions such as LastPass and bitwarden. (
#7809
NVDA no longer sometimes freezes on every focus change if Firefox or Chrome have stopped responding such as due to a freeze or crash. (
#7818
In twitter clients such as Chicken Nugget, NVDA will no longer ignore the last 20 characters of 280 character tweets when reading them. (
#7828
NVDA now uses the correct language when announcing symbols when text is selected. (
#7687
In recent versions of Office 365, it is again possible to navigate Excel charts using the arrow keys. (
#7046
In speech and braille output, control states will now always be reported in the same order, regardless whether they are positive or negative. (
#7076
In apps such as Windows 10 Mail, NVDA will no longer fail to announce deleted characters when pressing backspace. (
#7456
All keys on the Hims Braille Sense Polaris displays are now working as expected. (
#7865
NVDA no longer fails to start on Windows 7 complaining about an internal api-ms dll, when a particular version of the Visual Studio 2017 redistributables have been installed by another application. (
#7975
Changes for developers
Added a hidden boolean flag to the braille section in the configuration: "outputPass1Only". (
#7301
#7693
#7702
This flag defaults to true. If false, liblouis multi pass rules will be used for braille output.
A new dictionary (braille.RENAMED_DRIVERS) has been added to allow for smooth transition for users using drivers that have been superseded by others. (
#7459
Updated comtypes package to 1.1.3. (
#7831
Implemented a generic system in braille.BrailleDisplayDriver to deal with displays which send confirmation/acknowledgement packets. See the handyTech braille display driver as an example. (
#7590
#7721
A new "isAppX" variable in the config module can be used to detect if NVDA is running as a Windows Desktop Bridge Store app. (
#7851
For document implementations such as NVDAObjects or browseMode that have a textInfo, there is now a new documentBase.documentWithTableNavigation class that can be inherited from to gain standard table navigation scripts. Please refer to this class to see which helper methods must be provided by your implementation for table navigation to work. (
#7849
The scons batch file now better handles when Python 3 is also installed, making use of the launcher to specifically launch python 2.7 32 bit. (
#7541
hwIo.Hid now takes an additional parameter exclusive, which defaults to True. If set to False, other applications are allowed to communicate with a device while it is connected to NVDA. (
#7859
2017.4
Highlights of this release include many fixes and enhancements to web support including browse mode for web dialogs by default, better reporting of field group labels in browse mode, support for new Windows 10 technologies such as Windows Defender Application Guard and Windows 10 on ARM64, and automatic reporting of screen orientation and battery status.
Please note that this version of NVDA no longer supports Windows XP or Windows Vista. The minimum requirement for NVDA is now windows 7 with Service Pack 1.
New Features
In browse mode, it is now possible to skip past/to the start of landmarks using the skip to end/beginning of container commands (comma/shift+comma). (
#5482
In Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer, quick navigation to edit fields and form fields now includes editable rich text content (I.e. contentEditable). (
#5534
In web browsers, the Elements List can now list form fields and buttons. (
#588
Initial support for Windows 10 on ARM64. (
#7508
Early support for reading and interactive navigation of mathematical content for Kindle books with accessible math. (
#7536
Added support for Azardi e-book reader. (
#5848
Version information for add-ons is now reported when being updated. (
#5324
Added new command line parameters to create a portable copy of NVDA. (
#6329
Support for Microsoft Edge running within Windows Defender Application Guard in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. (
#7600
If running on a laptop or tablet, NVDA will now report when a charger is connected/disconnected, and when the screen orientation changes. (
#4574
#4612
New language: Macedonian.
New braille translation tables: Croatian grade 1, Vietnamese grade 1. (
#7518
#7565
Support for the Actilino braille display from Handy Tech has been added. (
#7590
Braille input for Handy Tech braille displays is now supported. (
#7590
Changes
The minimum supported Operating System for NVDA is now Windows 7 Service Pack 1, or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. (
#7546
Web dialogs in Firefox and Chrome web browsers now automatically use browse Mode, unless inside of a web application. (
#4493
In browse mode, tabbing and moving with quick navigation commands no longer announces jumping out of containers such as lists and tables, which makes navigating more efficient. (
#2591
In Browse mode for Firefox and Chrome, the name of form field groups are now announced when moving into them with quick navigation or when tabbing. (
#3321
In browse mode, the quick navigation command for embedded objects (o and shift+o) now includes audio and video elements as well as elements with the aria roles application and dialog. (
#7239
Espeak-ng has been updated to 1.49.2, resolving some issues with producing release builds. (
#7385
#7583
On the third activation of the 'read status bar' command, its contents is copied to the clipboard. (
#1785
When assigning gestures to keys on a Baum display, you can limit them to the model of the braille display in use (e.g. VarioUltra or Pronto). (
#7517
The hotkey for the filter field in the elements list in browse mode has changed from alt+f to alt+e. (
#7569
An unbound command has been added for browse mode to toggle the inclusion of layout tables on the fly. You can find this command in the Browse mode category of the Input Gestures dialog. (
#7634
Upgraded liblouis braille translator to 3.3.0. (
#7565
The hotkey for the regular expression radio button in the dictionary dialog has changed from alt+r to alt+e. (
#6782
Voice dictionary files are now versioned and have been moved to the 'speechDicts/voiceDicts.v1' directory. (
#7592
Versioned files (user configuration, voice dictionaries) modifications are no longer saved when NVDA is run from the launcher. (
#7688
The Braillino, Bookworm and Modular (with old firmware) braille displays from Handy Tech are no longer supported out of the box. Install the Handy Tech Universal Driver and NVDA add-on to use these displays. (
#7590
Bug Fixes
Links are now indicated in braille in applications such as Microsoft Word. (
#6780
NVDA no longer becomes noticeably slower when many tabs are open in either Firefox or Chrome web browsers. (
#3138
Cursor routing for the MDV Lilli Braille display no longer incorrectly moves one braille cell ahead of where it should be. (
#7469
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML documents, the HTML5 required attribute is now supported to indicate the required state of a form field. (
#7321
Braille displays are now updated when typing Arabic characters in a left-aligned WordPad document. (
#511
Accessible labels for controls in Mozilla Firefox are now more readily reported in browse mode when the label does not appear as content itself. (
#4773
On windows 10 Creaters Update, NVDA can again access Firefox after a restart of NVDA. (
#7269
When restarting NVDA with Mozilla Firefox in focus, browse mode will again be available, though you may need to alt+tab away and back again. (
#5758
It is now possible to access math content in Google Chrome on a system with out Mozilla Firefox installed. (
#7308
The Operating System and other applications should be more stable directly after installing NVDA before rebooting, as compaired with installs of previous NVDA versions. (
#7563
When using a content recognition command (e.g. NVDA+r), NVDA now reports an error message instead of nothing if the navigator object has disappeared. (
#7567
Backward scrolling functionality has been fixed for Freedom Scientific braille displays containing a left bumper bar. (
#7713
Changes for Developers
"scons tests" now checks that translatable strings have translator comments. You can also run this alone with "scons checkPot". (
#7492
There is now a new extensionPoints module which provides a generic framework to enable code extensibility at specific points in the code. This allows interested parties to register to be notified when some action occurs (extensionPoints.Action), to modify a specific kind of data (extensionPoints.Filter) or to participate in deciding whether something will be done (extensionPoints.Decider). (
#3393
You can now register to be notified about configuration profile switches via the config.configProfileSwitched Action. (
#3393
Braille display gestures that emulate system keyboard key modifiers (such as control and alt) can now be combined with other emulated system keyboard keys without explicit definition. (
#6213
For example, if you have a key on your display bound to the alt key and another display key to downArrow, combining these keys will result in the emulation of alt+downArrow.
The braille.BrailleDisplayGesture class now has an extra model property. If provided, pressing a key will generate an additional, model specific gesture identifier. This allows a user to bind gestures limited to a specific braille display model.
See the baum driver as an example for this new functionality.
NVDA is now compiled with Visual Studio 2017 and the Windows 10 SDK. (
#7568
2017.3
Highlights of this release include input of contracted braille, support for new Windows OneCore voices available on Windows 10, in-built support for Windows 10 OCR, and many significant improvements regarding Braille and the web.
New Features
A Braille setting has been added to "show messages indefinitely". (
#6669
In Microsoft Outlook message lists, NVDA now reports if a message is flagged. (
#6374
In Microsoft PowerPoint, the exact type of a shape is now reported when editing a slide (such as triangle, circle, video or arrow), rather than just "shape". (
#7111
Mathematical content (provided as MathML) is now supported in Google Chrome. (
#7184
NVDA can now speak using the new Windows OneCore voices (also known as Microsoft Mobile voices) included in Windows 10. You access these by selecting Windows OneCore voices in NVDA's Synthesizer dialog. (
#6159
NVDA user configuration files can now be stored in the user's local application data folder. This is enabled via a setting in the registry. See "System Wide Parameters" in the User Guide for more details. (
#6812
In web browsers, NVDA now reports placeholder values for fields (specifically, aria-placeholder is now supported). (
#7004
In Browse mode for Microsoft Word, it is now possible to navigate to spelling errors using quick navigation (w and shift+w). (
#6942
Added support for the Date picker control found in Microsoft Outlook Appointment dialogs. (
#7217
The currently selected suggestion is now reported in Windows 10 Mail to/cc fields and the Windows 10 Settings search field. (
#6241
A sound is now playd to indicate the appearance of suggestions in certain search fields in Windows 10 (E.g. start screen, settings search, Windows 10 mail to/cc fields). (
#6241
NVDA now automatically reports notifications in Skype for Business Desktop, such as when someone starts a conversation with you. (
#7281
NVDA now automatically reports incoming chat messages while in a Skype for Business conversation. (
#7286
NVDA now automatically reports notifications in Microsoft Edge, such as when a download starts. (
#7281
You can now type in both contracted and uncontracted braille on a braille display with a braille keyboard. See the Braille Input section of the User Guide for details. (
#2439
You can now enter Unicode braille characters from the braille keyboard on a braille display by selecting Unicode braille as the input table in Braille Settings. (
#6449
Added support for the SuperBraille braille display used in Taiwan. (
#7352
New braille translation tables: Danish 8 dot computer braille, Lithuanian, Persian 8 dot computer braille, Persian grade 1, Slovenian 8 dot computer braille. (
#6188
#6550
#6773
#7367
Improved English (U.S.) 8 dot computer braille table, including support for bullets, the euro sign and accented letters. (
#6836
NVDA can now use the OCR functionality included in Windows 10 to recognize the text of images or inaccessible applications. (
#7361
The language can be set from the new Windows 10 OCR dialog in NVDA Preferences.
To recognize the content of the current navigator object, press NVDA+r.
See the Content Recognition section of the User Guide for further details.
You can now choose what context information is shown on a braille display when an object gets focus using the new "Focus context presentation" setting in the Braille Settings dialog. (
#217
For example, the "Fill display for context changes" and "Only when scrolling back" options can make working with lists and menus more efficient, since the items won't continually change their position on the display.
See the section on the "Focus context presentation" setting in the User Guide for further details and examples.
In Firefox and Chrome, NVDA now supports complex dynamic grids such as spreadsheets where only some of the content might be loaded or displayed (specifically, the aria-rowcount, aria-colcount, aria-rowindex and aria-colindex attributes introduced in ARIA 1.1). (
#7410
Changes
An unbound command has been added to restart NVDA on demand. You can find it in the Miscelaneous category of the Input Gestures dialog. (
#6396
The keyboard layout can now be set from the NVDA Welcome dialog. (
#6863
Many more control types and states have been abbreviated for braille. Landmarks have also been abbreviated. Please see "Control Type, State and Landmark Abbreviations" under Braille in the User Guide for a complete list. (
#7188
#3975
Updated eSpeak NG to 1.49.1. (
#7280
The output and input table lists in the Braille Settings dialog are now sorted alphabetically. (
#6113
Updated liblouis braille translator to 3.2.0. (
#6935
The default braille table is now Unified English Braille Code grade 1. (
#6952
By default, NVDA now only shows the parts of the context information that have changed on a braille display when an object gets focus. (
#217
Previously, it always showed as much context information as possible, regardless of whether you have seen the same context information before.
You can revert to the old behaviour by changing the new "Focus context presentation" setting in the Braille Settings dialog to "Always fill display".
When using Braille, the cursor can be configured to be a different shape when tethered to focus or review. (
#7122
The NVDA logo has been updated. The updated NVDA logo is a stylised blend of the letters NVDA in white, on a solid purple background. This ensures it will be visible on any colour background, and uses the purple from the NV Access logo. (
#7446
Bug Fixes
Editable div elements in Chrome no longer have their label reported as their value while in browse mode. (
#7153
Pressing end while in browse mode for an empty Microsoft Word document no longer causes a runtime error. (
#7009
Browse mode is now correctly supported in Microsoft Edge where a document has been given a specific ARIA role of document. (
#6998
In browse mode, you can now select or unselect to the end of the line using shift+end even when the caret is on the last character of the line. (
#7157
If a dialog contains a progress bar, the dialog text is now updated in braille when the progress bar changes. This means, for example, that the remaining time can now be read in NVDA's "Downloading Update" dialog. (
#6862
NVDA will now announce selection changes for certain Windows 10 combo boxes such as AutoPlay in Settings. (
#6337
).
Pointless information is no longer announced when entering Meeting / Appointment creation dialogs in Microsoft Outlook. (
#7216
Beeps for indeterminate progress bar dialogs such as the update checker only when progress bar output is configured to include beeps. (
#6759
In Microsoft Excel 2003 and 2007, cells are again reported when arrowing around a worksheet. (
#7243
In Windows 10 Creators Update and later, browse mode is again automatically enabled when reading emails in Windows 10 Mail. (
#7289
On most braille displays with a braille keyboard, dot 7 now erases the last entered braille cell or character, and dot 8 presses the enter key. (
#6054
In editable text, when moving the caret (e.g. with the cursor keys or backspace), NVDA's spoken feedback is now more accurate in many cases, particularly in Chrome and terminal applications. (
#6424
The content of the Signature Editor in Microsoft Outlook 2016 can now be read. (
#7253
In Java Swing applications, NVDA no longer sometimes causes the application to crash when navigating tables. (
#6992
In Windows 10 Creators Update, NVDA will no longer announce toast notifications multiple times. (
#7128
In The start menu in Windows 10, pressing Enter to close the start menu after a search no longer causes NVDA to announce search text. (
#7370
Performing quick navigation to headings in Microsoft Edge is now significantly faster. (
#7343
In Microsoft Edge, navigating in browse mode no longer skips large parts of certain web pages such as the Wordpress 2015 theme. (
#7143
In Microsoft Edge, landmarks are correctly localized in languages other than English. (
#7328
Braille now correctly follows the selection when selecting text beyond the width of the display. For example, if you select multiple lines with shift+downArrow, braille now shows the last line you selected. (
#5770
In Firefox, NVDA no longer spuriously reports "section" several times when opening details for a tweet on twitter.com. (
#5741
Table navigation commands are no longer available for layout tables in Browse Mode unless reporting of layout tables is enabled. (
#7382
In Firefox and Chrome, Browse Mode table navigation commands now skip over hidden table cells. (
#6652
#5655
Changes for Developers
Timestamps in the log now include milliseconds. (
#7163
NVDA must now be built with Visual Studio Community 2015. Visual Studio Express is no longer supported. (
#7110
The Windows 10 Tools and SDK are now also required, which can be enabled when installing Visual Studio.
See the Installed Dependencies section of the readme for additional details.
Support for content recognizers such as OCR and image description tools can be easily implemented using the new contentRecog package. (
#7361
The Python json package is now included in NVDA binary builds. (
#3050
2017.2
Highlights of this release include full support for audio ducking in the Windows 10 Creators Update; fixes for several selection issues in browse mode, including problems with select all; significant improvements in Microsoft Edge support; and improvements on the web such as indication of elements marked as current (using aria-current).
New Features
Cell border information can now be reported in Microsoft Excel by using NVDA+f. (
#3044
In web browsers, NVDA now indicates when an element has been marked as current (specifically, using the aria-current attribute). (
#6358
Automatic language switching is now supported in Microsoft Edge. (
#6852
Added support for Windows Calculator on Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB (Long-Term Servicing Branch) and Server. (
#6914
Performing the read current line command three times quickly spells the line with character descriptions. (
#6893
New language: Burmese.
Unicode up and down arrows and fraction symbols are now spoken appropriately. (
#3805
Changes
When navigating with simple review in applications using UI Automation, more extraneous objects are now ignored, making navigation easier. (
#6948
#6950
Bug Fixes
Web page menu items can now be activated while in browse mode. (
#6735
Pressing escape while the configuration profile "Confirm Deletion" dialog is active now dismisses the dialog. (
#6851
Fixed some crashes in Mozilla Firefox and other Gecko applications where the multi-process feature is enabled. (
#6885
Reporting of background color in screen review is now more accurate when text was drawn with a transparent background. (
#6467
Improved support for control descriptions provided on web pages in Internet Explorer 11 (specifically, support for aria-describedby within iframes and when multiple IDs are provided). (
#5784
In the Windows 10 Creators Update, NVDA's audio ducking again works as in previous Windows releases; i.e. Duck with speech and sounds, always duck and no ducking are all available. (
#6933
NVDA will no longer fail to navigate to or report certain (UIA) controls where a keyboard shortcut is not defined. (
#6779
Two empty spaces are no longer added in keyboard shortcut information for certain (UIA) controls. (
#6790
Certain combinations of keys on HIMS displays (e.g. space+dot4) no longer fail intermittently. (
#3157
Fixed an issue when opening a serial port on systems using certain languages other than English which caused connecting to braille displays to fail in some cases. (
#6845
Reduced the chance of the configuration file being corrupted when Windows shuts down. Configuration files are now written to a temporary file before replacing the actual configuration file. (
#3165
When performing the read current line command twice quickly to spell the line, the appropriate language is now used for the spelled characters. (
#6726
Navigating by line in Microsoft Edge is now up to three times faster in the Windows 10 Creators Update. (
#6994
NVDA no longer announces "Web Runtime grouping" when focusing Microsoft Edge documents in the Windows 10 Creators Update. (
#6948
All existing versions of SecureCRT are now supported. (
#6302
Adobe Acrobat Reader no longer crashes in certain PDF documents (specifically, those containing empty ActualText attributes). (
#7021
#7034
In browse mode in Microsoft Edge, interactive tables (ARIA grids) are no longer skipped when navigating to tables with t and shift+t. (
#6977
In browse mode, pressing shift+home after selecting forward now unselects to the beginning of the line as expected. (
#5746
In browse mode, select all (control+a) no longer fails to select all text if the caret is not at the start of the text. (
#6909
Fixed some other rare selection problems in browse mode. (
#7131
Changes for Developers
Commandline arguments are now processed with Python's argparse module, rather than optparse. This allows certain options such as -r and -q to be handled exclusively. (
#6865
core.callLater now queues the callback to NVDA's main queue after the given delay, rather than waking the core and executing it directly. This stops possible freezes due to the core accidentally going to sleep after processing a callback, in the midle of a modal call such as the desplaying of a message box. (
#6797
The InputGesture.identifiers property has been changed so that it is no longer normalized. (
#6945
Subclasses no longer need to normalize identifiers before returning them from this property.
If you want normalized identifiers, there is now an InputGesture.normalizedIdentifiers property which normalizes the identifiers returned by the identifiers property .
The InputGesture.logIdentifier property is now deprecated. Callers should use InputGesture.identifiers[0] instead. (
#6945
Removed some deprecated code:
speech.REASON_*
constants:
controlTypes.REASON_*
should be used instead. (
#6846
i18nName
for synth settings:
displayName
and
displayNameWithAccelerator
should be used instead. (
#6846
#5185
config.validateConfig
. (
#6846
#667
config.save
config.conf.save
should be used instead. (
#6846
#667
The list of completions in the autocomplete context menu of the Python Console no longer shows any object path leading up to the final symbol being completed. (
#7023
There is now a unit testing framework for NVDA. (
#7026
Unit tests and infrastructure are located in the tests/unit directory. See the docstring in the tests\unit\init.py file for details.
You can run tests using "scons tests". See the "Running Tests" section of readme.md for details.
If you are submitting a pull request for NVDA, you should first run the tests and ensure they pass.
2017.1
Highlights of this release include reporting of sections and text columns in Microsoft Word; Support for reading, navigating and annotating books in Kindle for PC; and improved support for Microsoft Edge.
New Features
In Microsoft Word, the types of section breaks and section numbers can now be reported. This is enabled with the "Report page numbers" option in the Document Formatting dialog. (
#5946
In Microsoft Word, text columns can now be reported. This is enabled with the "Report page numbers" option in the document formatting dialog. (
#5946
Automatic language switching is now supported in WordPad. (
#6555
The NVDA find command (NVDA+control+f) is now supported in browse mode in Microsoft Edge. (
#6580
Quick navigation for buttons in browse mode (b and shift+b) is now supported in Microsoft Edge. (
#6577
When copying a sheet in Microsoft Excel, column and row headers are remembered. (
#6628
Support for reading and navigating books in Kindle for PC version 1.19, including access to links, footnotes, graphics, highlighted text and user notes. Please see the Kindle for PC section of the NVDA User Guide for further information. (
#6247
#6638
Browse mode table navigation is now supported in Microsoft Edge. (
#6594
In Microsoft Excel, the report review cursor location command (desktop: NVDA+numpadDelete, laptop: NVDA+delete) now reports the name of the worksheet and the cell location. (
#6613
Added an option to the exit dialog to restart with debug level logging. (
#6689
Changes
The minimum braille cursor blink rate is now 200 ms. If this was previously set lower, it will be increased to 200 ms. (
#6470
A check box has been added to the braille settings dialog to allow enabling/disabling braille cursor blinking. Previously a value of zero was used to achieve this. (
#6470
Updated eSpeak NG (commit e095f008, 10 January 2017). (
#6717
Due to changes In the Windows 10 Creators Update, the "Always duck" mode is no longer available in NVDA's Audio ducking settings. It is still available on older windows 10 releases. (
#6684
Due to changes in the Windows 10 Creators Update, the "Duck when outputting speech and sounds" mode can no longer ensure audio has ducked fully before starting to speak, nor will it keep audio ducked long enough after speaking to stop rappid bouncing in volume. These changes do not affect older windows 10 releases. (
#6684
Bug Fixes
Fixed freeze in Microsoft Word when moving by paragraph through a large document while in browse mode. (
#6368
Tables in Microsoft Word that have been copied from Microsoft Excel are no longer treeted as layout tables and therefore are no longer ignored. (
#5927
When trying to type in Microsoft Excel while in protected view, NVDA now makes a sound rather than speaking characters that were not actually typed. (
#6570
Pressing escape in Microsoft Excel no longer incorrectly switches to browse mode, unless the user has previously switched to browse mode explicitly with NVDA+space and then entered focus mode by pressing enter on a form field. (
#6569
NVDA no longer freezes in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets where an entire row or column is merged. (
#6216
Reporting of cropped/overflowed text in Microsoft Excel cells should now be more accurate. (
#6472
NVDA now reports when a check box is read-only. (
#6563
The NVDA launcher will no longer show a warning dialog when it can't play the logo sound due to no audio device being available. (
#6289
Controls in the Microsoft Excel Ribbon that are unavailable are now reported as such. (
#6430
NVDA will no longer announce "pane" when minimizing windows. (
#6671
Typed characters are now spoken in Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (including Microsoft Edge) in the Windows 10 Creators Update. (
#6017
Mouse tracking now works across all screens on computers with multiple monitors. (
#6598
NVDA no longer becomes unusable after exiting Windows Media Player while focused on a slider control. (
#5467
Changes for Developers
Profiles and configuration files are now automatically upgraded to meet the requirements of schema modifications. If there is an error during upgrade, a notification is shown, the configuration is reset and the old configuration file is available in the NVDA log at 'Info' level. (
#6470
2016.4
Highlights of this release include improved support for Microsoft Edge; browse mode in the Windows 10 Mail app; and significant improvements to NVDA's dialogs.
New Features
NVDA can now indicate line indentation using tones. This can be configured using the "Line indentation reporting" combo box in NVDA's Document Formatting preferences dialog. (
#5906
Support for the Orbit Reader 20 braille display. (
#6007
An option to open the speech viewer window on startup has been added. This can be enabled via a check box in the speech viewer window. (
#5050
When re-opening the speech viewer window, the location and dimensions will now be restored. (
#5050
Cross-reference fields in Microsoft Word are now treated like hyperlinks. They are reported as links and can be activated. (
#6102
Support for the Baum SuperVario2, Baum Vario 340 and HumanWare Brailliant2 braille displays. (
#6116
Initial support for the Anniversary update of Microsoft Edge. (
#6271
Browse mode is now used when reading emails in the Windows 10 mail app. (
#6271
New language: Lithuanian.
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator to 3.0.0. This includes significant enhancements to Unified English Braille. (
#6109
#4194
#6220
#6140
In the Add-ons Manager, the Disable add-on and Enable add-on buttons now have keyboard shortcuts (alt+d and alt+e, respectively). (
#6388
Various padding and alignment issues in NVDA's dialogs have been resolved. (
#6317
#5548
#6342
#6343
#6349
The document formatting dialog has been adjusted so that the contents scrolls. (
#6348
Adjusted the layout of the Symbol Pronunciation dialog so the full width of the dialog is used for the symbols list. (
#6101
In browse mode in web browsers, the edit field (e and shift+e) and form field (f and shift+f) single letter navigation commands can now be used to move to read-only edit fields. (
#4164
In NVDA's Document Formatting settings, "Announce formatting changes after the cursor" has been renamed to "Report formatting changes after the cursor", as it affects braille as well as speech. (
#6336
Adjusted the appearance of the NVDA "Welcome dialog". (
#6350
NVDA dialog boxes now have their "ok" and "cancel" buttons aligned to the right of the dialog. (
#6333
Spin Controls are now used for numeric input fields such as the "Capital pitch change percentage" setting in the Voice Settings dialog. You can enter the desired value or use the up and down arrow keys to adjust the value. (
#6099
The way IFrames (documents embedded within documents) are reported has been made more consistent across web browsers. IFrames are now reported as "frame" in Firefox. (
#6047
Bug Fixes
Fixed a rare error when exiting NVDA while the speech viewer is open. (
#5050
Image maps now render as expected in browse mode in Mozilla Firefox. (
#6051
While in the dictionary dialog, pressing the enter key now saves any changes you have made and closes the dialog. Previously, pressing enter did nothing. (
#6206
Messages are now displayed in braille when changing input modes for an input method (native input/alphanumeric, full shaped/half shaped, etc.). (
#5892
#5893
When disabling and then immediately re-enabling an add-on or vice versa, the add-on status now correctly reverts to what it was previously. (
#6299
When using Microsoft Word, page number fields in headers can now be read. (
#6004
The mouse can now be used to move focus between the symbol list and the edit fields in the symbol pronunciation dialog. (
#6312
In browse mode in Microsoft Word, Fixed an issue that stops the elements list from appearing when a document contains an invalid hyperlink. (
#5886
After being closed via the task bar or the alt+F4 shortcut, the speech viewer check box in the NVDA menu will now reflect the actual visibility of the window. (
#6340
The reload plugins command no longer causes problems for triggered configuration profiles, new documents in web browsers and screen review. (
#2892
#5380
In the list of languages in NVDA's General Settings dialog, languages such as Aragonese are now displayed correctly on Windows 10. (
#6259
Emulated system keyboard keys (e.g. a button on a braille display which emulates pressing the tab key) are now presented in the configured NVDA language in input help and the Input Gestures dialog. Previously, they were always presented in English. (
#6212
Changing the NVDA language (from the General Settings dialog) now has no effect until NVDA is restarted. (
#4561
It is no longer possible to leave the Pattern field blank for a new speech dictionary entry. (
#6412
Fixed a rare issue when scanning for serial ports on some systems which made some braille display drivers unusable. (
#6462
In Microsoft Word, Numbered bullets in table cells are now read when moving by cell. (
#6446
It is now possible to assign gestures to commands for the Handy Tech braille display driver in the NVDA Input Gestures dialog. (
#6461
In Microsoft Excel, pressing enter or numpadEnter when navigating a spreadsheet now correctly reports navigation to the next row. (
#6500
iTunes no longer intermittently freezes forever when using browse mode for the iTunes Store, Apple Music, etc. (
#6502
Fixed crashes in 64 bit Mozilla and Chrome-based applications. (
#6497
In Firefox with multi-process enabled, browse mode and editable text fields now function correctly. (
#6380
Changes for Developers
It is now possible to provide app modules for executables containing a dot (.) in their names. Dots are replaced with underscores (_). (
#5323
The new gui.guiHelper module includes utilities to simplify the creation of wxPython GUIs, including automatic management of spacing. This facilitates better visual appearance and consistency, as well as easing creation of new GUIs for blind developers. (
#6287
2016.3
Highlights of this release include the ability to disable individual add-ons; support for form fields in Microsoft Excel; significant improvements to reporting of colors; fixes and improvements related to several braille displays; and fixes and improvements to support for Microsoft Word.
New Features
Browse mode can now be used to read PDF documents in Microsoft Edge in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. (
#5740
Strikethrough and double-strikethrough are now reported if appropriate in Microsoft Word. (
#5800
In Microsoft Word, the title of a table is now reported if one has been provided. If there is a description, it can be accessed using the open long description command (NVDA+d) in browse mode. (
#5943
In Microsoft Word, NVDA now reports position information when moving paragraphs (alt+shift+downArrow and alt+shift+upArrow). (
#5945
In Microsoft Word, line spacing is now reported via NVDA's report formatting command, when changing it with various Microsoft word shortcut keys, and when moving to text with different line spacing if Report Line Spacing is turned on in NVDA's Document Formatting Settings. (
#2961
In Internet Explorer, HTML5 structural elements are now recognised. (
#5591
Reporting of comments (such as in Microsoft Word) can now be disabled via a Report Comments checkbox in NVDA's Document Formatting settings dialog. (
#5108
It is now possible to disable individual add-ons in the Add-ons Manager. (
#3090
Additional key assignments have been added for ALVA BC640/680 series braille displays. (
#5206
There is now a command to move the braille display to the current focus. Currently, only the ALVA BC640/680 series has a key assigned to this command, but it can be assigned manually for other displays in the Input Gestures dialog if desired. (
#5250
In Microsoft Excel, you can now interact with form fields. You move to form fields using the Elements List or single letter navigation in browse mode. (
#4953
You can now assign an input gesture to toggle simple review mode using the Input Gestures dialog. (
#6173
Changes
NVDA now reports colors using a basic well-understood set of 9 color hues and 3 shades, with brightness and paleness variations. This is rather than using more subjective and less understood color names. (
#6029
The existing NVDA+F9 then NVDA+F10 behavior has been modified to select text on the first press of F10. When F10 is pressed twice (in quick succession) the text is copied to the clipboard. (
#4636
Updated eSpeak NG to version Master 11b1a7b (22 June 2016). (
#6037
Bug Fixes
In browse mode in Microsoft Word, copying to the clipboard now preserves formatting. (
#5956
In Microsoft Word, NVDA now reports appropriately when using Word's own table navigation commands (alt+home, alt+end, alt+pageUp and alt+pageDown) and table selection commands (shift added to the navigation commands). (
#5961
In Microsoft Word dialog boxes, NVDA's object navigation has been greatly improved. (
#6036
In some applications such as Visual Studio 2015, shortcut keys (e.g. control+c for Copy) are now reported as expected. (
#6021
Fixed a rare issue when scanning for serial ports on some systems which made some braille display drivers unusable. (
#6015
Reporting colors in Microsoft Word is now more accurate as changes in Microsoft Office Themes are now taken into account. (
#5997
Browse mode for Microsoft Edge and support for Start Menu search suggestions is again available on Windows 10 builds after April 2016. (
#5955
In Microsoft Word, automatic table header reading works better when dealing with merged cells. (
#5926
In the Windows 10 Mail app, NVDA no longer fails to read the content of messages. (
#5635
When speak command keys is on, lock keys such as caps lock are no longer announced twice. (
#5490
Windows User Account Control dialogs are again read correctly in the Windows 10 Anniversary update. (
#5942
In the Web Conference Plugin (such as used on out-of-sight.net) NVDA no longer beeps and speaks progress bar updates related to microphone input. (
#5888
Performing a Find Next or Find Previous command in Browse Mode will now correctly do a case sensitive search if the original Find was case sensitive. (
#5522
When editing dictionary entries, feedback is now given for invalid regular expressions. NVDA no longer crashes if a dictionary file contains an invalid regular expression. (
#4834
If NVDA is unable to communicate with a braille display (e.g. because it has been disconnected), it will automatically disable use of the display. (
#1555
Slightly improved performance of filtering in the Browse Mode Elements List in some cases. (
#6126
In Microsoft Excel, the background pattern names reported by NVDA now match those used by Excel. (
#6092
Improved support for the Windows 10 logon screen, including announcement of alerts and activating of the password field with touch. (
#6010
NVDA now correctly detects the secondary routing buttons on ALVA BC640/680 series braille displays. (
#5206
NVDA can again report Windows Toast notifications in recent builds of Windows 10. (
#6096
NVDA no longer occasionally stops recognising key presses on Baum compatible and HumanWare Brailliant B braille displays. (
#6035
If reporting of line numbers is enabled in NVDA's Document Formatting preferences, line numbers are now shown on a braille display. (
#5941
When speech mode is off, reporting objects (such as pressing NVDA+tab to report the focus) now appears in the Speech Viewer as expected. (
#6049
In the Outlook 2016 message list, associated draft information is no longer reported. (
#6219
In Google Chrome and Chrome-based browsers in a language other than English, browse mode no longer fails to work in many documents. (
#6249
Changes for Developers
Logging information directly from a property no longer results in the property being called recursively over and over again. (
#6122
2016.2.1
This release fixes crashes in Microsoft Word:
NVDA no longer causes Microsoft Word to crash immediately after it starts in Windows XP. (
#6033
Removed reporting of grammar errors, as this causes crashes in Microsoft Word. (
#5954
#5877
2016.2
Highlights of this release include the ability to indicate spelling errors while typing; support for reporting grammar errors in Microsoft Word; and improvements and fixes to Microsoft Office support.
New Features
In browse mode in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, using first letter navigation to move by annotation (a and shift+a) now moves to inserted and deleted text. (
#5691
In Microsoft Excel, NVDA now reports the level of a group of cells, as well as whether it is collapsed or expanded. (
#5690
Pressing the Report text formatting command (NVDA+f) twice presents the information in browse mode so it can be reviewed. (
#4908
In Microsoft Excel 2010 and later, cell shading and gradient fill is now reported. Automatic reporting is controlled by the Report colors option in NVDA's Document Formatting preferences. (
#3683
New braille translation table: Koine Greek. (
#5393
In the Log Viewer, you can now save the log using the shortcut key control+s. (
#4532
If reporting of spelling errors is enabled and supported in the focused control, NVDA will play a sound to alert you of a spelling error made while typing. This can be disabled using the new "Play sound for spelling errors while typing" option in NVDA's Keyboard Settings dialog. (
#2024
Grammar errors are now reported in Microsoft Word. This can be disabled using the new "Report grammar errors" option in NVDA's Document Formatting preferences dialog. (
#5877
Changes
In browse mode and editable text fields, NVDA now treats numpadEnter the same as the main enter key. (
#5385
NVDA has switched to the eSpeak NG speech synthesizer. (
#5651
In Microsoft Excel, NVDA no longer ignores a column header for a cell when there is a blank row between the cell and the header. (
#5396
In Microsoft Excel, coordinates are now announced before headers to eliminate ambiguity between headers and content. (
#5396
Bug Fixes
In browse mode, when attempting to use single letter navigation to move to an element which isn't supported for the document, NVDA reports that this isn't supported rather than reporting that there is no element in that direction. (
#5691
When listing sheets in the Elements List in Microsoft Excel, sheets containing only charts are now included. (
#5698
NVDA no longer reports extraneous information when switching windows in a Java application with multiple windows such as IntelliJ or Android Studio. (
#5732
In Scintilla based editors such as Notepad++, braille is now updated correctly when moving the cursor using a braille display. (
#5678
NVDA no longer sometimes crashes when enabling braille output. (
#4457
In Microsoft Word, paragraph indentation is now always reported in the measurement unit chosen by the user (e.g. centimeters or inches). (
#5804
When using a braille display, many NVDA messages that were previously only spoken are now brailled as well. (
#5557
In accessible Java applications, the level of tree view items is now reported. (
#5766
Fixed crashes in Adobe Flash in Mozilla Firefox in some cases. (
#5367
In Google Chrome and Chrome-based browsers, documents within dialogs or applications can now be read in browse mode. (
#5818
In Google Chrome and Chrome-based browsers, you can now force NVDA to switch to browse mode in web dialogs or applications. (
#5818
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, moving focus to certain controls (specifically, where aria-activedescendant is used) no longer incorrectly switches to browse mode. This occurred, for example, when moving to suggestions in address fields when composing a message in Gmail. (
#5676
In Microsoft Word, NVDA no longer freezes in large tables when reporting of table row/column headers is enabled. (
#5878
In Microsoft word, NVDA no longer incorrectly reports text with an outline level (but not a built-in heading style) as a heading. (
#5186
In browse mode in Microsoft Word, the Move past end/to start of container commands (comma and shift+comma) now work for tables. (
#5883
Changes for Developers
NVDA's C++ components are now built with Microsoft Visual Studio 2015. (
#5592
You can now present a text or HTML message to the user in browse mode using ui.browseableMessage. (
#4908
In the User Guide, when a
2016.1
Highlights of this release include the ability to optionally lower the volume of other sounds; improvements to braille output and braille display support; several significant fixes to Microsoft Office support; and fixes to browse mode in iTunes.
New Features
New braille translation tables: Polish 8 dot computer braille, Mongolian. (
#5537
#5574
You can turn off the braille cursor and change its shape using the new Show cursor and Cursor shape options in the Braille Settings dialog. (
#5198
NVDA can now connect to a HIMS Smart Beetle braille display via Bluetooth. (
#5607
NVDA can optionally lower the volume of other sounds when installed on Windows 8 and later. This can be configured using the Audio ducking mode option in the NVDA Synthesizer dialog or by pressing NVDA+shift+d. (
#3830
#5575
Support for the APH Refreshabraille in HID mode and the Baum VarioUltra and Pronto! when connected via USB. (
#5609
Support for HumanWare Brailliant BI/B braille displays when the protocol is set to OpenBraille. (
#5612
Changes
Reporting of emphasis is now disabled by default. (
#4920
In the Elements List dialog in Microsoft Excel, the shortcut for Formulas has been changed to alt+r so that it is different to the shortcut for the Filter field. (
#5527
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.6.5. (
#5574
The word "text" is no longer reported when moving the focus or review cursor to text objects. (
#5452
Bug Fixes
In iTunes 12, browse mode now updates correctly when a new page loads in the iTunes Store. (
#5191
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, moving to specific heading levels with single letter navigation now behaves as expected when the level of a heading is overridden for accessibility purposes (specifically, when aria-level overrides the level of an h tag). (
#5434
In Spotify, focus no longer frequently lands on "unknown" objects. (
#5439
Focus is now restored correctly when returning to Spotify from another application. (
#5439
When toggling between browse mode and focus mode, the mode is reported in braille as well as speech. (
#5239
The Start buttn on the Taskbar is no longer reported as a list and/or as selected in some versions of Windows. (
#5178
Messages such as "inserted" are no longer reported when composing messages in Microsoft Outlook. (
#5486
When using a braille display and text is selected on the current line (e.g. when searching in a text editor for text which occurs on the same line), the braille display will be scrolled if appropriate. (
#5410
NVDA no longer silently exits when closing a Windows command console with alt+f4 in Windows 10. (
#5343
In the Elements List in browse mode, when you change the type of element, the Filter by field is now cleared. (
#5511
In editable text in Mozilla applications, moving the mouse again reads the appropriate line, word, etc. as expected instead of the entire content. (
#5535
When moving the mouse in editable text in Mozilla applications, reading no longer stops at elements such as links within the word or line being read. (
#2160
#5535
In Internet Explorer, the shoprite.com website can now be read in browse mode instead of reporting as blank. (Specifically, malformed lang attributes are now handled gracefully.) (
#5569
In Microsoft Word, tracked changes such as "inserted" are no longer reported when track changes markup is not displayed. (
#5566
When a toggle button is focused, NVDA now reports when it is changed from pressed to not pressed. (
#5441
Reporting of mouse shape changes again works as expected. (
#5595
When speaking line indentation, non-breaking spaces are now treated as normal spaces. Previously, this could cause announcements such as "space space space" instead of "3 space". (
#5610
When closing a modern Microsoft input method candidate list, focus is correctly restored to either the input composition or the underlying document. (
#4145
In Microsoft Office 2013 and later, when the ribbon is set to show only tabs, items in the ribbon are again reported as expected when a tab is activated. (
#5504
Fixes and improvements to touch screen gesture detection and binding. (
#5652
Touch screen hovers are no longer reported in input help. (
#5652
NVDA no longer fails to list comments in the Elements List for Microsoft Excel if a comment is on a merged cell. (
#5704
In a very rare case, NVDA no longer fails to read sheet content in Microsoft Excel with reporting of row and column headers enabled. (
#5705
In Google Chrome, navigating within an Input composition when entering east Asian characters now works as expected. (
#4080
When searching Apple Music in iTunes, browse mode for the search results document is now updated as expected. (
#5659
In Microsoft Excel, pressing shift+f11 to create a new sheet now reports your new position instead of reporting nothing. (
#5689
Fixed problems with braille display output when entering Korean characters. (
#5640
Changes for Developers
The new audioDucking.AudioDucker class allows code which outputs audio to indicate when background audio should be ducked. (
#3830
nvwave.WavePlayer's constructor now has a wantDucking keyword argument which specifies whether background audio should be ducked while audio is playing. (
#3830
When this is enabled (which is the default), it is essential that WavePlayer.idle be called when appropriate.
Enhanced I/O for braille displays: (
#5609
Thread-safe braille display drivers can declare themselves as such using the BrailleDisplayDriver.isThreadSafe attribute. A driver must be thread-safe to benefit from the following features.
Data is written to thread-safe braille display drivers in the background, thus improving performance.
hwIo.Serial extends pyserial to call a callable when data is received instead of drivers having to poll.
hwIo.Hid provides support for braille displays communicating via USB HID.
hwPortUtils and hwIo can optionally provide detailed debug logging, including devices found and all data sent and received.
There are several new properties accessible from touch screen gestures: (
#5652
MultitouchTracker objects now contain a childTrackers property which contains the MultiTouchTrackers the tracker was composed of. For example, 2 finger double tap has child trackers for two 2-finger taps. The 2-finger taps themselves have child trackers for two taps.
MultiTouchTracker objects now also contain a rawSingleTouchTracker property if the tracker was the result of one single finger doing a tap, flick or hover. The SingleTouchTracker allows access to the underlying ID assigned to the finger by the operating system and whether or not the finger is still in contact at the current time.
TouchInputGestures now have x and y properties, removing the need to access the tracker for trivial cases.
TouchInputGesturs now contain a preheldTracker property, which is a MultitouchTracker object representing the other fingers held while this action was being performed.
Two new touch screen gestures can be emitted: (
#5652
Plural tap and holds (e.g. double tap and hold)
A generalized identifier with finger count removed for holds (e.g. hold+hover for 1finger_hold+hover).
2015.4
Highlights of this release include performance improvements in Windows 10; inclusion in the Ease of Access Center in Windows 8 and later; enhancements for Microsoft Excel, including listing and renaming of sheets and access to locked cells in protected sheets; and support for editing of rich text in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Mozilla Thunderbird.
New Features
NVDA now appears in the Ease of Access Center in Windows 8 and later. (
#308
When moving around cells in Excel, formatting changes are now automatically reported if the appropriate options are turned on in NVDA's Document Formatting Settings dialog. (
#4878
A Report Emphasis option has been added to NVDA's Document formatting settings dialog. On by default, this option allows NVDA to automatically report the existence of emphasised text in documents. So far, this is only supported for em and strong tags in Browse Mode for Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls. (
#4920
The existence of inserted and deleted text is now reported in Browse Mode for Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls if NVDA's Report Editor Revisions option is enabled. (
#4920
When viewing track changes in NVDA's Elements List for Microsoft Word, more information such as what formatting properties were changed is now displayed. (
#4920
Microsoft Excel: listing and renaming of sheets is now possible from NVDA's Elements List (NVDA+f7). (
#4630
#4414
It is now possible to configure whether actual symbols are sent to speech synthesizers (e.g. to cause a pause or change in inflection) in the Symbol Pronunciation dialog. (
#5234
In Microsoft Excel, NVDA now reports any input messages set by the sheet author on cells. (
#5051
Support for the Baum Pronto! V4 and VarioUltra braille displays when connected via Bluetooth. (
#3717
Support for editing of rich text in Mozilla applications such as Google Docs with braille support enabled in Mozilla Firefox and HTML composition in Mozilla Thunderbird. (
#1668
Support for editing of rich text in Google Chrome and Chrome-based browsers such as Google Docs with braille support enabled. (
#2634
This requires Chrome version 47 or later.
In browse mode in Microsoft Excel, you can navigate to locked cells in protected sheets. (
#4952
Changes
The Report Editor Revisions option in NVDA's Document formatting settings dialog is now turned on by default. (
#4920
When moving by character in Microsoft Word with NVDA's Report Editor Revisions option enabled, less information is now reported for track changes, which makes navigation more efficient. To view the extra information, use the Elements List. (
#4920
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.6.4. (
#5341
Several symbols (including basic mathematical symbols) have been moved to level some so that they are spoken by default. (
#3799
If the synthesizer supports it, speech should now pause for parentheses and the en dash (–). (
#3799
When selecting text, the text is reported before the indication of selection instead of after. (
#1707
Bug Fixes
Major performance improvements when navigating the Outlook 2010/2013 message list. (
#5268
In a chart in Microsoft Excel, navigating with certain keys (such as changing sheets with control+pageUp and control+pageDown) now works correctly. (
#5336
Fixed the visual appearance of the buttons in the warning dialog which is displayed when you attempt to downgrade NVDA. (
#5325
In Windows 8 and later, NVDA now starts a lot earlier when configured to start after logging on to Windows. (
#308
If you enabled this using a previous version of NVDA, you will need to disable it and enable it again in order for the change to take effect. Follow this procedure:
Open the General Settings dialog.
Uncheck the Automatically start NVDA after I log on to Windows checkbox.
Press the OK button.
Open the General Settings dialog again.
Check the Automatically start NVDA after I log on to Windows checkbox.
Press the OK button.
Performance enhancements for UI Automation including File Explorer and Task Viewer. (
#5293
NVDA now correctly switches to focus mode when tabbing to read-only ARIA grid controls in Browse Mode for Mozilla Firefox and other Gecko-based controls. (
#5118
NVDA now correctly reports "no previous" instead of "no next" when there are no more objects when flicking left on a touch screen.
Fixed problems when typing multiple words into the filter field in the Input Gestures dialog. (
#5426
NVDA no longer freezes in some cases when reconnecting to a HumanWare Brailliant BI/B series display via USB. (
#5406
In languages with conjunct characters, character descriptions now work as expected for upper case English characters. (
#5375
NVDA should no longer occasionally freeze when bringing up the Start Menu in Windows 10. (
#5417
In Skype for Desktop, notifications which are displayed before a previous notification disappears are now reported. (
#4841
Notifications are now reported correctly in Skype for Desktop 7.12 and later. (
#5405
NVDA now correctly reports the focus when dismissing a context menu in some applications such as Jart. (
#5302
In Windows 7 and later, Color is again reported in certain applications such as Wordpad. (
#5352
When editing in Microsoft PowerPoint, pressing enter now reports automatically entered text such as a bullet or number. (
#5360
2015.3
Highlights of this release include initial support for Windows 10; the ability to disable single letter navigation in browse mode (useful for some web apps); improvements in Internet Explorer; and fixes for garbled text when typing in certain applications with braille enabled.
New Features
The existence of spelling errors is announced in editable fields for Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls. (
#4174
Many more Unicode math symbols are now spoken when they appear in text. (
#3805
Search suggestions in the Windows 10 start screen are automatically reported. (
#5049
Support for the EcoBraille 20, EcoBraille 40, EcoBraille 80 and EcoBraille Plus braille displays. (
#4078
In browse mode, you can now toggle single letter navigation on and off by pressing NVDA+shift+space. When off, single letter keys are passed to the application, which is useful for some web applications such as Gmail, Twitter and Facebook. (
#3203
New braille translation tables: Finnish 6 dot, Irish grade 1, Irish grade 2, Korean grade 1 (2006), Korean grade 2 (2006). (
#5137
#5074
#5097
The QWERTY keyboard on the Papenmeier BRAILLEX Live Plus braille display is now supported. (
#5181
Experimental support for the Microsoft Edge web browser and browsing engine in Windows 10. (
#5212
New language: Kannada.
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.6.3. (
#5137
When attempting to install an earlier version of NVDA than is currently installed, you will now be warned that this is not recommended and that NVDA should be completely uninstalled before proceeding. (
#5037
Bug Fixes
In browse mode for Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, quick navigation by form field no longer incorrectly includes presentational list items. (
#4204
In Firefox, NVDA no longer inappropriately reports the content of an ARIA tab panel when focus moves inside it. (
#4638
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, tabbing into sections, articles or dialogs no longer inappropriately reports all content in the container. (
#5021
#5025
When using Baum/HumanWare/APH braille displays with a braille keyboard, braille input no longer stops functioning after pressing another type of key on the display. (
#3541
In Windows 10, extraneous information is no longer reported when pressing alt+tab or alt+shift+tab to switch between applications. (
#5116
Typed text is no longer garbled when using certain applications such as Microsoft Outlook with a braille display. (
#2953
In browse mode in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, the correct content is now reported when an element appears or changes and is immediately focused. (
#5040
In browse mode in Microsoft Word, single letter navigation now updates the braille display and the review cursor as expected. (
#4968
In braille, extraneous spaces are no longer displayed between or after indicators for controls and formatting. (
#5043
When an application is responding slowly and you switch away from that application, NVDA is now much more responsive in other applications in most cases. (
#3831
Windows 10 Toast notifications are now reported as expected. (
#5136
The value is now reported as it changes in certain (UI Automation) combo boxes where this was not working previously.
In browse mode in web browsers, tabbing now behaves as expected after tabbing to a frame document. (
#5227
The Windows 10 lock screen can now be dismissed using a touch screen. (
#5220
In Windows 7 and later, text is no longer garbled when typing in certain applications such as Wordpad and Skype with a braille display. (
#4291
On the Windows 10 lock screen, it is no longer possible to read the clipboard, access running applications with the review cursor, change NVDA configuration, etc. (
#5269
Changes for Developers
You can now inject raw input from a system keyboard that is not handled natively by Windows (e.g. a QWERTY keyboard on a braille display) using the new keyboardHandler.injectRawKeyboardInput function. (
#4576
eventHandler.requestEvents has been added to request particular events that are blocked by default; e.g. show events from a specific control or certain events even when in the background. (
#3831
Rather than a single i18nName attribute, synthDriverHandler.SynthSetting now has separate displayNameWithAccelerator and displayName attributes to avoid reporting of the accelerator in the synth settings ring in some languages.
For backwards compatibility, in the constructor, displayName is optional and will be derived from displayNameWithAccelerator if not provided. However, if you intend to have an accelerator for a setting, both should be provided.
The i18nName attribute is deprecated and may be removed in a future release.
2015.2
Highlights of this release include the ability to read charts in Microsoft Excel and support for reading and interactive navigation of mathematical content.
New Features
Moving forward and backward by sentence in Microsoft Word and Outlook is now possible with alt+downArrow and alt+upArrow respectively. (
#3288
New braille translation tables for several Indian languages. (
#4778
In Microsoft Excel, NVDA now reports when a cell has overflowing or cropped content. (
#3040
In Microsoft Excel, you can now use the Elements List (NVDA+f7) to allow listing of charts, comments and formulas. (
#1987
Support for reading charts in Microsoft Excel. To use this, select the chart using the Elements List (NVDA+f7) and then use the arrow keys to move between the data points. (
#1987
Using MathPlayer 4 from Design Science, NVDA can now read and interactively navigate mathematical content in web browsers and in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. See the "Reading Mathematical Content" section in the User Guide for details. (
#4673
It is now possible to assign input gestures (keyboard commands, touch gestures, etc.) for all NVDA preferences dialogs and document formatting options using the Input Gestures dialog. (
#4898
Changes
In NVDA's Document Formatting dialog, the keyboard shortcuts for Report lists, Report links, Report line numbers and Report font name have been changed. (
#4650
In NVDA's Mouse Settings dialog, keyboard shortcuts have been added for play audio coordinates when mouse moves and brightness controls audio coordinates volume. (
#4916
Significantly improved reporting of color names. (
#4984
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.6.2. (
#4777
Bug Fixes
Character descriptions are now handled correctly for conjunct characters in certain Indian languages. (
#4582
If the "Trust voice's language when processing characters and symbols" option is enabled, the Punctuation/Symbol pronunciation dialog now correctly uses the voice language. Also, the language for which pronunciation is being edited is shown in the dialog's title. (
#4930
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, typed characters are no longer inappropriately announced in editable combo boxes such as the Google search field on the Google home page. (
#4976
When selecting colors in Microsoft Office applications, color names are now reported. (
#3045
Danish braille output now works again. (
#4986
PageUp/pageDown can again be used to change slides within a PowerPoint slide show. (
#4850
In Skype for Desktop 7.2 and later, typing notifications are now reported and problems immediately after moving focus out of a conversation have been fixed. (
#4972
Fixed problems when typing certain punctuation/symbols such as brackets into the filter field in the Input Gestures dialog. (
#5060
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, pressing g or shift+g to navigate to graphics now includes elements marked as images for accessibility purposes (i.e. ARIA role img). (
#5062
Changes for Developers
brailleInput.handler.sendChars(mychar) will no longer filter out a character if it is equal to the previous character by ensuring that the key sent is correctly released. (
#4139
Scripts for changing touch modes will now honor new labeles added to touchHandler.touchModeLabels. (
#4699
Add-ons can provide their own math presentation implementations. See the mathPres package for details. (
#4509
Speech commands have been implemented to insert a break between words and to change the pitch, volume and rate. See BreakCommand, PitchCommand, VolumeCommand and RateCommand in the speech module. (
#4674
There is also speech.PhonemeCommand to insert specific pronunciation, but the current implementations only support a very limited number of phonemes.
2015.1
Highlights of this release include browse mode for documents in Microsoft Word and Outlook; major enhancements to support for Skype for Desktop; and significant fixes for Microsoft Internet Explorer.
New Features
You can now add new symbols in the Symbol Pronunciation dialog. (
#4354
In the Input Gestures dialog, you can use the new "Filter by" field to show only gestures containing specific words. (
#4458
NVDA now automatically reports new text in mintty. (
#4588
In the browse mode Find dialog, there is now an option to perform a case sensitive search. (
#4584
Quick navigation (pressing h to move by heading, etc.) and Elements List (NVDA+f7) are now available in Microsoft Word documents by turning on browse mode with NVDA+space. (
#2975
Reading HTML messages in Microsoft Outlook 2007 and later has been majorly improved as Browse mode is automatically enabled for these messages. If browse mode is not enabled in some rare situations, you can force it on with NVDA+space. (
#2975
Table column headers in Microsoft word are automatically reported for tables where a header row has been explicitly specified by the author via Microsoft word's table properties. (
#4510
However, For tables where rows have been merged, this will not work automatically. In this situation, you can still set column headers manually in NVDA with NVDA+shift+c.
In Skype for Desktop, notifications are now reported. (
#4741
In Skype for Desktop, you can now report and review recent messages using NVDA+control+1 through NVDA+control+0; e.g. NVDA+control+1 for the most recent message and NVDA+control+0 for the tenth most recent. (
#3210
In a conversation in Skype for Desktop, NVDA now reports when a contact is typing. (
#3506
NVDA can now be installed silently via the command line without starting the installed copy after installation. To do this, use the --install-silent option. (
#4206
Support for the Papenmeier BRAILLEX Live 20, BRAILLEX Live and BRAILLEX Live Plus braille displays. (
#4614
Changes
In NVDA's Document Formatting settings dialog, the option to report spelling errors now has a shortcut key (alt+r). (
#793
NVDA will now use the synthesizer/voice's language for character and symbol processing (including punctuation/symbol names), regardless of whether automatic language switching is turned on. To turn off this feature so that NVDA again uses its interface language, uncheck the new option in Voice settings called Trust Voice's language when processing characters and symbols. (
#4210
Support for the Newfon synthesizer has been removed. Newfon is now available as an NVDA add-on. (
#3184
Skype for Desktop 7 or later is now required for use with NVDA; earlier versions are not supported. (
#4218
Downloading of NVDA updates is now more secure. (Specifically, the update information is retrieved via https and the hash of the file is verified after it is downloaded.) (
#4716
eSpeak has been upgraded to version 1.48.04 (
#4325
Bug Fixes
In Microsoft Excel, merged row and column header cells are now handled correctly. For example, if A1 and B1 are merged, then B2 will now have A1 and B1 reported as its column header rather than nothing at all. (
#4617
When editing the content of a text box in Microsoft PowerPoint 2003, NVDA will correctly report the content of each line. Previously, in each paragraph, lines would increasingly be off by one character. (
#4619
All of NVDA's dialogs are now centred on the screen, improving visual presentation and usability. (
#3148
In Skype for desktop, when entering an introductory message to add a contact, entering and moving through the text now works correctly. (
#3661
When focus moves to a new item in tree views in the Eclipse IDE, if the previously focused item is a check box, it is no longer incorrectly announced. (
#4586
In the Microsoft Word spell check dialog, the next error will be automatically reported when the last one has been changed or ignored using respective shortcut keys. (
#1938
Text can again be read correctly in places such as Tera Term Pro's terminal window and documents in Balabolka. (
#4229
Focus now correctly returns to the document being edited When finishing input composition of text in Korean and other east Asian languages while editing within a frame in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML documents. (
#4045
In the Input Gestures dialog, when selecting a keyboard layout for a keyboard gesture being added, pressing escape now closes the menu as expected instead of closing the dialog. (
#3617
When removing an add-on, the add-on directory is now correctly deleted after restarting NVDA. Previously, you had to restart twice. (
#3461
Major problems have been fixed when using Skype for Desktop 7. (
#4218
When you send a message in Skype for Desktop, it is no longer read twice. (
#3616
In Skype for Desktop, NVDA should no longer occasionally spuriously read a large flood of messages (perhaps even an entire conversation). (
#4644
fixed a problem where NVDA's Report date/time command did not honor the regional settings specified by the user in some cases. (
#2987
In browse mode, nonsensical text (sometimes spanning several lines) is no longer presented for certain graphics such as found on Google Groups. (Specifically, this occurred with base64 encoded images.) (
#4793
NVDA should no longer freeze after a few seconds when moving focus away from a Windows Store app as it becomes suspended. (
#4572
The aria-atomic attribute on live regions in Mozilla Firefox is now honored even when the atomic element itself changes. Previously, it only affected descendant elements. (
#4794
Browse mode will reflect updates, and live regions will be announced, for browse mode documents within ARIA applications embedded in a document in Internet Explorer or other MSHTML controls. (
#4798
When text is changed or added in live regions in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls where the author has specified that text is relevant, only the changed or added text is announced, rather than all of the text in the containing element. (
#4800
Content indicated by the aria-labelledby attribute on elements in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls correctly replaces the original content where it is appropriate to do so. (
#4575
When checking spelling in Microsoft Outlook 2013, the misspelled word is now announced. (
#4848
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, content inside elements hidden with visibility:hidden is no longer inappropriately presented in browse mode. (
#4839
#3776
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, the title attribute on form controls no longer inappropriately takes preference over other label associations. (
#4491
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, NVDA no longer ignores focusing of elements due to the aria-activedescendant attribute. (
#4667
Changes for Developers
Updated wxPython to 3.0.2.0. (
#3763
Updated Python to 2.7.9. (
#4715
NVDA no longer crashes when restarting after removing or updating an add-on which imports speechDictHandler in its installTasks module. (
#4496
2014.4
New Features
New languages: Colombian Spanish, Punjabi.
It is now possible to restart NVDA or restart NVDA with add-ons disabled from NVDA's exit dialog. (
#4057
NVDA can also be started with add-ons disabled by using the --disable-addons command line option.
In speech dictionaries, it is now possible to specify that a pattern should only match if it is a whole word; i.e. it does not occur as part of a larger word. (
#1704
Changes
If an object you have moved to with object navigation is inside a browse mode document, but the object you were on previously was not, the review mode is automatically set to document. Previously, this only happened if the navigator object was moved due to the focus changing. (
#4369
The Braille display and Synthesizer lists in the respective settings dialogs are now alphabetically sorted except for No braille/No speech, which are now at the bottom. (
#2724
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.6.0. (
#4434
#3835
In browse mode, pressing e and shift+e to navigate to edit fields now includes editable combo boxes. This includes the search box in the latest version of Google Search. (
#4436
Clicking the NVDA icon in the Notification Area with the left mouse button now opens the NVDA menu instead of doing nothing. (
#4459
Bug Fixes
When moving focus back to a browse mode document (e.g. alt+tabbing to an already opened web page), the review cursor is properly positioned at the virtual caret, rather than the focused control (e.g. a nearby link). (
#4369
In PowerPoint slide shows, the review cursor correctly follows the virtual caret. (
#4370
In Mozilla Firefox and other Gecko-based browsers, new content within a live region will be announced even if the new content has a usable ARIA live type different to the parent live region; e.g. when content marked as assertive is added to a live region marked as polite. (
#4169
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, some cases where a document is contained within another document no longer prevent the user from accessing some of the content (specifically, framesets inside framesets). (
#4418
NVDA no longer crashes when attempting to use a Handy Tech braille display in some cases. (
#3709
In Windows Vista, a spurious "Entry Point Not Found" dialog is no longer displayed in several cases such as when starting NVDA from the Desktop shortcut or via the shortcut key. (
#4235
Serious problems with editable text controls in dialogs in recent versions of Eclipse have been fixed. (
#3872
In Outlook 2010, moving the caret now works as expected in the location field of appointments and meeting requests. (
#4126
Inside a live region, content which is marked as not being live (e.g. aria-live="off") is now correctly ignored. (
#4405
When reporting the text of a status bar that has a name, the name is now correctly separated from the first word of the status bar text. (
#4430
In password entry fields with speaking of typed words enabled, multiple asterisks are no longer pointlessly reported when beginning new words. (
#4402
In the Microsoft Outlook message list, items are no longer pointlessly announced as Data Items. (
#4439
When selecting text in the code editing control in the Eclipse IDE, the entire selection is no longer announced every time the selection changes. (
#2314
Various versions of Eclipse, such as Spring Tool Suite and the version included in the Android Developer Tools bundle, are now recognised as Eclipse and handled appropriately. (
#4360
#4454
Mouse tracking and touch exploration in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls (including many Windows 8 applications) is now much more accurate  on high DPI displays or when document zoom is changed. (
#3494
Mouse tracking and touch exploration in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls will now announce the label of more buttons. (
#4173
When using a Papenmeier BRAILLEX braille display with BrxCom, keys on the display now work as expected. (
#4614
Changes for Developers
For executables which host many different apps (e.g. javaw.exe), code can now be provided to load specific app modules for each app instead of loading the same app module for all hosted apps. (
#4360
See the code documentation for appModuleHandler.AppModule for details.
Support for javaw.exe is implemented.
2014.3
New Features
The sounds played when NVDA starts and exits can be disabled via a new option in the General Settings dialog. (
#834
Help for add-ons can be accessed from the Add-ons Manager for add-ons which support this. (
#2694
Support for the Calendar in Microsoft Outlook 2007 and above (
#2943
) including:
Announcement of the current time when moving around with the arrow keys.
Indication if the selected time is within any appointments.
announcement of the selected appointment when pressing tab.
Smart filtering of the date so as to only announce the date if the new selected time or appointment is on a different day to the last.
Enhanced support for the Inbox and other message lists in Microsoft Outlook 2010 and above (
#3834
) including:
The ability to silence column headers (from, subject, etc.) by turning off the Report Table row and column headers option in Document Formatting settings.
The ability to use table navigation commands (control + alt + arrows) to move through the individual columns.
Microsoft word: If an inline image has no alternative text set, NVDA will instead report the title of the image if the author has provided one. (
#4193
Microsoft Word: NVDA can now report paragraph indenting with the report formatting command (NVDA+f). It can also be reported automatically when the new Report Paragraph indenting option is enabled in Document Formatting settings. (
#4165
Report automatically inserted text such as a new bullet, number or tab indent when pressing enter in editable documents and text fields. (
#4185
Microsoft word: Pressing NVDA+alt+c will report the text of a comment if the cursor is within one. (
#3528
Improved support for automatic column and row header reading in Microsoft Excel (
#3568
) including:
Support of Excel defined name ranges to identify header cells (compatible with Jaws screen reader) .
The set column header (NVDA+shift+c) and set row header (NVDA+shift+r) commands now store the settings in the worksheet so that they are available the next time the sheet is opened, and will be available to other screen readers that support the defined name range scheme.
These commands can also now be used multiple times per sheet to set different headers for different regions.
Support for automatic column and row header reading in Microsoft Word (
#3110
) including:
Support of Microsoft Word bookmarks to identify header cells (compatible with Jaws screen reader).
set column header (NVDA+shift+c) and set row header (NVDA+shift+r) commands while on the first header cell in a table allow you to tell NVDA that these headers should be reported automatically. Settings are stored in the document so that they are available the next time the document is opened, and will be available to other screen readers that support the bookmark scheme.
Microsoft Word: Report the distance from the left edge of the page when the tab key is pressed. (
#1353
Microsoft Word: provide feedback in speech and braille for most available formatting shortcut keys (bold, italic, underline, alignment, outline level, superscript, subscript and font size). (
#1353
Microsoft Excel: If the selected cell contains comments, they can be now reported by pressing NVDA+alt+c. (
#2920
Microsoft Excel: Provide an NVDA-specific dialog to edit the comments on the currently selected cell when pressing Excel's shift+f2 command to enter comment editing mode. (
#2920
Microsoft Excel: speech and braille feedback for many more selection movement shortcuts (
#4211
) including:
Vertical page movement (pageUp and pageDown);
Horizontal page movement (alt+pageUp and alt+pageDown);
Extend selection (the above keys with Shift added); and
Selecting the current region (control+shift+8).
Microsoft Excel: The vertical and horizontal alignment for cells can now be reported with the report formatting command (NVDA+f). It can also be reported automatically if the Report alignment option in Document Formatting settings is enabled. (
#4212
Microsoft Excel: The style of a cell can now be reported with the report formatting command (NVDA+f). It can also be reported automatically if the Report Style option in Document formatting settings is enabled. (
#4213
Microsoft PowerPoint: when moving shapes around a slide with the arrow keys, the shape's current location is now reported (
#4214
) including:
The distance between the shape and each of the slide edges is reported.
If the shape covers or is covered by another shape, then the distance overlapped and the overlapped shape are reported.
To report this information at any time without moving a shape, press the report location command (NVDA+delete).
When selecting a shape, if it is covered by another shape, NVDA will report that it is obscured.
The report location command (NVDA+delete) is more context specific in some situations. (
#4219
In standard edit fields and browse mode, the cursor position as a percentage through the content and its screen coordinates are reported.
On shapes in PowerPoint Presentations, position of the shape relative to the slide and other shapes is reported.
Pressing this command twice will produce the previous behaviour of reporting the location information for the entire control.
New language: Catalan.
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.5.4. (
#4103
Bug Fixes
In Google Chrome and Chrome-based browsers, certain chunks of text (such as those with emphasis) are no longer repeated when reporting the text of an alert or dialog. (
#4066
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, pressing enter on a button, etc. no longer fails to activate it (or activates the wrong control) in certain cases such as the buttons at the top of Facebook. (
#4106
Useless information is no longer announced when tabbing in iTunes. (
#4128
In certain lists in iTunes such as the Music list, moving to the next item using object navigation now works correctly. (
#4129
HTML elements considered headings because of WAI ARIA markup are now included in the Browse mode Elements list and quick navigation for Internet Explorer documents. (
#4140
Following same-page links in recent versions of Internet Explorer now correctly moves to and reports the destination position in browse mode documents. (
#4134
Microsoft Outlook 2010 and above: Overall access to secure dialogs such as the New profiles and mail setup dialogs has been improved. (
#4090
#4091
#4095
Microsoft Outlook: Useless verbosity has been decreased in command toolbars when navigating through certain dialogs. (
#4096
#3407
Microsoft word: Tabbing to a blank cell in a table no longer incorrectly announces exiting the table. (
#4151
Microsoft Word: The first character past the end of a table (including a new blank line) is no longer incorrectly considered to be inside the table. (
#4152
Microsoft Word 2010 spell check dialog: The actual misspelled word is reported rather than inappropriately reporting just the first bold word. (
#3431
In browse mode in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, tabbing or using single letter navigation to move to form fields again reports the label in many cases where it didn't (specifically, where HTML label elements are used). (
#4170
Microsoft Word: Reporting the existence and placement of comments is more accurate. (
#3528
Navigation of certain dialogs in MS Office products such as Word, Excel and Outlook has been improved by no longer reporting particular control container toolbars which are not useful to the user. (
#4198
Task panes such as clipboard manager or File recovery no longer accidentilly seem to gain focus when opening an application such as Microsoft Word or Excel, which was sometimes causing the user to have to switch away from and back to the application to use the document or spreadsheet. (
#4199
NVDA no longer fails to run on recent Windows Operating Systems if the user's Windows language is set to Serbian (Latin). (
#4203
Pressing numlock while in input help mode now correctly toggles numlock, rather than causing the keyboard and the Operating System to become out of sync in regards to the state of this key. (
#4226
In Google Chrome, the title of the document is again reported when switching tabs. In NVDA 2014.2, this did not occur in some cases. (
#4222
In Google Chrome and Chrome-based browsers, the URL of the document is no longer reported when reporting the document. (
#4223
When running say all with the No speech synthesizer selected (useful for automated testing), say all will now complete instead of stopping after the first few lines. (
#4225
Microsoft Outlook's Signature dialog: The Signature editing field is now accessible, allowing for full cursor tracking and format detection. (
#3833
Microsoft Word: When reading the last line of a table cell, the entire table cell is no longer read. (
#3421
Microsoft Word: When reading the first or last line of a table of contents, the entire table of contents is no longer read. (
#3421
When speaking typed words and in some other cases, words are no longer incorrectly broken at marks such as vowel signs and virama in Indic languages. (
#4254
Numeric editable text fields in GoldWave are now handled correctly. (
#670
Microsoft Word: when moving by paragraph with control+downArrow / control+upArrow, it is no longer necessary to press them twice if moving through bulleted or numbered lists. (
#3290
Changes for Developers
NVDA now has unified support for add-on documentation. See the Add-on Documentation section of the Developer Guide for details. (
#2694
When providing gesture bindings on a ScriptableObject via __gestures, it is now possible to provide the None keyword as the script. This unbinds the gesture in any base classes. (
#4240
It is now possible to change the shortcut key used to start NVDA for locales where the normal shortcut causes problems. (
#2209
This is done via gettext.
Note that the text for the Create desktop shortcut option in the Install NVDA dialog, as well as the shortcut key in the User Guide, must also be updated.
2014.2
New Features
Announcement of text selection is now possible in some custom edit fields where display information is used. (
#770
In accessible Java applications, position information is now announced for radio buttons and other controls that expose group information. (
#3754
In accessible Java applications, keyboard shortcuts are now announced for controls that have them. (
#3881
In browse mode, labels on landmarks are now reported. They are also included in the Elements List dialog. (
#1195
In browse mode, labelled regions are now treated as landmarks. (
#3741
In Internet Explorer documents and applications, Live Regions (part of the W3c ARIA standard) are now supported, thus allowing web authors to mark particular content to be automatically spoken as it changes. (
#1846
Changes
When exiting a dialog or application within a browse mode document, the browse mode document's name and type is no longer announced. (
#4069
Bug Fixes
The standard Windows System menu is no longer accidentally silenced in Java applications. (
#3882
When copying text from screen review, line breaks are no longer ignored. (
#3900
Pointless whitespace objects are no longer reported in some applications when the focus changes or when using object navigation with simple review enabled. (
#3839
Message boxes and other dialogs produced by NVDA again cause previous speech to be canceled before announcing the dialog.
In browse mode, the labels of controls such as links and buttons are now rendered correctly where the label has been overridden by the author for accessibility purposes (specifically, using aria-label or aria-labelledby). (
#1354
In Browse mode in Internet Explorer, text contained within an element marked as presentational (ARIA role="presentation") is no longer inappropriately ignored. (
#4031
It is now again possible to type Vietnamese text using the Unikey software. To do this, uncheck the new Handle keys from other applications checkbox in NVDA's Keyboard settings dialog. (
#4043
In browse mode, radio and check menu items are reported as controls instead of just clickable text. (
#4092
NVDA no longer incorrectly switches from focus mode to browse mode when a radio or check menu item is focused. (
#4092
In Microsoft PowerPoint with speaking of typed words enabled, characters erased with backspace are no longer announced as part of the typed word. (
#3231
In Microsoft Office 2010 Options dialogs, the labels of combo boxes are reported correctly. (
#4056
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, using quick navigation commands to move to the next or previous button or form field now includes toggle buttons as expected. (
#4098
The content of alerts in Mozilla applications is no longer reported twice. (
#3481
In browse mode, containers and landmarks are no longer inappropriately repeated while navigating within them at the same time as page content is changing (e.g. navigating the Facebook and Twitter websites). (
#2199
NVDA recovers in more cases when switching away from applications that stop responding. (
#3825
The caret (insertion point) again correctly updates when doing a sayAll command while in editable text drawn directly to the screen. (
#4125
2014.1
New Features
Support for Microsoft PowerPoint 2013. Note that protected view is not supported. (
#3578
In Microsoft word and Excel, NVDA can now read the selected symbol when choosing symbols using the Insert Symbols dialog. (
#3538
It is now possible to choose if content in documents should be identified as clickable via a new option in the Document Formatting settings dialog. This option is on by default in accordance with the previous behavior. (
#3556
Support for braille displays connected via Bluetooth on a computer running the Widcomm Bluetooth Software. (
#2418
When editing text in PowerPoint, hyperlinks are now reported. (
#3416
When in ARIA applications or dialogs on the web, it is now possible to force NVDA to switch to browse mode with NVDA+space allowing document-style navigation of the application or dialog. (
#2023
In Outlook Express / Windows Mail / Windows Live Mail, NVDA now reports if a message has an attachment or is flagged. (
#1594
When navigating tables in accessible Java applications, row and column coordinates are now reported, including column and row headers if they exist. (
#3756
Changes
For Papenmeier braille displays, the move to flat review/focus command has been removed. Users can assign their own keys using the Input Gestures dialog. (
#3652
NVDA now relies on the Microsoft VC runtime version 11, which means it can no longer be run on Operating systems older than Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.
Punctuation level Some will now speak star (*) and plus (+) characters. (
#3614
Upgraded eSpeak to version 1.48.04 which includes many language fixes and fixes several crashes. (
#3842
#3739
#3860
Bug Fixes
When moving around or selecting cells in Microsoft Excel, NVDA should no longer inappropriately announce the old cell rather than the new cell when Microsoft Excel is slow to move the selection. (
#3558
NVDA properly handles opening a dropdown list for a cell in Microsoft Excel via the context menu. (
#3586
New page content in iTunes 11 store pages is now shown properly in browse mode when following a link in the store or when opening the store initially. (
#3625
Buttons for previewing songs in the iTunes 11 store now show their label in browse mode. (
#3638
In browse mode in Google Chrome, the labels of check boxes and radio buttons are now rendered correctly. (
#1562
In Instantbird, NVDA no longer reports useless information every time you move to a contact in the Contacts list. (
#2667
In browse mode in Adobe Reader, the correct text is now rendered for buttons, etc. where the label has been overridden using a tooltip or other means. (
#3640
In browse mode in Adobe Reader, extraneous graphics containing the text "mc-ref" will no longer be rendered. (
#3645
NVDA no longer reports all cells in Microsoft Excel as underlined in their formatting information. (
#3669
No longer show meaningless characters in browse mode documents such as those found in the Unicode private usage range. In some cases these were stopping more useful labels from being shown. (
#2963
Input composition for entering east-asian characters no longer fails in PuTTY. (
#3432
Navigating in a document after a canceled say all no longer results in NVDA sometimes incorrectly announcing that you have left a field (such as a table) lower in the document that the say all never actually spoke. (
#3688
When using browse mode quick navigation commands while in say all with skim reading enabled, NVDA more accurately announces the new field; e.g. it now says a heading is a heading, rather than just its text. (
#3689
The jump to end or start of container quick navigation commands now honor the skim reading during say all setting; i.e. they will no longer cancel the current say all. (
#3675
Touch gesture names listed in NVDA's Input Gestures dialog are now friendly and localized. (
#3624
NVDA no longer causes certain programs to crash when moving the mouse over their rich edit (TRichEdit) controls. Programs include Jarte 5.1 and BRfácil. (
#3693
#3603
#3581
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, containers such as tables marked as presentation by ARIA are no longer reported to the user. (
#3713
in Microsoft Word, NVDA no longer inappropriately repeats table row and column information for a cell on a braille display multiple times. (
#3702
In languages which use a space as a digit group/thousands separator such as French and German, numbers from separate chunks of text are no longer pronounced as a single number. This was particularly problematic for table cells containing numbers. (
#3698
Braille no longer sometimes fails to update when the system caret is moved in Microsoft Word 2013. (
#3784
When positioned on the first character of a heading in Microsoft Word, the text communicating it is a heading (including the level) no longer disappears off a braille display. (
#3701
When a configuration profile is triggered for an application and that application is exited, NVDA no longer sometimes fails to deactivate the profile. (
#3732
When entering Asian input into a control within NVDA itself (e.g. the browse mode Find dialog), "NVDA" is no longer incorrectly reported in place of the candidate. (
#3726
The tabs in the Outlook 2013 options dialog are now reported. (
#3826
Improved support for ARIA live regions in Firefox and other Mozilla Gecko applications:
Support for aria-atomic updates and filtering of aria-busy updates. (
#2640
Alternative text (such as alt attribute or aria-label) is included if there is no other useful text. (
#3329
Live region updates are no longer silenced if they occur at the same time as the focus moves. (
#3777
Certain presentation elements in Firefox and other Mozilla Gecko applications are no longer inappropriately shown in browse mode (specifically, when the element is marked with aria-presentation but it is also focusable). (
#3781
A performance improvement when navigating a document in Microsoft Word with spelling errors enabled. (
#3785
Several fixes to the support for accessible Java applications:
The initially focused control in a frame or dialog no longer fails to be reported when the frame or dialog comes to the foreground. (
#3753
Unuseful position information is no longer announced for radio buttons (e.g. 1 of 1). (
#3754
Better reporting of JComboBox controls (html no longer reported, better reporting of expanded and collapsed states). (
#3755
When reporting the text of dialogs, some text that was previously missing is now included. (
#3757
Changes to the name, value or description of the focused control is now reported more accurately. (
#3770
Fix a crash in NVDA seen in Windows 8 when focusing on certain RichEdit controls containing large amounts of text (e.g. NVDA's log viewer, windbg). (
#3867
On systems with a high DPI display setting (which occurs by default for many modern screens), NVDA no longer routes the mouse to the wrong location in some applications. (
#3758
#3703
Fixed an occasional problem when browsing the web where NVDA would stop working correctly until restarted, even though it didn't crash or freeze. (
#3804
A Papenmeier braille display can now be used even if a Papenmeier display has never been connected via USB. (
#3712
NVDA no longer freezes when the Papenmeier BRAILLEX older models braille display is selected without a display connected.
Changes for Developers
AppModules now contain productName and productVersion properties. This info is also now included in Developer Info (NVDA+f1). (
#1625
In the Python Console, you can now press the tab key to complete the current identifier. (
#433
If there are multiple possibilities, you can press tab a second time to choose from a list.
2013.3
New Features
Form fields are now reported in Microsoft word documents. (
#2295
NVDA can now announce revision information in Microsoft Word when Track Changes is enabled. Note that Report editor revisions in NVDA's document settings dialog (off by default) must be enabled also for them to be announced. (
#1670
Dropdown lists in Microsoft Excel 2003 through 2010 are now announced when opened and navigated around. (
#3382
a new 'Allow Skim Reading in Say All' option in the Keyboard settings dialog allows navigating through a document with browse mode quick navigation and line / paragraph movement commands, while remaining in say all. This option is off by default. (
#2766
There is now an Input Gestures dialog to allow simpler customization of the input gestures (such as keys on the keyboard) for NVDA commands. (
#1532
You can now have different settings for different situations using configuration profiles. Profiles can be activated manually or automatically (e.g. for a particular application). (
#87
#667
#1913
In Microsoft Excel, cells that are links are now announced as links. (
#3042
In Microsoft Excel, the existence of comments on a cell is now reported to the user. (
#2921
Bug Fixes
Zend Studio now functions the same as Eclipse. (
#3420
The changed state of certain checkboxes in the Microsoft Outlook 2010 message rules dialog are now reported automatically. (
#3063
NVDA will now report the pinned state for pinned controls such as tabs in Mozilla Firefox. (
#3372
It is now possible to bind scripts to keyboard gestures containing Alt and/or Windows keys as modifiers. Previously, if this was done, performing the script would cause the Start Menu or menu bar to be activated. (
#3472
Selecting text in browse mode documents (e.g. using control+shift+end) no longer causes the keyboard layout to be switched on systems with multiple keyboard layouts installed. (
#3472
Internet Explorer should no longer crash or become unusable when closing NVDA. (
#3397
Physical movement and other events on some newer computers are no longer treated as inappropriate key presses. Previously, this silenced speech and sometimes triggered NVDA commands. (
#3468
NVDA now behaves as expected in Poedit 1.5.7. Users using earlier versions will need to update. (
#3485
NVDA can now read protected documents in Microsoft Word 2010, no longer causing Microsoft Word to crash. (
#1686
If an unknown command line switch is given when launching the NVDA distribution package, it no longer causes an endless loop of error message dialogs. (
#3463
NVDA no longer fails to report alt text of graphics and objects in Microsoft Word if the alt text contains quotes or other non-standard characters. (
#3579
The number of items for certain horizontal lists in Browse mode is now correct. Previously it may have been double the actual amount. (
#2151
When pressing control+a in a Microsoft Excel worksheet, the updated selection will now be reported. (
#3043
NVDA can now correctly read XHTML documents in Microsoft Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls. (
#3542
Keyboard settings dialog: if no key has been chosen to be used as the NVDA key, an error is presented to the user when dismissing the dialog. At least one key must be chosen for proper usage of NVDA. (
#2871
In Microsoft Excel, NVDA now announces merged cells differently to multiple selected cells. (
#3567
The browse mode cursor is no longer positioned incorrectly when leaving a dialog or application inside the document. (
#3145
Fixed an issue where the HumanWare Brailliant BI/B series braille display driver wasn't presented as an option in the Braille Settings dialog on some systems, even though such a display was connected via USB.
NVDA no longer fails to switch to screen review when the navigator object has no actual screen location. In this case the review cursor is now placed at the top of the screen. (
#3454
Fixed an issue which caused the Freedom Scientific braille display driver to fail when the port was set to USB in some circumstances. (
#3509
#3662
Fixed an issue where keys on Freedom Scientific braille displays weren't detected in some circumstances. (
#3401
#3662
Changes for Developers
You can specify the category to be displayed to the user for scripts using the scriptCategory attribute on ScriptableObject classes and the category attribute on script methods. See the documentation for baseObject.ScriptableObject for more details. (
#1532
config.save is deprecated and may be removed in a future release. Use config.conf.save instead. (
#667
config.validateConfig is deprecated and may be removed in a future release. Add-ons which need this should provide their own implementation. (
#667
#3632
2013.2
New Features
Support for the Chromium Embedded Framework, which is a web browser control used in several applications. (
#3108
New eSpeak voice variant: Iven3.
In Skype, new chat messages are reported automatically while the conversation is focused. (
#2298
Support for Tween, including reporting of tab names and less verbosity when reading tweets.
You can now disable displaying of NVDA messages on a braille display by setting the message timeout to 0 in the Braille Settings dialog. (
#2482
In the Add-ons Manager, there is now a Get Add-ons button to open the NVDA Add-ons web site where you can browse and download available add-ons. (
#3209
In the NVDA Welcome dialog which always appears the first time you run NVDA, you can now specify whether NVDA starts automatically after you log on to Windows. (
#2234
Sleep mode is automatically enabled when using Dolphin Cicero. (
#2055
The Windows x64 version of Miranda IM/Miranda NG is now supported. (
#3296
Search suggestions in the Windows 8.1 Start Screen are automatically reported. (
#3322
Support for navigating and editing spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel 2013. (
#3360
The Freedom Scientific Focus 14 Blue and Focus 80 Blue braille displays, as well as the Focus 40 Blue in certain configurations that weren't supported previously, are now supported when connected via Bluetooth. (
#3307
Auto complete suggestions are now reported in Outlook 2010. (
#2816
New braille translation tables: English (U.K.) computer braille, Korean grade 2, Russian braille for computer code.
New language: Farsi. (
#1427
Changes
On a touch screen, performing a single finger flick left or right when in object mode now moves previous or next through all objects, not just those in the current container. Use 2-finger flick left or right to perform the original action of moving to the previous or next object in the current container.
the Report layout tables checkbox found in the Browse Mode settings dialog has now been renamed to Include layout tables to reflect that quick navigation also will not locate them if the checkbox is unchecked. (
#3140
Flat review has been replaced with object, document and screen review modes. (
#2996
Object review reviews text just within the navigator object, document review reviews all text in a browse mode document (if any) and screen review reviews text on the screen for the current application.
The commands that previously move to/from flat review now toggle between these new review modes.
The navigator object automatically follows the review cursor such that it remains the deepest object at the position of the review cursor when in document or screen review modes.
After switching to screen review mode, NVDA will stay in this mode until you explicitly switch back to document or object review mode.
When in document or object review mode, NVDA may automatically switch between these two modes depending on whether you are moving around a browse mode document or not.
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.5.3. (
#3371
Bug Fixes
Activating an object now announces the action before the activation, rather than the action after the activation (e.g. expand when expanding rather than collapse). (
#2982
More accurate reading and cursor tracking in various input fields for recent versions of Skype, such as chat and search fields. (
#1601
#3036
In the Skype recent conversations list, the number of new events is now read for each conversation if relevant. (
#1446
Improvements to cursor tracking and reading order for right-to-left text written to the screen; e.g. editing Arabic text in Microsoft Excel. (
#1601
Quick navigation to buttons and form fields will now locate links marked as buttons for accessibility purposes in Internet Explorer. (
#2750
In browse mode, the content inside tree views is no longer rendered, as a flattened representation isn't useful. You can press enter on a tree view to interact with it in focus mode. (
#3023
Pressing alt+downArrow or alt+upArrow to expand a combo box while in focus mode no longer incorrectly switches to browse mode. (
#2340
In Internet Explorer 10, table cells no longer activate focus mode, unless they have been explicitly made focusable by the web author. (
#3248
NVDA no longer fails to start if the system time is earlier than the last check for an update. (
#3260
If a progress bar is shown on a braille display, the braille display is updated when the progress bar changes. (
#3258
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, table captions are no longer rendered twice. In addition, the summary is rendered when there is also a caption. (
#3196
When changing input languages in Windows 8, NVDA now speaks the correct language rather than the previous one.
NVDA now announces IME conversion mode changes in Windows 8.
NVDA no longer announces garbage on the Desktop when the Google Japanese or Atok IME input methods are in use. (
#3234
In Windows 7 and above, NVDA no longer inappropriately announces speech recognition or touch input as a keyboard language change.
NVDA no longer announces a particular special character (0x7f) when pressing control+backspace in some editors when speak typed characters is enabled. (
#3315
eSpeak no longer inappropriately changes in pitch, volume, etc. when NVDA reads text containing certain control characters or XML. (
#3334
) (regression of
#437
In Java applications, changes to the label or value of the focused control are now announced automatically, and are reflected when subsequently querying the control. (
#3119
In Scintilla controls, lines are now reported correctly when word wrap is enabled. (
#885
In Mozilla applications, the name of read-only list items is now correctly reported; e.g. when navigating tweets in focus mode on twitter.com. (
#3327
Confirmation dialogs in Microsoft Office 2013 now have their content automatically read when they appear.
Performance improvements when navigating certain tables in Microsoft Word. (
#3326
NVDA's table navigation commands (control+alt+arrows) function better in certain Microsoft Word tables where a cell spans multiple rows.
If the Add-ons Manager is already open, activating it again (either from the Tools menu or by opening an add-on file) no longer fails or makes it impossible to close the Add-ons Manager. (
#3351
NVDA no longer freezes in certain dialogs when Japanese or Chinese Office 2010 IME is in use. (
#3064
Multiple spaces are no longer compressed to just one space on braille displays. (
#1366
Zend Eclipse PHP Developer Tools now functions the same as Eclipse. (
#3353
In Internet Explorer, It is again not necessary to press tab to interact with an embedded object (such as Flash content) after pressing enter on it. (
#3364
When editing text in Microsoft PowerPoint, the last line is no longer reported as the line above, if the final line is blank. (
#3403
In Microsoft PowerPoint, objects are no longer sometimes spoken twice when you select them or choose to edit them. (
#3394
NVDA no longer causes Adobe Reader to crash or freeze for certain badly formed PDF documents containing rows outside of tables. (
#3399
NVDA now correctly detects the next slide with focus when deleting a slide in Microsoft PowerPoint's thumbnails view. (
#3415
Changes for Developers
windowUtils.findDescendantWindow has been added to search for a descendant window (HWND) matching the specified visibility, control ID and/or class name.
The remote Python console no longer times out after 10 seconds while waiting for input. (
#3126
Inclusion of the bisect module in binary builds is deprecated and may be removed in a future release. (
#3368
Add-ons which depend on bisect (including the urllib2 module) should be updated to include this module.
2013.1.1
This release fixes the problem where NVDA crashed when started if configured to use the Irish language, as well as including updates to translations and some other bug fixes.
Bug Fixes
Correct characters are produced when typing in NVDA's own user interface while using a Korean or Japanese input method while it is the default method. (
#2909
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, fields marked as containing an invalid entry are now handled correctly. (
#3256
NVDA no longer crashes when started if it is configured to use the Irish language.
2013.1
Highlights of this release include a more intuitive and consistent laptop keyboard layout; basic support for Microsoft PowerPoint; support for long descriptions in web browsers; and support for input of computer braille for braille displays which have a braille keyboard.
Important
New Laptop Keyboard Layout
The laptop keyboard layout has been completely redesigned in order to make it more intuitive and consistent.
The new layout uses the arrow keys in combination with the NVDA key and other modifiers for review commands.
Please note the following changes to commonly used commands:
Name
Key
Say all
NVDA+a
Read current line
NVDA+l
Read current text selection
NVDA+shift+s
Report status bar
NVDA+shift+end
In addition, among other changes, all of the object navigation, text review, mouse click and synth settings ring commands have changed.
Please see the
Commands Quick Reference
document for the new keys.
New Features
Basic support for editing and reading Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. (
#501
Basic support for reading and writing messages in Lotus Notes 8.5. (
#543
Support for automatic language switching when reading documents in Microsoft Word. (
#2047
In Browse mode for MSHTML (e.g. Internet Explorer) and Gecko (e.g. Firefox), the existence of long descriptions are now announced. It's also possible to open the long description in a new window by pressing NVDA+d. (
#809
Notifications in Internet Explorer 9 and above are now spoken (such as content blocking or file downloads). (
#2343
Automatic reporting of table row and column headers is now supported for browse mode documents in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls. (
#778
New language: Aragonese, Irish
New braille translation tables: Danish grade 2, Korean grade 1. (
#2737
Support for braille displays connected via bluetooth on a computer running the Bluetooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba. (
#2419
Support for port selection when using Freedom Scientific displays (Automatic, USB or Bluetooth).
Support for the BrailleNote family of notetakers from HumanWare when acting as a braille terminal for a screen reader. (
#2012
Support for older models of Papenmeier BRAILLEX braille displays. (
#2679
Support for input of computer braille for braille displays which have a braille keyboard. (
#808
New keyboard settings that allow the choice for whether NVDA should interrupt speech for typed characters and/or the Enter key. (
#698
Support for several browsers based on Google Chrome: Rockmelt, BlackHawk, Comodo Dragon and SRWare Iron. (
#2236
#2813
#2814
#2815
Changes
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.5.2. (
#2737
The laptop keyboard layout has been completely redesigned in order to make it more intuitive and consistent. (
#804
Updated eSpeak speech synthesizer to 1.47.11. (
#2680
#3124
#3132
#3141
#3143
#3172
Bug Fixes
The quick navigation keys for jumping to the next or previous separator in Browse Mode now work in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls. (
#2781
If NVDA falls back to eSpeak or no speech due to the configured speech synthesizer failing when NVDA starts, the configured choice is no longer automatically set to the fallback synthesizer. This means that now, the original synthesizer will be tried again next time NVDA starts. (
#2589
If NVDA falls back to no braille due to the configured braille display failing when NVDA starts, the configured display is no longer automatically set to no braille. This means that now, the original display will be tried again next time NVDA starts. (
#2264
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, updates to tables are now rendered correctly. For example, in updated cells, row and column coordinates are reported and table navigation works as it should. (
#2784
In browse mode in web browsers, certain clickable unlabelled graphics which weren't previously rendered are now rendered correctly. (
#2838
Earlier and newer versions of SecureCRT are now supported. (
#2800
For input methods such as Easy Dots IME under XP, the reading string is now correctly reported.
The candidate list in the Chinese Simplified Microsoft Pinyin input method under Windows 7 is now correctly read when changing pages with left and right arrow, and when first opening it with Home.
When custom symbol pronunciation information is saved, the advanced "preserve" field is no longer removed. (
#2852
When disabling automatic checking for updates, NVDA no longer has to be restarted in order for the change to fully take effect.
NVDA no longer fails to start if an add-on cannot be removed due to its directory currently being in use by another application. (
#2860
Tab labels in DropBox's preferences dialog can now be seen with Flat Review.
If the input language is changed to something other than the default, NVDA now detects keys correctly for commands and input help mode.
For languages such as German where the + (plus) sign is a single key on the keyboard, it is now possible to bind commands to it by using the word "plus". (
#2898
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, block quotes are now reported where appropriate. (
#2888
The HumanWare Brailliant BI/B series braille display driver can now be selected when the display is connected via Bluetooth but has never been connected via USB.
Filtering elements in the Browse Mode Elements list with uppercase filter text now returns case-insensitive results just like lowercase rather than nothing at all. (
#2951
In Mozilla browsers, browse mode can again be used when Flash content is focused. (
#2546
When using a contracted braille table and expand to computer braille for the word at the cursor is enabled, the braille cursor is now positioned correctly when located after a word wherein a character is represented by multiple braille cells (e.g. capital sign, letter sign, number sign, etc.). (
#2947
Text selection is now correctly shown on a braille display in applications such as Microsoft word 2003 and Internet Explorer edit controls.
It is again possible to select text in a backward direction in Microsoft Word while Braille is enabled.
When reviewing, backspacing or deleting characters In Scintilla edit controls, NVDA correctly announces multibyte characters. (
#2855
NVDA will no longer fail to install when the user's profile path contains certain multibyte characters. (
#2729
Reporting of groups for List View controls (SysListview32) in 64-bit applications no longer causes an error.
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, text content is no longer incorrectly treated as editable in some rare cases. (
#2959
In IBM Lotus Symphony and OpenOffice, moving the caret now moves the review cursor if appropriate.
Adobe Flash content is now accessible in Internet Explorer in Windows 8. (
#2454
Fixed Bluetooth support for Papenmeier Braillex Trio. (
#2995
Fixed inability to use certain Microsoft Speech API version 5 voices such as Koba Speech 2 voices. (
#2629
In applications using the Java Access Bridge, braille displays are now updated correctly when the caret moves in editable text fields . (
#3107
Support the form landmark in browse mode documents that support landmarks. (
#2997
The eSpeak synthesizer driver now handles reading by character more appropriately (e.g. announcing a foreign letter's name or value rather than just its sound or generic name). (
#3106
NVDA no longer fails to copy user settings for use on logon and other secure screens when the user's profile path contains non-ASCII characters. (
#3092
NVDA no longer freezes when using Asian character input in some .NET applications. (
#3005
it is now possible to use browse mode for pages in Internet Explorer 10 when in standards mode; e.g.
www.gmail.com
login page. (
#3151
Changes for Developers
Braille display drivers can now support manual port selection. (
#426
This is most useful for braille displays which support connection via a legacy serial port.
This is done using the getPossiblePorts class method on the BrailleDisplayDriver class.
Braille input from braille keyboards is now supported. (
#808
Braille input is encompassed by the brailleInput.BrailleInputGesture class or a subclass thereof.
Subclasses of braille.BrailleDisplayGesture (as implemented in braille display drivers) can also inherit from brailleInput.BrailleInputGesture. This allows display commands and braille input to be handled by the same gesture class.
You can now use comHelper.getActiveObject to get an active COM object from a normal process when NVDA is running with the UIAccess privilege. (
#2483
2012.3
Highlights of this release include support for Asian character input; experimental support for touch screens on Windows 8; reporting of page numbers and improved support for tables in Adobe Reader; table navigation commands in focused table rows and Windows list-view controls; support for several more braille displays; and reporting of row and column headers in Microsoft Excel.
New Features
NVDA can now support Asian character input using IME and text service input methods in all applications, Including:
Reporting and navigation of candidate lists;
Reporting and navigation of composition strings; and
Reporting of reading strings.
The presence of underline and strikethrough is now reported in Adobe Reader documents. (
#2410
When the Windows Sticky Keys function is enabled, the NVDA modifier key will now behave like other modifier keys. This allows you to use the NVDA modifier key without needing to hold it down while you press other keys. (
#230
Automatic reporting of column and row headers is now supported in Microsoft Excel. Press NVDA+shift+c to set the row containing column headers and NVDA+shift+r to set the column containing row headers. Press either command twice in quick succession to clear the setting. (
#1519
Support for HIMS Braille Sense, Braille EDGE and SyncBraille braille displays. (
#1266
#1267
When Windows 8 Toast notifications appear, NVDA will report them if reporting of help balloons is enabled. (
#2143
Experimental support for Touch screens on Windows 8, including:
Reading text directly under your finger while moving it around
Many gestures for performing object navigation, text review, and other NVDA commands.
Support for VIP Mud. (
#1728
In Adobe Reader, if a table has a summary, it is now presented. (
#2465
In Adobe Reader, table row and column headers can now be reported. (
#2193
#2527
#2528
New languages: Amharic, Korean, Nepali, Slovenian.
NVDA can now read auto complete suggestions when entering email addresses in Microsoft Outlook 2007. (
#689
New eSpeak voice variants: Gene, Gene2. (
#2512
In Adobe Reader, page numbers can now be reported. (
#2534
In Reader XI, page labels are reported where present, reflecting changes to page numbering in different sections, etc. In earlier versions, this is not possible and only sequential page numbers are reported.
It is now possible to reset NVDA's configuration to factory defaults either by pressing NVDA+control+r three times quickly or by choosing Reset to Factory Defaults from the NVDA menu. (
#2086
Support for the Seika Version 3, 4 and 5 and Seika80 braille displays from Nippon Telesoft. (
#2452
The first and last top routing buttons on Freedom Scientific PAC Mate and Focus Braille displays can now be used to scroll backward and forward. (
#2556
Many more features are supported on Freedom Scientific Focus Braille displays such as advance bars, rocker bars and certain dot combinations for common actions. (
#2516
In applications using IAccessible2 such as Mozilla applications, table row and column headers can now be reported outside of browse mode. (
#926
Preliminary support for the document control in Microsoft Word 2013. (
#2543
Text alignment can now be reported in applications using IAccessible2 such as Mozilla applications. (
#2612
When a table row or standard Windows list-view control with multiple columns is focused, you can now use the table navigation commands to access individual cells. (
#828
New braille translation tables: Estonian grade 0, Portuguese 8 dot computer braille, Italian 6 dot computer braille. (
#2319
#2662
If NVDA is installed on the system, directly opening an NVDA add-on package (e.g. from Windows Explorer or after downloading in a web browser) will install it into NVDA. (
#2306
Support for newer models of Papenmeier BRAILLEX braille displays. (
#1265
Position information (e.g. 1 of 4) is now reported for Windows Explorer list items on Windows 7 and above. This also includes any UIAutomation controls that support the itemIndex and itemCount custom properties. (
#2643
Changes
In the NVDA Review Cursor preferences dialog, the Follow keyboard focus option has been renamed to Follow system focus for consistency with terminology used elsewhere in NVDA.
When braille is tethered to review and the cursor is on an object which is not a text object (e.g. an editable text field), cursor routing keys will now activate the object. (
#2386
The Save Settings On Exit option is now on by default for new configurations.
When updating a previously installed copy of NVDA, the desktop shortcut key is no longer forced back to control+alt+n if it was manually changed to something different by the user. (
#2572
The add-ons list in the Add-ons Manager now shows the package name before its status. (
#2548
If installing the same or another version of a currently installed add-on, NVDA will ask if you wish to update the add-on, rather than just showing an error and aborting installation. (
#2501
Object navigation commands (except the report current object command) now report with less verbosity. You can still obtain the extra information by using the report current object command. (
#2560
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.5.1. (
#2319
#2480
#2662
#2672
The NVDA Key Commands Quick Reference document has been renamed to Commands Quick Reference, as it now includes touch commands as well as keyboard commands.
The Elements list in Browse mode will now remember the last element type shown (e.g. links, headings or landmarks) each time the dialog is shown within the same session of NVDA. (
#365
Most Metro apps in Windows 8 (e.g. Mail, Calendar) no longer activate Browse Mode for the entire app.
Updated Handy Tech BrailleDriver COM-Server to 1.4.2.0.
Bug Fixes
In Windows Vista and later, NVDA no longer incorrectly treats the Windows key as being held down when unlocking Windows after locking it by pressing Windows+l. (
#1856
In Adobe Reader, row headers are now correctly recognised as table cells; i.e. coordinates are reported and they can be accessed using table navigation commands. (
#2444
In Adobe Reader, table cells spanning more than one column and/or row are now handled correctly. (
#2437
#2438
#2450
The NVDA distribution package now checks its integrity before executing. (
#2475
Temporary download files are now removed if downloading of an NVDA update fails. (
#2477
NVDA will no longer freeze when it is running as an administrator while copying the user configuration to the system configuration (for use on Windows logon and other secure screens). (
#2485
Tiles on the Windows 8 Start Screen are now presented better in speech and braille. The name is no longer repeated, unselected is no longer reported on all tiles, and live status information is presented as the description of the tile (e.g. current temperature for the Weather tile).
Passwords are no longer announced when reading password fields in Microsoft Outlook and other standard edit controls that are marked as protected. (
#2021
In Adobe Reader, changes to form fields are now correctly reflected in browse mode. (
#2529
Improvements to support for the Microsoft Word Spell Checker, including more accurate reading of the current spelling error, and the ability to support the spell checker when running an Installed copy of NVDA on Windows Vista or higher.
Add-ons which include files containing non-English characters can now be installed correctly in most cases. (
#2505
In Adobe Reader, the language of text is no longer lost when it is updated or scrolled to. (
#2544
When installing an add-on, the confirmation dialog now correctly shows the localized name of the add-on if available. (
#2422
In applications using UI Automation (such as .net and Silverlight applications), the calculation of numeric values for controls such as sliders has been corrected. (
#2417
The configuration for reporting of progress bars is now honoured for the indeterminate progress bars displayed by NVDA when installing, creating a portable copy, etc. (
#2574
NVDA commands can no longer be executed from a braille display while a secure Windows screen (such as the Lock screen) is active. (
#2449
In browse mode, braille is now updated if the text being displayed changes. (
#2074
When on a secure Windows screen such as the Lock screen, messages from applications speaking or displaying braille directly via NVDA are now ignored.
In Browse mode, it is no longer possible to fall off the bottom of the document with the right arrow key when on the final character, or by jumping to the end of a container when that container is the last item in the document. (
#2463
Extraneous content is no longer incorrectly included when reporting the text of dialogs in web applications (specifically, ARIA dialogs with no aria-describedby attribute). (
#2390
NVDA no longer incorrectly reports or locates certain edit fields in MSHTML documents (e.g. Internet Explorer), specifically where an explicit ARIA role has been used by the web page author. (
#2435
The backspace key is now handled correctly when speaking typed words in Windows command consoles. (
#2586
Cell coordinates in Microsoft Excel are now shown again in Braille.
In Microsoft Word, NVDA no longer leaves you stuck on a paragraph with list formatting when trying to navigate out over a bullet or number with left arrow or control + left arrow. (
#2402
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, the items in certain list boxes (specifically, ARIA list boxes) are no longer incorrectly rendered.
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, certain controls that were rendered with an incorrect label or just whitespace are now rendered with the correct label.
In browse mode in Mozilla applications, some extraneous whitespace has been eliminated.
In browse mode in web browsers, certain graphics that are explicitly marked as presentational (specifically, with an alt="" attribute) are now correctly ignored.
In web browsers, NVDA now hides content which is marked as hidden from screen readers (specifically, using the aria-hidden attribute). (
#2117
Negative currency amounts (e.g. -$123) are now correctly spoken as negative, regardless of symbol level. (
#2625
During say all, NVDA will no longer incorrectly revert to the default language where a line does not end a sentence. (
#2630
Font information is now correctly detected in Adobe Reader 10.1 and later. (
#2175
In Adobe Reader, if alternate text is provided, only that text will be rendered. Previously, extraneous text was sometimes included. (
#2174
Where a document contains an application, the content of the application is no longer included in browse mode. This prevents unexpectedly moving inside the application when navigating. You can interact with the application in the same way as for embedded objects. (
#990
In Mozilla applications, the value of spin buttons is now correctly reported when it changes. (
#2653
Updated support for Adobe Digital Editions so that it works in version 2.0. (
#2688
Pressing NVDA+upArrow while on a combo box in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML documents will no longer incorrectly read all items. Rather, just the active item will be read. (
#2337
Speech dictionaries will now properly save when using a number (#) sign within the pattern or replacement fields. (
#961
Browse mode for MSHTML documents (e.g. Internet Explorer) now correctly displays visible content contained within hidden content (specifically, elements with a style of visibility:visible inside an element with style visibility:hidden). (
#2097
Links in Windows XP's Security Center no longer report random junk after their names. (
#1331
UI Automation text controls (e.g. the search field in the Windows 7 Start Menu) are now correctly announced when moving the mouse over them rather than staying silent.
Keyboard layout changes are no longer reported during say all, which was particularly problematic for multilingual documents including Arabic text. (
#1676
The entire content of some UI Automation editable text controls (e.g. the Search Box in the Windows 7/8 Start Menu) is no longer announced every time it changes.
When moving between groups on the Windows 8 start screen, unlabeled groups no longer announce their first tile as the name of the group. (
#2658
When opening the Windows 8 start screen, the focus is correctly placed on the first tile, rather than jumping to the root of the start screen which can confuse navigation. (
#2720
NVDA will no longer fail to start when the user's profile path contains certain multibyte characters. (
#2729
In browse mode in Google Chrome, the text of tabs is now rendered correctly.
In browse mode, menu buttons are now reported correctly.
In OpenOffice.org/LibreOffice Calc, reading spreadsheet cells now works correctly. (
#2765
NVDA can again function in the Yahoo! Mail message list when used from Internet Explorer. (
#2780
Changes for Developers
Previous log file is now copied to nvda-old.log on NVDA initialization. Therefore, if NVDA crashes or is restarted, logging information from that session is still accessible for inspection. (
#916
Fetching the role property in chooseNVDAObjectOverlayClasses no longer causes the role to be incorrect and thus not reported on focus for certain objects such as Windows command consoles and Scintilla controls. (
#2569
The NVDA Preferences, Tools and Help menus are now accessible as attributes on gui.mainFrame.sysTrayIcon named preferencesMenu, toolsMenu and helpMenu, respectively. This allows plugins to more easily add items to these menus.
The navigatorObject_doDefaultAction script in globalCommands has been renamed to review_activate.
Gettext message contexts are now supported. This allows multiple translations to be defined for a single English message depending on the context. (
#1524
This is done using the pgettext(context, message) function.
This is supported for both NVDA itself and add-ons.
xgettext and msgfmt from GNU gettext must be used to create any PO and MO files. The Python tools do not support message contexts.
For xgettext, pass the --keyword=pgettext:1c,2 command line argument to enable inclusion of message contexts.
See http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/Contexts.html#Contexts for more information.
It is now possible to access built-in NVDA modules where they have been overridden by third party modules. See the nvdaBuiltin module for details.
Add-on translation support can now be used within the add-on installTasks module. (
#2715
2012.2.1
This release addresses several potential security issues (by upgrading Python to 2.7.3).
2012.2
Highlights of this release include an in-built installer and portable creation feature, automatic updates, easy management of new NVDA add-ons, announcement of graphics in Microsoft Word, support for Windows 8 Metro style apps, and several important bug fixes.
New Features
NVDA can now automatically check for, download and install updates. (
#73
Extending NVDA's functionality has been made easier with the addition of an Add-ons Manager (found under Tools in the NVDA menu) allowing you to install and uninstall new NVDA add-on packages (.nvda-addon files) containing plugins and drivers. Note the Add-on manager does not show older custom plugins and drivers manually copied in to your configuration directory. (
#213
Many more common NVDA features now work in Windows 8 Metro style apps when using an installed release of NVDA, including speaking of typed characters, and browse mode for web documents (includes support for metro version of Internet Explorer 10). Portable copies of NVDA cannot access metro style apps. (
#1801
In browse mode documents (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.), you can now jump to the start and past the end of certain containing elements (such as lists and tables) with shift+, and , respectively. (
#123
New language: Greek.
Graphics and alt text are now reported in Microsoft Word Documents. (
#2282
#1541
Changes
Announcement of cell coordinates in Microsoft Excel is now after the content rather than before, and is now only included if the report tables and report table cell coordinates settings are enabled in the Document formatting settings dialog. (
#320
NVDA is now distributed in one package. Rather than separate portable and installer versions, there is now just one file that, when run, will start a temporary copy of NVDA and will allow you to install or generate a portable distribution. (
#1715
NVDA is now always installed in to Program Files on all systems. Updating a previous install will also automatically move it if it was not previously installed there.
Bug Fixes
With auto language switching enabled, Content such as alt text for graphics and labels for other certain controls in Mozilla Gecko (e.g. Firefox) are now reported in the correct language if marked up appropriately.
SayAll in BibleSeeker (and other TRxRichEdit controls) no longer stops in the middle of a passage.
Lists found in the Windows 8 Explorer file properties (permitions tab) and in Windows 8 Windows Update now read correctly.
Fixed possible freezes in MS Word which would result when it took more than 2 seconds to fetch text from a document (extremely long lines or tables of contents). (
#2191
Detection of word breaks now works correctly where whitespace is followed by certain punctuation. (
#1656
In browse mode in Adobe Reader, it is now possible to navigate to headings without a level using quick navigation and the Elements List. (
#2181
In Winamp, braille is now correctly updated when you move to a different item in the Playlist Editor. (
#1912
The tree in the Elements List (available for browse mode documents) is now properly sized to show the text of each element. (
#2276
In applications using the Java Access Bridge, editable text fields are now presented correctly in braille. (
#2284
In applications using the java Access Bridge, editable text fields no longer report strange characters in certain circumstances. (
#1892
In applications using the Java Access Bridge, when at the end of an editable text field, the current line is now reported correctly. (
#1892
In browse mode in applications using Mozilla Gecko 14 and later (e.g. Firefox 14), quick navigation now works for block quotes and embedded objects. (
#2287
In Internet Explorer 9, NVDA no longer reads unwanted content when focus moves inside certain landmarks or focusable elements (specifically, a div element which is focusable or has an ARIA landmark role).
The NVDA icon for the NVDA Desktop and Start Menu shortcuts is now displayed correctly on 64 bit editions of Windows. (
#354
Changes for Developers
Due to the replacement of the previous NSIS installer for NVDA with a built-in installer in Python, it is no longer necessary for translaters to maintain a langstrings.txt file for the installer. All localization strings are now managed by gettext po files.
2012.1
Highlights of this release 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.
New Features
NVDA can announce the number of leading tabs and spaces of the current line in the order that they are entered. This can be enabled by selecting report line indentation in the document formatting dialogue. (
#373
NVDA can now detect key presses generated from alternative keyboard input emulation such as on-screen keyboards and speech recognition software.
NVDA can now detect colors in Windows command consoles.
Bold, italic and underline are now indicated in braille using signs appropriate to the configured translation table. (
#538
Much more information is now reported in Microsoft Word documents, including:
Inline information such as footnote and endnote numbers, heading levels, the existence of comments, table nesting levels, links, and text color;
Reporting when entering document sections such as the comments story, footnotes and endnotes stories, and header and footer stories.
Braille now indicates selected text using dots 7 and 8. (
#889
Braille now reports information about controls within documents such as links, buttons and headings. (
#202
Support for the hedo ProfiLine and MobilLine USB braille displays. (
#1863
#1897
NVDA now avoids splitting words in braille when possible by default. This can be disabled in the Braille Settings dialog. (
#1890
#1946
It is now possible to have braille displayed by paragraphs instead of lines, which may allow for more fluent reading of large amounts of text. This is configurable using the Read by paragraphs option in the Braille Settings dialog. (
#1891
In browse mode, you can activate the object under the cursor using a braille display. This is done by pressing the cursor routing key where the cursor is located (which means pressing it twice if the cursor is not already there). (
#1893
Basic support for web areas in iTunes such as the Store. Other applications using WebKit 1 may also be supported. (
#734
In books in Adobe Digital Editions 1.8.1 and later, pages are now turned automatically when using say all. (
#1978
New braille translation tables: Portuguese grade 2, Icelandic 8 dot computer braille, Tamil grade 1, Spanish 8 dot computer braille, Farsi grade 1. (
#2014
You can now configure whether frames in documents are reported from the Document Formatting preferences dialog. (
#1900
Sleep mode is automatically enabled when using OpenBook. (
#1209
In Poedit, translators can now read translator added and automatically extracted comments. Messages that are untranslated or fuzzy are marked with a star and a beep is heard when you navigate onto them. (
#1811
Support for the HumanWare Brailliant BI and B series displays. (
#1990
New languages: Norwegian Bokmål, Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong).
Changes
Commands to describe the current character or to spell the current word or line now will spell in the appropriate language according to the text, if auto language switching is turned on and the appropriate language information is available.
Updated eSpeak speech synthesizer to 1.46.02.
NVDA will now truncate extremely long (30 characters or greater) names guessed from graphic and link URLs as they are most likely garbage that gets in the way of reading. (
#1989
Some information displayed in braille has been abbreviated. (
#1955
#2043
When the caret or review cursor moves, braille is now scrolled in the same way as when it is manually scrolled. This makes it more appropriate when braille is configured to read by paragraphs and/or avoid splitting words. (
#1996
Updated to new Spanish grade 1 braille translation table.
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.4.1.
Bug Fixes
In Windows 8, focus is no longer incorrectly moved away from the Windows Explorer search field, which was not allowing NVDA to interact with it.
Major performance improvements when reading and navigating Microsoft Word documents while automatic reporting of formatting is enabled, thus now making it quite comfortable to proof read formatting etc. Performance may be also improved over all for some users.
Browse mode is now used for full screen Adobe Flash content.
Fixed poor audio quality in some cases when using Microsoft Speech API version 5 voices with the audio output device set to something other than the default (Microsoft Sound Mapper). (
#749
Again allow NVDA to be used with the "no speech" synthesizer, relying purely on braille or the speech viewer. (
#1963
Object navigation commands no longer report "No children" and "No parents", but instead report messages consistent with the documentation.
When NVDA is configured to use a language other than English, the name of the tab key is now reported in the correct language.
In Mozilla Gecko (e.g. Firefox), NVDA no longer intermittently switches to browse mode while navigating menus in documents. (
#2025
In Calculator, the backspace key now reports the updated result instead of reporting nothing. (
#2030
In browse mode, the move mouse to current navigator object command now routes to the center of the object at the review cursor instead of the top left, making it more accurate it some cases. (
#2029
In browse mode with automatic focus mode for focus changes enabled, focusing on a toolbar will now switch to focus mode. (
#1339
The report title command works correctly again in Adobe Reader.
With automatic focus mode for focus changes enabled, focus mode is now correctly used for focused table cells; e.g. in ARIA grids. (
#1763
In iTunes, position information in certain lists is now reported correctly.
In Adobe Reader, some links are no longer treated as containing read-only editable text fields.
The labels of some editable text fields are no longer incorrectly included when reporting the text of a dialog. (
#1960
The description of groupings is once again reported if reporting of object descriptions is enabled.
The human readable sizes are now included in the text of the Windows Explorer drive properties dialog.
Double reporting of property page text has been suppressed in some cases. (
#218
Improved tracking of the caret in editable text fields which rely on text written to the screen. In particular, this improves editing in the Microsoft Excel cell editor and the Eudora message editor. (
#1658
In Firefox 11, the move to containing virtual buffer command (NVDA+control+space) now works as it should to escape embedded objects such as Flash content.
NVDA now restarts itself correctly (e.g. after changing the configured language) when it is located in a directory which contains non-ASCII characters. (
#2079
Braille correctly respects the settings for reporting of object shortcut keys, position information and descriptions.
In Mozilla applications, switching between browse and focus modes is no longer slow with braille enabled. (
#2095
Routing the cursor to the space at the end of the line/paragraph using braille cursor routing keys in some editable text fields now works correctly instead of routing to the start of the text. (
#2096
NVDA again works correctly with the Audiologic Tts3 synthesizer. (
#2109
Microsoft Word documents are correctly treated as multi-line. This causes braille to behave more appropriately when a document is focused.
In Microsoft Internet Explorer, errors no longer occur when focusing on certain rare controls. (
#2121
Changing the pronunciation of punctuation/symbols by the user will now take effect straight away, rather than requiring NVDA to be restarted or auto language switching to be disabled.
When using eSpeak, speech no longer goes silent in some cases in the Save As dialog of the NVDA Log Viewer. (
#2145
Changes for Developers
There is now a remote Python console for situations where remote debugging is useful. See the Developer Guide for details.
The base path of NVDA's code is now stripped from tracebacks in the log to improve readability. (
#1880
TextInfo objects now have an activate() method to activate the position represented by the TextInfo.
This is used by braille to activate the position using cursor routing keys on a braille display. However, there may be other callers in future.
TreeInterceptors and NVDAObjects which only expose one page of text at a time can support automatic page turns during say all by using the textInfos.DocumentWithPageTurns mix-in. (
#1978
Several control and output constants have been renamed or moved. (
#228
speech.REASON_* constants have been moved to controlTypes.
In controlTypes, speechRoleLabels and speechStateLabels have been renamed to just roleLabels and stateLabels, respectively.
Braille output is now logged at level input/output. First, the untranslated text of all regions is logged, followed by the braille cells of the window being displayed. (
#2102
subclasses of the sapi5 synthDriver can now override _getVoiceTokens and extend init to support custom voice tokens such as with sapi.spObjectTokenCategory to get tokens from a custom registry location.
2011.3
Highlights of this release 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.
New Features
NVDA can now change the eSpeak synthesizer language on the fly when reading certain web/pdf documents with appropriate language information. Automatic language/dialect switching can be toggled on and off from the Voice Settings dialog. (
#845
Java Access Bridge 2.0.2 is now supported, which includes support for 64 bit Java Runtime Environments.
In Mozilla Gecko (e.g. Firefox) Heading levels are now announced when using object navigation.
Text formatting can now be reported when using browse mode in Mozilla Gecko (e.g. Firefox and Thunderbird). (
#394
Text with underline and/or strikethrough can now be detected and reported in standard IAccessible2 text controls such as in Mozilla applications.
In browse mode in Adobe Reader, table row and column counts are now reported.
Added support for the Microsoft Speech Platform synthesizer. (
#1735
Page and line numbers are now reported for the caret in IBM Lotus Symphony. (
#1632
The percentage of how much the pitch changes when speaking a capital letter is now configurable from the voice settings dialog. However, this does replace the older raise pitch for capitals checkbox (therefore to turn off this feature set the percentage to 0). (
#255
Text and background color is now included in the reporting of formatting for cells in Microsoft Excel. (
#1655
In applications using the Java Access Bridge, the activate current navigator object command now works on controls where appropriate. (
#1744
New language: Tamil.
Basic support for Design Science MathPlayer.
Changes
NVDA will now restart itself if it crashes.
Some information displayed in braille has been abbreviated. (
#1288
the Read active window script (NVDA+b) has been improved to filter out unuseful controls and also is now much more easy to silence. (
#1499
Automatic say all when a browse mode document loads is now optional via a setting in the Browse Mode settings dialog. (
#414
When trying to read the status bar (Desktop NVDA+end), If a real status bar object cannot be located, NVDA will instead resort to using the bottom line of text written to the display for the active application. (
#649
When reading with say all in browse mode documents, NVDA will now pause at the end of headings and other block-level elements, rather than speaking the text together with the next lot of text as one long sentence.
In browse mode, pressing enter or space on a tab now activates it instead of switching to focus mode. (
#1760
Updated eSpeak speech synthesizer to 1.45.47.
Bug Fixes
NVDA no longer shows bullets or numbering for lists in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls when the author has indicated that these should not be shown (i.e. the list style is "none"). (
#1671
Restarting NVDA when it has frozen (e.g. by pressing control+alt+n) no longer exits the previous copy without starting a new one.
Pressing backspace or arrow keys in a Windows command console no longer causes strange results in some cases. (
#1612
The selected item in WPF combo boxes (and possibly some other combo boxes exposed using UI Automation) which do not allow text editing is now reported correctly.
In browse mode in Adobe Reader, it is now always possible to move to the next row from the header row and vice versa using the move to next row and move to previous row commands. Also, the header row is no longer reported as row 0. (
#1731
In browse mode in Adobe Reader, it is now possible to move to (and therefore past) empty cells in a table.
Pointless position information (e.g. 0 of 0 level 0) is no longer reported in braille.
When braille is tethered to review, it is now able to show content in flat review. (
#1711
A text control's text is no longer presented twice on a braille display in some cases, e.g. scrolling back from the start of Wordpad documents.
In browse mode in Internet Explorer, pressing enter on a file upload button now correctly presents the dialog to choose a file to upload instead of switching to focus mode. (
#1720
Dynamic content changes such as in Dos consoles are no longer announced if sleep mode for that application is currently on. (
#1662
In browse mode, the behaviour of alt+upArrow and alt+downArrow to collapse and expand combo boxes has been improved. (
#1630
NVDA now recovers from many more situations such as applications that stop responding which previously caused it to freeze completely. (
#1408
For Mozilla Gecko (Firefox etc) browse mode documents NVDA will no longer fail to render text in a very specific situation where an element is styled as display:table. (
#1373
NVDA will no longer announce label controls when focus moves inside of them. Stops double announcements of labels for some form fields in Firefox (Gecko) and Internet Explorer (MSHTML). (
#1650
NVDA no longer fails to read a cell in Microsoft Excel after pasting in to it with control+v. (
#1781
In Adobe Reader, extraneous information about the document is no longer announced when moving to a control on a different page in focus mode. (
#1659
In browse mode in Mozilla Gecko applications (e.g. Firefox), toggle buttons are now detected and reported correctly. (
#1757
NVDA can now correctly read the Windows Explorer Address Bar in Windows 8 developer preview.
NVDA will no longer crash apps such as winver and wordpad in Windows 8 developer preview due to bad glyph translations.
In browse mode in applications using Mozilla Gecko 10 and later (e.g. Firefox 10), the cursor is more often positioned correctly when loading a page with a target anchor. (
#360
In browse mode in Mozilla Gecko applications (e.g. Firefox), labels for image maps are now rendered.
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 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
Fixed reviewing by word in Windows Edit controls. (
#1877
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
Changes for Developers
NVDA can now instruct speech synthesizers to switch languages for particular sections of speech.
To support this, drivers must handle speech.LangChangeCommand in sequences past to SynthDriver.speak().
SynthDriver objects should also provide the language argument to VoiceInfo objects (or override the language attribute to retrieve the current language). Otherwise, NVDA's user interface language will be used.
2011.2
Highlights of this release 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.
New Features
It is now possible to hear the description for any given character by pressing the review current character script twice in quick succession. For English characters this is the standard English phonetic alphabet. For pictographic languages such as traditional Chinese, one or more example phrases using the given symbol are provided. Also pressing review current word or review current line three times will spell the word/line using the first of these descriptions. (
#55
More text can be seen in flat review for applications such as Mozilla Thunderbird that write their text directly to the display as glyphs.
It is now possible to choose from several levels of punctuation and symbol announcement. (
#332
When punctuation or other symbols are repeated more than four times, the number of repetitions is now announced instead of speaking the repeated symbols. (
#43
New braille translation tables: Norwegian 8 dot computer braille, Ethiopic grade 1, Slovene grade 1, Serbian grade 1. (
#1456
Speech no longer unnaturally pauses at the end of each line when using the say all command. (
#149
NVDA will now announce whether something is sorted (according to the aria-sort property) in web browsers. (
#1500
Unicode Braille Patterns are now displayed correctly on braille displays. (
#1505
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls when focus moves inside a group of controls (surrounded by a fieldset), NVDA will now announce the name of the group (the legend). (
#535
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, the aria-labelledBy and aria-describedBy properties are now honoured.
in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, support for ARIA list, gridcell, slider and progressbar controls has been improved.
Users can now change the pronunciation of punctuation and other symbols, as well as the symbol level at which they are spoken. (
#271
#1516
In Microsoft Excel, the name of the active sheet is now reported when switching sheets with control+pageUp or control+pageDown. (
#760
When navigating a table in Microsoft Word with the tab key NVDA will now announce the current cell as you move. (
#159
You can now configure whether table cell coordinates are reported from the Document Formatting preferences dialog. (
#719
NVDA can now detect formatting and color for text written to the screen.
In the Outlook Express/Windows Mail/Windows Live Mail message list, NVDA will now announce the fact that a message is unread and also if it's expanded or collapsed in the case of conversation threads. (
#868
eSpeak now has a rate boost setting which triples the speaking rate.
Support for the calendar control found in the Date and Time Information dialog accessed from the Windows 7 clock. (
#1637
Additional key bindings have been added for the MDV Lilli braille display. (
#241
New languages: Bulgarian, Albanian.
Changes
To move the caret to the review cursor, now press the move focus to navigator object script (desktop NVDA+shift+numpadMinus, laptop NVDA+shift+backspace) twice in quick succession. This frees up more keys on the keyboard. (
#837
To hear the decimal and hexadecimal representation of the character under the review cursor, now press review current character three times rather than twice, as twice now speaks the character description.
Updated eSpeak speech synthesiser to 1.45.03. (
#1465
Layout tables are no longer announced in Mozilla Gecko applications while moving the focus when in focus mode or outside of a document.
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, browse mode now works for documents inside ARIA applications. (
#1452
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.3.0.
When in browse mode and jumping to a control with quicknav or focus, the description of the control is now announced if it has one.
Progress bars are now announced in brows mode.
Nodes marked with an ARIA role of presentation in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls are now filtered out of simple review and the focus ancestry.
NVDA's user interface and documentation now refer to virtual buffers as browse mode, as the term "virtual buffer" is rather meaningless to most users. (
#1509
When the user wishes to copy their user settings to the system profile for use on the logon screen, etc., and their settings contain custom plugins, they are now warned that this could be a security risk. (
#1426
The NVDA service no longer starts and stops NVDA on user input desktops.
On Windows XP and Windows Vista, NVDA no longer makes use of UI Automation even if it is available via the platform update. Although using UI Automation can improve the accessibility of some modern applications, on XP and Vista there were too many freezes, crashes and over all performance loss while using it. (
#1437
In applications using Mozilla Gecko 2 and later (such as Firefox 4 and later), a document can now be read in browse mode before it is fully finished loading.
NVDA now announces the state of a container when focus moves to a control inside it (e.g. if focus moves inside a document that is still loading it will report it as busy).
NVDA's user interface and documentation no longer use the terms "first child" and "parent" with respect to object navigation, as these terms are confusing for many users.
Collapsed is no longer reported for some menu items which have sub-menus.
The reportCurrentFormatting script (NVDA+f) now reports the formatting at the position of the review cursor rather than the system caret / focus. As by default the review cursor follows the caret, most people should not notice a difference. However this now enables the user to find out the formatting when moving the review cursor, such as in flat review.
Bug Fixes
Collapsing combo boxes in browse mode documents when focus mode has been forced with NVDA+space no longer auto-switches back to browse mode. (
#1386
In Gecko (e.g. Firefox) and MSHTML (e.g. Internet Explorer) documents, NVDA now correctly renders certain text on the same line which was previously rendered on separate lines. (
#1378
When Braille is tethered to review and the navigator object is moved to a browse mode document, either manually or due to a focus change, braille will appropriately show the browse mode content. (
#1406
#1407
When speaking of punctuation is disabled, certain punctuation is no longer incorrectly spoken when using some synthesisers. (
#332
Problems no longer occur when loading configuration for synthesisers which do not support the voice setting such as Audiologic Tts3. (
#1347
The Skype Extras menu is now read correctly. (
#648
Checking the Brightness controls volume checkbox in the Mouse Settings dialog should no longer cause a major lag for beeps when moving the mouse around the screen on Windows Vista/Windows 7 with Aero enabled. (
#1183
When NVDA is configured to use the laptop keyboard layout, NVDA+delete now works as documented to report the dimensions of the current navigator object. (
#1498
NVDA now Appropriately honours the aria-selected attribute in Internet Explorer documents.
When NVDA automatically switches to focus mode in browse mode documents, it now announces information about the context of the focus. For example, if a list box item receives focus, the list box will be announced first. (
#1491
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, ARIA listbox controls are now treeted as lists, rather than list items.
When a read-only editable text control receives focus, NVDA now reports that it is read-only. (
#1436
In browse mode, NVDA now behaves correctly with respect to read-only editable text fields.
In browse mode documents, NVDA no longer incorrectly switches out of focus mode when aria-activedescendant is set; e.g. when the completion list appeared in some auto complete controls.
In Adobe Reader, the name of controls is now reported when moving focus or using quick navigation in browse mode.
In XFA PDF documents in Adobe Reader, buttons, links and graphics are now rendered correctly.
In XFA PDF documents in Adobe Reader, all elements are now rendered on separate lines. This change was made because large sections (sometimes even the entire document) were being rendered without breaks due to the general lack of structure in these documents.
Fixed problems when moving focus to or away from editable text fields in XFA PDF documents in Adobe Reader.
In XFA PDF documents in Adobe Reader, changes to the value of a focused combo box will now be reported.
Owner-drawn Combo boxes such as the ones to choose colors in Outlook Express are now accessible with NVDA. (
#1340
In languages which use a space as a digit group/thousands separator such as French and German, numbers from separate chunks of text are no longer pronounced as a single number. This was particularly problematic for table cells containing numbers. (
#555
nodes with an ARIA role of description in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls now are classed as static text, not edit fields.
Fixed various issues when pressing tab while focus is on a document in browse mode (e.g. tab inappropriately moving to the address bar in Internet Explorer). (
#720
#1367
When entering lists while reading text, NVDA now says, for example, "list with 5 items" instead of "listwith 5 items". (
#1515
In input help mode, gestures are logged even if their scripts bypass input help such as the scroll braille display forward and back commands.
In input help mode, when a modifier is held down on the keyboard, NVDA no longer reports the modifier as if it is modifying itself; e.g. NVDA+NVDA.
In Adobe Reader documents, pressing c or shift+c to navigate to a combo box now works.
The selected state of selectable table rows is now reported the same way it is for list and tree view items.
Controls in Firefox and other Gecko applications can now be activated while in browse mode even if their content has been floated off-screen. (
#801
You can no longer show an NVDA settings dialog while a message dialog is being shown, as the settings dialog was frozen in this case. (
#1451
In Microsoft Excel, there is no longer a lag when holding down or rapidly pressing keys to move between or select cells.
Fixed intermittent crashes of the NVDA service which meant that NVDA stopped running on secure Windows screens.
Fixed problems that sometimes occurred with braille displays when a change caused text that was being displayed to disappear. (
#1377
The downloads window in Internet Explorer 9 can now be navigated and read with NVDA. (
#1280
It is no longer possible to accidentally start multiple copies of NVDA at the same time. (
#507
On slow systems, NVDA no longer inappropriately causes its main window to be shown all the time while running. (
#726
NVDA no longer crashes on Windows xP when starting a WPF application. (
#1437
Say all and say all with review are now able to work in UI automation text controls that support all required functionality. For example, you can now use say all with review on XPS Viewer documents.
NVDA no longer inappropriately classes some list items in the Outlook Express / Windows Live Mail message rules Apply Now dialog as being checkboxes. (
#576
Combo boxes are no longer reported as having a sub-menu.
NVDA is now able to read the recipiants in the To, CC and BCC fields in Microsoft Outlook. (
#421
Fixed the issue in NVDA's Voice Settings dialog where the value of sliders was sometimes not reported when changed. (
#1411
NVDA no longer fails to announce the new cell when moving in an Excel spreadsheet after cutting and pasting. (
#1567
NVDA no longer becomes worse at guessing color names the more colors it announces.
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, fixed the inability to read parts of rare pages which contain iframes marked with an ARIA role of presentation. (
#1569
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, fixed a rare problem where the focus kept bouncing infinitely between the document and a multi-line editable text field in focus mode. (
#1566
In Microsoft Word 2010 NVDA will now automatically read confirmation dialogs. (
#1538
In multi-line editable text fields in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, selection on lines after the first is now reported correctly. (
#1590
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
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
In editable text fields in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, NVDA no longer lags or freezes when braille is enabled.
In firefox brows mode, NVDA no longer refuses to include content that is inside a focusable node with an ARIA role of presentation.
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.
When opening a plain text message in Windows Live Mail 2011, NVDA will correctly focus on the message document allowing it to be read.
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
Some USB connection issues have been resolved with the MDV Lilli braille display. (
#241
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
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.
Changes for Developers
Developer documentation can now be generated using SCons. See readme.txt at the root of the source distribution for details, including associated dependencies.
Locales can now provide descriptions for characters. See the Character Descriptions section of the Developer Guide for details. (
#55
Locales can now provide information about the pronunciation of specific punctuation and other symbols. See the Symbol Pronunciation section of the Developer Guide for details. (
#332
You can now build NVDAHelper with several debugging options using the nvdaHelperDebugFlags SCons variable. See readme.txt at the root of the source distribution for details. (
#1390
Synth drivers are now passed a sequence of text and speech commands to speak, instead of just text and an index.
This allows for embedded indexes, parameter changes, etc.
Drivers should implement SynthDriver.speak() instead of SynthDriver.speakText() and SynthDriver.speakCharacter().
The old methods will be used if SynthDriver.speak() is not implemented, but they are deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
gui.execute() has been removed. wx.CallAfter() should be used instead.
gui.scriptUI has been removed.
For message dialogs, use wx.CallAfter(gui.messageBox, ...).
For all other dialogs, real wx dialogs should be used instead.
A new gui.runScriptModalDialog() function simplifies using modal dialogs from scripts.
Synth drivers can now support boolean settings. See SynthDriverHandler.BooleanSynthSetting.
SCons now accepts a certTimestampServer variable specifying the URL of a timestamping server to use to timestamp authenticode signatures. (
#1644
2011.1.1
This release fixes several security and other important issues found in NVDA 2011.1.
Bug Fixes
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
2011.1
Highlights of this release 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.
New Features
Colors can now be reported for some controls. Automatic announcement can be configured in the Document Formatting preferences dialog. It can also be reported on demand using the report text formatting command (NVDA+f).
Initially, this is supported in standard IAccessible2 editable text controls (such as in Mozilla applications), RichEdit controls (such as in Wordpad) and IBM Lotus Symphony text controls.
In virtual buffers, you can now select by page (using shift+pageDown and shift+pageUp) and paragraph (using shift+control+downArrow and shift+control+upArrow). (
#639
NVDA now automatically reports new text output in mIRC, PuTTY, Tera Term and SecureCRT. (
#936
Users can now add new key bindings or override existing ones for any script in NVDA by providing a single user input gesture map. (
#194
Support for global plugins. Global plugins can add new functionality to NVDA which works across all applications. (
#281
A small beep is now heard when typing characters with the shift key while capslock is on. This can be turned off by unchecking the related new option in the Keyboard settings dialog. (
#663
hard page breaks are now announced when moving by line in Microsoft Word. (
#758
Bullets and numbering are now spoken in Microsoft Word when moving by line. (
#208
A command to toggle Sleep mode for the current application (NVDA+shift+s) is now available. Sleep mode (previously known as self voicing mode) disables all screen reading functionality in NVDA for a particular application. Very useful for applications that provide their own speech and or screen reading features. Press this command again to disable Sleep mode.
Some additional braille display key bindings have been added. See the Supported Braille Displays section of the User Guide for details. (
#209
For the convenience of third party developers, app modules as well as global plugins can now be reloaded without restarting NVDA. Use tools -> Reload plugins in the NVDA menu or NVDA+control+f3. (
#544
NVDA now remembers the position you were at when returning to a previously visited web page. This applies until either the browser or NVDA is exited. (
#132
Handy Tech braille displays can now be used without installing the Handy Tech universal driver. (
#854
Support for several Baum, HumanWare and APH braille displays. (
#937
The status bar in Media Player Classic Home Cinema is now recognised.
The Freedom Scientific Focus 40 Blue braille display can now be used when connected via bluetooth. (
#1345
Changes
Position information is no longer reported by default in some cases where it was usually incorrect; e.g. most menus, the Running Applications bar, the Notification Area, etc. However, this can be turned on again by an added option in the Object Presentation settings dialog.
Keyboard help has been renamed to input help to reflect that it handles input from sources other than the keyboard.
Input Help no longer reports a script's code location via speech and braille as it is cryptic and irrelevant to the user. However, it is now logged for developers and advanced users.
When NVDA detects that it has frozen, it continues to intercept NVDA modifier keys, even though it passes all other keys through to the system. This prevents the user from unintentionally toggling caps lock, etc. if they press an NVDA modifier key without realising NVDA has frozen. (
#939
If keys are held down after using the pass next key through command, all keys (including key repeats) are now passed through until the last key is released.
If an NVDA modifier key is pressed twice in quick succession to pass it through and the second press is held down, all key repeats will now be passed through as well.
The volume up, down and mute keys are now reported in input help. This could be helpful if the user is uncertain as to what these keys are.
The hotkey for the Review Cursor item in the NVDA Preferences menu has been changed from r to c to eliminate the conflict with the Braille Settings item.
Bug Fixes
When adding a new speech dictionary entry, the title of the dialog is now "Add dictionary entry" instead of "Edit dictionary entry". (
#924
In speech dictionary dialogs, the content of the Regular expression and Case sensitive columns of the Dictionary entries list is now presented in the configured NVDA language instead of always in English.
In AIM, position information is now announced in tree views.
On sliders in the Voice Settings dialog, up arrow/page up/home now increase the setting and down arrow/page down/end decrease it. Previously, the opposite occurred, which is not logical and is inconsistent with the synth settings ring. (
#221
In virtual buffers with screen layout disabled, some extraneous blank lines no longer appear.
If an NVDA modifier key is pressed twice quickly but there is an intervening key press, the NVDA modifier key is no longer passed through on the second press.
Punctuation keys are now spoken in input help even when speaking of punctuation is disabled. (
#977
In the Keyboard Settings dialog, the keyboard layout names are now presented in the configured NVDA language instead of always in English. (
#558
Fixed an issue where some items were rendered as empty in Adobe Reader documents; e.g. the links in the table of contents of the Apple iPhone IOS 4.1 User Guide.
The "Use currently saved settings on the logon and other secure screens" button in NVDA's General Settings dialog now works if used immediately after NVDA is newly installed but before a secure screen has appeared. Previously, NVDA reported that copying was successful, but it actually had no effect. (
#1194
It is no longer possible to have two NVDA settings dialogs open simultaneously. This fixes issues where one open dialog depends on another open dialog; e.g. changing the synthesiser while the Voice Settings dialog is open. (
#603
On systems with UAC enabled, the "Use currently saved settings on the logon and other secure screens" button in NVDA's General Settings dialog no longer fails after the UAC prompt if the user's account name contains a space. (
#918
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, NVDA now uses the URL as a last resort to determine the name of a link, rather than presenting empty links. (
#633
NVDA no longer ignores the focus in AOL Instant Messenger 7 menus. (
#655
Announce the correct label for errors in the Microsoft Word Spell Check dialog (e.g. Not in dictionary, Grammar error, punctuation). Previously they were all announced as grammar error. (
#883
Typing in Microsoft Word while using a braille display should no longer cause garbled text to be typed, and a rare freeze when pressing a braille routing key in Word documents has been fixed. (
#1212
) However a limitation is that Arabic text can no longer be read in Word 2003 and below, while using a braille display. (
#627
When pressing the delete key in an edit field, the text/cursor on a braille display should now always be updated appropriately to reflect the change. (
#947
Changes on dynamic pages in Gecko2 documents (E.g. Firefox 4) while multiple tabs are open are now properly reflected by NVDA. Previously only changes in the first tab were reflected. (Mozilla bug 610985)
NVDA can now properly announce the suggestions for grammar and punctuation errors in Microsoft Word spell check dialog. (
#704
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, NVDA no longer presents destination anchors as empty links in its virtual buffer. Instead, these anchors are hidden as they should be. (
#1326
Object navigation around and within standard groupbox windows is no longer broken and asymmetrical.
In Firefox and other Gecko-based controls, NVDA will no longer get stuck in a subframe if it finishes loading before the outer document.
NVDA now appropriately announces the next character when deleting a character with numpadDelete. (
#286
On the Windows XP logon screen, the user name is once again reported when the selected user is changed.
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
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
NVDA no longer completely fails to work in applications which contain non-ASCII characters in their executable name. (
#1352
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
Fixed the issue where some braille displays weren't cleared properly when NVDA was exited or the display was changed.
The initial focus is no longer sometimes spoken twice when NVDA starts. (
#1359
Changes for Developers
SCons is now used to prepare the source tree and create binary builds, portable archives, installers, etc. See readme.txt at the root of the source distribution for details.
The key names used by NVDA (including key maps) have been made more friendly/logical; e.g. upArrow instead of extendedUp and numpadPageUp instead of prior. See the vkCodes module for a list.
All input from the user is now represented by an inputCore.InputGesture instance. (
#601
Each source of input subclasses the base InputGesture class.
Key presses on the system keyboard are encompassed by the keyboardHandler.KeyboardInputGesture class.
Presses of buttons, wheels and other controls on a braille display are encompassed by subclasses of the braille.BrailleDisplayGesture class. These subclasses are provided by each braille display driver.
Input gestures are bound to ScriptableObjects using the ScriptableObject.bindGesture() method on an instance or an __gestures dict on the class which maps gesture identifiers to script names. See baseObject.ScriptableObject for details.
App modules no longer have key map files. All input gesture bindings must be done in the app module itself.
All scripts now take an InputGesture instance instead of a key press.
KeyboardInputGestures can be sent on to the OS using the send() method of the gesture.
To send an arbitrary key press, you must now create a KeyboardInputGesture using KeyboardInputGesture.fromName() and then use its send() method.
Locales may now provide an input gesture map file to add new bindings or override existing bindings for scripts anywhere in NVDA. (
#810
Locale gesture maps should be placed in locale\LANG\gestures.ini, where LANG is the language code.
See inputCore.GlobalGestureMap for details of the file format.
The new LiveText and Terminal NVDAObject behaviors facilitate automatic reporting of new text. See those classes in NVDAObjects.behaviors for details. (
#936
The NVDAObjects.window.DisplayModelLiveText overlay class can be used for objects which must retrieve text written to the display.
See the mirc and putty app modules for usage examples.
There is no longer an _default app module. App modules should instead subclass appModuleHandler.AppModule (the base AppModule class).
Support for global plugins which can globally bind scripts, handle NVDAObject events and choose NVDAObject overlay classes. (
#281
) See globalPluginHandler.GlobalPlugin for details.
On SynthDriver objects, the available* attributes for string settings (e.g. availableVoices and availableVariants) are now OrderedDicts keyed by ID instead of lists.
synthDriverHandler.VoiceInfo now takes an optional language argument which specifies the language of the voice.
SynthDriver objects now provide a language attribute which specifies the language of the current voice.
The base implementation uses the language specified on the VoiceInfo objects in availableVoices. This is suitable for most synthesisers which support one language per voice.
Braille display drivers have been enhanced to allow buttons, wheels and other controls to be bound to NVDA scripts:
Drivers can provide a global input gesture map to add bindings for scripts anywhere in NVDA.
They can also provide their own scripts to perform display specific functions.
See braille.BrailleDisplayDriver for details and existing braille display drivers for examples.
The 'selfVoicing' property on AppModule classes has now been renamed to 'sleepMode'.
The app module events event_appLoseFocus and event_appGainFocus have now been renamed to event_appModule_loseFocus and event_appModule_gainFocus, respectivly, in order to make the naming convention consistent with app modules and tree interceptors.
All braille display drivers should now use braille.BrailleDisplayDriver instead of braille.BrailleDisplayDriverWithCursor.
The cursor is now managed outside of the driver.
Existing drivers need only change their class statement accordingly and rename their _display method to display.
2010.2
Notable features of this release include greatly simplified object navigation; virtual buffers for Adobe Flash content; access to many previously inaccessible controls by retrieving text written to the screen; flat review of screen text; support for IBM Lotus Symphony documents; reporting of table row and column headers in Mozilla Firefox; and significantly improved user documentation.
New Features
Navigating through objects with the review cursor has been greatly simplified. The review cursor now excludes objects which aren't useful to the user; i.e. objects only used for layout purposes and unavailable objects.
In applications using the Java Access Bridge (including OpenOffice.org), formatting can now be reported in text controls. (
#358
#463
When moving the mouse over cells in Microsoft Excel, NVDA will appropriately announce them.
In applications using the Java Access Bridge, the text of a dialog is now reported when the dialog appears. (
#554
A virtualBuffer can now be used to navigate adobe Flash content. Object navigation and interacting with the controls directly (by turning on focus mode) is still supported. (
#453
Editable text controls in the Eclipse IDE, including the code editor, are now accessible. You must be using Eclipse 3.6 or later. (
#256
#641
NVDA can now retrieve most text written to the screen. (
#40
#643
This allows for reading of controls which do not expose information in more direct/reliable ways.
Controls made accessible by this feature include: some menu items which display icons (e.g. the Open With menu on files in Windows XP) (
#151
), editable text fields in Windows Live applications (
#200
), the errors list in Outlook Express (
#582
), the editable text control in TextPad (
#605
), lists in Eudora, many controls in Australian E-tax and the formula bar in Microsoft Excel.
Support for the code editor in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and 2008. At least Visual Studio Standard is required; this does not work in the Express editions. (
#457
Support for IBM Lotus Symphony documents.
Early experimental support for Google Chrome. Please note that Chrome's screen reader support is far from complete and additional work may also be required in NVDA. You will need a recent development build of Chrome to try this.
The state of toggle keys (caps lock, num lock and scroll lock) is now displayed in braille when they are pressed. (
#620
Help balloons are now displayed in braille when they appear. (
#652
Added a driver for the MDV Lilli braille display. (
#241
When selecting an entire row or column in Microsoft Excel with the shortcut keys shift+space and control+space, the new selection is now reported. (
#759
Table row and column headers can now be reported. This is configurable from the Document Formatting preferences dialog.
Currently, this is supported in documents in Mozilla applications such as Firefox (version 3.6.11 and later) and Thunderbird (version 3.1.5 and later). (
#361
Introduced commands for flat review: (
#58
NVDA+numpad7 switches to flat review, placing the review cursor at the position of the current object, allowing you to review the screen (or a document if within one) with the text review commands.
NVDA+numpad1 moves the review cursor into the object represented by the text at the position of the review cursor, allowing you to navigate by object from that point.
Current NVDA user settings can be copied to be used on secure Windows screens such as the logon and UAC screens by pressing a button in the General Settings dialog. (
#730
Support for Mozilla Firefox 4.
Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.
Changes
The sayAll by Navigator object (NVDA+numpadAdd), navigator object next in flow (NVDA+shift+numpad6) and navigator object previous in flow (NVDA+shift+numpad4) commands have been removed for the time being, due to bugginess and to free up the keys for other possible features.
In the NVDA Synthesizer dialog, only the display name of the synthesizer is now listed. Previously, it was prefixed by the driver's name, which is only relevant internally.
When in embedded applications or virtual buffers inside another virtualBuffer (e.g. Flash), you can now press nvda+control+space to move out of the embedded application or virtual buffer to the containing document. Previously nvda+space was used for this. Now nvda+space is specifically only for toggling brows/focus modes on virtualBuffers.
If the speech viewer (enabled under the tools menu) is given the focus (e.g. it was clicked in) new text will not appear in the control until focus is moved away. This allows for selecting the text with greater ease (e.g. for copying).
The Log Viewer and Python Console are maximised when activated.
When focusing on a worksheet in Microsoft Excel and there is more than one cell selected, the selection range is announced, rather than just the active cell. (
#763
Saving configuration and changing of particular sensitive options is now disabled when running on the logon, UAC and other secure Windows screens.
Updated eSpeak speech synthesiser to 1.44.03.
If NVDA is already running, activating the NVDA shortcut on the desktop (which includes pressing control+alt+n) will restart NVDA.
Removed the report text under the mouse checkbox from the Mouse settings dialog and replaced it with an Enable mouse tracking checkbox, which better matches the toggle mouse tracking script (NVDA+m).
Updates to the laptop keyboard layout so that it includes all commands available in the desktop layout and works correctly on non-English keyboards. (
#798
#800
Significant improvements and updates to the user documentation, including documentation of the laptop keyboard commands and synchronisation of the Keyboard Commands Quick Reference with the User Guide. (
#455
Updated liblouis braille translator to 2.1.1. Notably, this fixes some issues related to Chinese braille as well as characters which are undefined in the translation table. (
#484
#499
Bug Fixes
In µTorrent, the focused item in the torrents list no longer reports repeatedly or steals focus when a menu is open.
In µTorrent, the names of the files in the Torrent Contents list are now reported.
In Mozilla applications, focus is now correctly detected when it lands on an empty table or tree.
In Mozilla applications, "not checked" is now correctly reported for checkable controls such as checkable table cells. (
#571
In Mozilla applications, the text of correctly implemented ARIA dialogs is no longer ignored and will now be reported when the dialog appears. (
#630
in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, the ARIA level attribute is now honoured correctly.
In Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls, the ARIA role is now chosen over other type information to give a much more correct and predictable ARIA experience.
Stopped a rare crash in Internet Explorer when navigating through frames or iFrames.
In Microsoft Word documents, right-to-left lines (such as Arabic text) can be read again. (
#627
Greatly reduced lag when large amounts of text are displayed in a Windows command console on 64-bit systems. (
#622
If Skype is already started when NVDA starts, it is no longer necessary to restart Skype to enable accessibility. This may also be true for other applications which check the system screen reader flag.
In Microsoft Office applications, NVDA no longer crashes when speak foreground (NVDA+b) is pressed or when navigating some objects on toolbars. (
#616
Fixed incorrect speaking of numbers containing a 0 after a separator; e.g. 1,023. (
#593
Adobe Acrobat Pro and Reader 9 no longer crash when closing a file or performing certain other tasks. (
#613
The selection is now announced when control+a is pressed to select all text in some editable text controls such as in Microsoft Word. (
#761
In Scintilla controls (e.g. Notepad++), text is no longer incorrectly selected when NVDA moves the caret such as during say all. (
#746
It is again possible to review the contents of cells in Microsoft Excel with the review cursor.
NVDA can again read by line in certain problematic textArea fields in Internet Explorer 8. (
#467
Windows Live Messenger 2009 no longer exits immediately after it is started while NVDA is running. (
#677
In web browsers, It is no longer necessary to press tab to interact with an embedded object (such as Flash content) after pressing enter on the embedded object or returning from another application. (
#775
In Scintilla controls (e.g. Notepad++), the beginning of long lines is no longer truncated when it scrolls off the screen. Also, these long lines will be correctly displayed in braille when they are selected.
In Loudtalks, it is now possible to access the contact list.
The URL of the document and "MSAAHTML Registered Handler" are no longer sometimes spuriously reported in Internet Explorer and other MSHTML controls. (
#811
In tree views in the Eclipse IDE, the previously focused item is no longer incorrectly announced when focus moves to a new item.
NVDA now functions correctly on a system where the current working directory has been removed from the DLL search path (by setting the CWDIllegalInDllSearch registry entry to 0xFFFFFFFF). Note that this is not relevant to most users. (
#907
When the table navigation commands are used outside of a table in Microsoft Word, "edge of table" is no longer spoken after "not in table". (
#921
When the table navigation commands cannot move due to being at the edge of a table in Microsoft Word, "edge of table" is now spoken in the configured NVDA language rather than always in English. (
#921
In Outlook Express, Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail, the state of the checkboxes in message rules lists is now reported. (
#576
The description of message rules can now be read in Windows Live Mail 2010.
2010.1
This release focuses primarily on bug fixes and improvements to the user experience, including some significant stability fixes.
New Features
NVDA no longer fails to start on a system with no audio output devices. Obviously, a braille display or the Silence synthesiser in conjunction with the Speech Viewer will need to be used for output in this case. (
#425
A report landmarks checkbox has been added to the Document Formatting settings dialog which allows you to configure whether NVDA should announce landmarks in web documents. For compatibility with the previous release, the option is on by default.
If speak command keys is enabled, NVDA will now announce the names of multimedia keys (e.g. play, stop, home page, etc.) on many keyboards when they are pressed. (
#472
NVDA now announces the word being deleted when pressing control+backspace in controls that support it. (
#491
Arrow keys can now be used in the Web formator window to navigate and read the text. (
#452
The entry list in the Microsoft Office Outlook address book is now supported.
NVDA better supports embedded editable (design mode) documents in Internet Explorer. (
#402
a new script (nvda+shift+numpadMinus) allows you to move the system focus to the current navigator object.
New scripts to lock and unlock the left and right mouse buttons. Useful for performing drag and drop operations. shift+numpadDivide to lock/unlock the left, shift+numpadMultiply to lock/unlock the right.
New braille translation tables: German 8 dot computer braille, German grade 2, Finnish 8 dot computer braille, Chinese (Hong Kong, Cantonese), Chinese (Taiwan, Manderin). (
#344
#369
#415
#450
It is now possible to disable the creation of the desktop shortcut (and thus the shortcut key) when installing NVDA. (
#518
NVDA can now use IAccessible2 when present in 64 bit applications. (
#479
Improved support for live regions in Mozilla applications. (
#246
The NVDA Controller Client API is now provided to allow applications to control NVDA; e.g. to speak text, silence speech, display a message in Braille, etc.
Information and error messages are now read in the logon screen in Windows Vista and Windows 7. (
#506
In Adobe Reader, PDF interactive forms developed with Adobe LiveCycle are now supported. (
#475
In Miranda IM, NVDA now automatically reads incoming messages in chat windows if reporting of dynamic content changes is enabled. Also, commands have been added to report the three most recent messages (NVDA+control+number). (
#546
Input text fields are now supported in Adobe Flash content. (
#461
Changes
The extremely verbose keyboard help message in the Windows 7 Start menu is no longer reported.
The Display synth has now been replaced with a new Speech Viewer. To activate it, choose Speech Viewer from the Tools menu. The speech viewer can be used independently of what ever speech synthesizer you are using. (
#44
Messages on the braille display will automatically be dismissed if the user presses a key that results in a change such as the focus moving. Previously the message would always stay around for its configured time.
Setting whether braille should be tethered to the focus or the review cursor (NVDA+control+t) can now be also set from the braille settings dialog, and is also now saved in the user's configuration.
Updated eSpeak speech synthesiser to 1.43.
Updated liblouis braille translator to 1.8.0.
In virtual buffers, the reporting of elements when moving by character or word has been greatly improved. Previously, a lot of irrelevant information was reported and the reporting was very different to that when moving by line. (
#490
The Control key now simply stops speech like other keys, rather than pausing speech. To pause/resume speech, use the shift key.
Table row and column counts are no longer announced when reporting focus changes, as this announcement is rather verbose and usually not useful.
Bug Fixes
NVDA no longer fails to start if UI Automation support appears to be available but fails to initialise for some reason. (
#483
The entire contents of a table row is no longer sometimes reported when moving focus inside a cell in Mozilla applications. (
#482
NVDA no longer lags for a long time when expanding tree view items that contain a very large amount of sub-items.
When listing SAPI 5 voices, NVDA now tries to detect buggy voices and excludes them from the Voice Settings dialog and synthesiser settings ring. Previously, when there was just one problematic voice, NVDA's SAPI 5 driver would sometimes fail to start.
Virtual buffers now honour the report object shortcut keys setting found in the Object Presentation dialog. (
#486
In virtual buffers, row/column coordinates are no longer incorrectly read for row and column headers when reporting of tables is disabled.
In virtual buffers, row/column coordinates are now correctly read when you leave a table and then re-enter the same table cell without visiting another cell first; e.g. pressing upArrow then downArrow on the first cell of a table. (
#378
Blank lines in Microsoft Word documents and Microsoft HTML edit controls are now shown appropriately on braille displays. Previously NVDA was displaying the current sentence on the display, not the current line for these situations. (
#420
Multiple security fixes when running NVDA at Windows logon and on other secure desktops. (
#515
The cursor position (caret) is now correctly updated when performing a Say All that goes off the bottom of the screen, in standard Windows edit fields and Microsoft Word documents. (
#418
In virtual buffers, text is no longer incorrectly included for images inside links and clickables that are marked as being irrelevant to screen readers. (
#423
Fixes to the laptop keyboard layout. (
#517
When Braille is tethered to review when you focus on a Dos console window, the review cursor can now properly navigate the text in the console.
While working with TeamTalk3 or TeamTalk4 Classic, the VU meter progress bar in the main window is no longer announced as it updates. Also, special characters can be read properly in the incoming chat window.
Items are no longer spoken twice in the Windows 7 Start Menu. (
#474
Activating same-page links in Firefox 3.6 appropriately moves the cursor in the virtualBuffer to the correct place on the page.
Fixed the issue where some text was not rendered in Adobe Reader in certain PDF documents.
NVDA no longer incorrectly speaks certain numbers separated by a dash; e.g. 500-1000. (
#547
In Windows XP, NVDA no longer causes Internet Explorer to freeze when toggling checkboxes in Windows Update. (
#477
When using the in-built eSpeak synthesiser, simultaneous speech and beeps no longer intermittently cause freezes on some systems. This was most noticeable, for example, when copying large amounts of data in Windows Explorer.
NVDA no longer announces that a Firefox document has become busy (e.g. due to an update or refresh) when that document is in the background. This also caused the status bar of the foreground application to be spuriously announced.
When switching Windows keyboard layouts (with control+shift or alt+shift), the full name of the layout is reported in both speech and braille. Previously it was only reported in speech, and alternative layouts (e.g. Dvorak) were not reported at all.
If reporting of tables is disabled, table information is no longer announced when the focus changes.
Certain standard tree view controls in 64 bit applications (e.g. the Contents tree view in Microsoft HTML Help) are now accessible. (
#473
Fixed some problems with logging of messages containing non-ASCII characters. This could cause spurious errors in some cases on non-English systems. (
#581
The information in the About NVDA dialog now appears in the user's configured language instead of always appearing in English. (
#586
Problems are no longer encountered when using the synthesiser settings ring after the voice is changed to one which has less settings than the previous voice.
In Skype 4.2, contact names are no longer spoken twice in the contact list.
Fixed some potentially major memory leaks in the GUI and in virtual buffers. (
#590
#591
Work around a nasty bug in some SAPI 4 synthesisers which was causing frequent errors and crashes in NVDA. (
#597
2009.1
Major highlights of this release include support for 64 bit editions of Windows; greatly improved support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader documents; support for Windows 7; reading of the Windows logon, control+alt+delete and User Account Control (UAC) screens; and the ability to interact with Adobe Flash and Sun Java content on web pages. There have also been several significant stability fixes and improvements to the general user experience.
New Features
Official support for 64 bit editions of Windows! (
#309
Added a synthesizer driver for the Newfon synthesizer. Note that this requires a special version of Newfon. (
#206
In virtual buffers, focus mode and browse mode can now be reported using sounds instead of speech. This is enabled by default. It can be configured from the Virtual buffers dialog. (
#244
NVDA no longer cancels speech when volume control keys are pressed on the keyboard, allowing the user to change the volume and listen to actual results immediately. (
#287
Completely rewritten support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader documents. This support has been unified with the core support used for Mozilla Gecko, so features such as fast page rendering, extensive quick navigation, links list, text selection, auto focus mode and braille support are now available with these documents.
Improved support for the date selection control found in the Windows Vista Date / Time properties dialog.
improved support for the Modern XP/Vista start menu (specifically the all programs, and places menus). Appropriate level information is now announced.
The amount of text that is announced when moving the mouse is now configurable from the Mouse settings dialog. A choice of paragraph, line, word or character can be made.
announce spelling errors under the cursor in Microsoft Word.
support for the Microsoft Word 2007 spell checker. Partial support may be available for prior Microsoft Word versions.
Better support for Windows Live Mail. Plain text messages can now be read and both the plain text and HTML message composers are useable.
In Windows Vista, if the user moves to the secure desktop (either because a UAC control dialog appeared, or because control+alt+delete was pressed), NVDA will announce the fact that the user is now on the secure desktop.
NVDA can announce text under the mouse within dos console windows.
Support for UI Automation via the UI Automation client API available in Windows 7, as well as fixes to improve the experience of NVDA in Windows 7.
NVDA can be configured to start automatically after you log on to Windows. The option is in the General Settings dialog.
NVDA can read secure Windows screens such as the Windows logon, control+alt+delete and User Account Control (UAC) screens in Windows XP and above. Reading of the Windows logon screen can be configured from the General Settings dialog. (
#97
Added a driver for the Optelec ALVA BC6 series braille displays.
When browsing web documents, you can now press n and shift+n to skip forward and backward past blocks of links, respectively.
When browsing web documents, ARIA landmarks are now reported, and you can move forward and backward through them using d and shift+d, respectively. (
#192
The Links List dialog available when browsing web documents has now become an Elements List dialog which can list links, headings and landmarks. Headings and landmarks are presented hierarchically. (
#363
The new Elements List dialog contains a "Filter by" field which allows you to filter the list to contain only those items including the text that was typed. (
#173
Portable versions of NVDA now look in the 'userConfig' directory inside the NVDA directory, for the user's configuration. Like for the installer version, this keeps the user's configuration separate from NVDA itself.
Custom app modules, braille display drivers and synth drivers can now be stored in the user's configuration directory. (
#337
Virtual buffers are now rendered in the background, allowing the user to interact with the system to some extent during the rendering process. The user will be notified that the document is being rendered if it takes longer than a second.
If NVDA detects that it has frozen for some reason, it will automatically pass all keystrokes through so that the user has a better chance of recovering the system.
Support for ARIA drag and drop in Mozilla Gecko. (
#239
The document title and current line or selection is now spoken when you move focus inside a virtual buffer. This makes the behaviour when moving focus into virtual buffers consistent with that for normal document objects. (
#210
In virtual buffers, you can now interact with embedded objects (such as Adobe Flash and Sun Java content) by pressing enter on the object. If it is accessible, you can then tab around it like any other application. To return focus to the document, press NVDA+space. (
#431
In virtual buffers, o and shift+o move to the next and previous embedded object, respectively.
NVDA can now fully access applications running as administrator in Windows Vista and later. You must install an official release of NVDA for this to work. This does not work for portable versions and snapshots. (
#397
Changes
NVDA no longer announces "NVDA started" when it starts.
The startup and exit sounds are now played using NVDA's configured audio output device instead of the Windows default audio output device. (
#164
Progress bar reporting has been improved. Most notably you can now configure NVDA to announce via both speech and beeps at the same time.
Some generic roles, such as pane, application and frame, are no longer reported on focus unless the control is unnamed.
The review copy command (NVDA+f10) copies the text from the start marker up to and including the current review position, rather than excluding the current position. This allows the last character of a line to be copied, which was not previously possible. (
#430
the navigatorObject_where script (ctrl+NVDA+numpad5) has been removed. This key combination did not work on some keyboards, nore was the script found to be that useful.
the navigatorObject_currentDimentions script has been remapped to NVDA+numpadDelete. The old key combination did not work on some keyboards. This script also now reports the width and height of the object instead of the right/bottom coordinates.
Improved performance (especially on netbooks) when many beeps occur in quick succession; e.g. fast mouse movement with audio coordinates enabled. (
#396
The NVDA error sound is no longer played in release candidates and final releases. Note that errors are still logged.
Bug Fixes
When NVDA is run from an 8.3 dos path, but it is installed in the related long path (e.g. progra~1 verses program files) NVDA will correctly identify that it is an installed copy and properly load the user's settings.
speaking the title of the current foreground window with nvda+t now works correctly when in menus.
braille no longer shows useless information in its focus context such as unlabeled panes.
stop announcing some useless information when the focus changes such as root panes, layered panes and scroll panes in Java or Lotus applications.
Make the keyword search field in Windows Help (CHM) viewer much more usable. Due to buggyness in that control, the current keyword could not be read as it would be continually changing.
report correct page numbers in Microsoft Word if the page numbering has been specifically offset in the document.
Better support for edit fields found in Microsoft Word dialogs (e.g. the Font dialog). It is now possible to navigate these controls with the arrow keys.
better support for Dos consoles. specifically: NVDA can now read the content of particular consoles it always used to think were blank. Pressing control+break no longer terminates NVDA.
On Windows Vista and above, the NVDA installer now starts NVDA with normal user privileges when requested to run NVDA on the finish screen.
Backspace is now handled correctly when speaking typed words. (
#306
Don't incorrectly report "Start menu" for certain context menus in Windows Explorer/the Windows shell. (
#257
NVDA now correctly handles ARIA labels in Mozilla Gecko when there is no other useful content. (
#156
NVDA no longer incorrectly enables focus mode automatically for editable text fields which update their value when the focus changes; e.g. http://tigerdirect.com/. (
#220
NVDA will now attempt to recover from some situations which would previously cause it to freeze completely. It may take up to 10 seconds for NVDA to detect and recover from such a freeze.
When the NVDA language is set to "User default", use the user's Windows display language setting instead of the Windows locale setting. (
#353
NVDA now recognises the existence of controls in AIM 7.
The pass key through command no longer gets stuck if a key is held down. Previously, NVDA stopped accepting commands if this occurred and had to be restarted. (
#413
The taskbar is no longer ignored when it receives focus, which often occurs when exiting an application. Previously, NVDA behaved as if the focus had not changed at all.
When reading text fields in applications which use the Java Access Bridge (including OpenOffice.org), NVDA now functions correctly when reporting of line numbers is enabled.
The review copy command (NVDA+f10) gracefully handles the case where it is used on a position before the start marker. Previously, this could cause problems such as crashes in Notepad++.
A certain control character (0x1) no longer causes strange eSpeak behaviour (such as changes in volume and pitch) when it is encountered in text. (
#437
The report text selection command (NVDA+shift+upArrow) now gracefully reports that there is no selection in objects which do not support text selection.
Fixed the issue where pressing the enter key on certain Miranda-IM buttons or links was causing NVDA to freeze. (
#440
The current line or selection is now properly respected when spelling or copying the current navigator object.
Worked around a Windows bug which was causing garbage to be spoken after the name of link controls in Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer dialogs. (
#451
Fixed a problem with the report date and time command (NVDA+f12). Previously, date reporting was truncated on some systems. (
#471
Fixed the issue where the system screen reader flag was sometimes inappropriately cleared after interacting with secure Windows screens. This could cause problems in applications which check the screen reader flag, including Skype, Adobe Reader and Jart. (
#462
In an Internet Explorer 6 combo box, the active item is now reported when it is changed. (
#342
0.6p3
New Features
As Microsoft Excel's formula bar is inaccessible to NVDA, provide an NVDA specific dialog box for editing when the user presses f2 on a cell.
Support for formatting in IAccessible2 text controls, including Mozilla applications.
Spelling errors can now be reported where possible. This is configurable from the Document Formatting preferences dialog.
NVDA can be configured to beep for either all or only visible progress bars. Alternatively, it can be configured to speak progress bar values every 10%.
Links can now be identified in richedit controls.
The mouse can now be moved to the character under the review cursor in most editable text controls. Previously, the mouse could only be moved to the center of the control.
In virtual buffers, the review cursor now reviews the text of the buffer, rather than just the internal text of the navigator object (which is often not useful to the user). This means that you can navigate the virtual buffer hierarchically using object navigation and the review cursor will move to that point in the buffer.
Handle some additional states on Java controls.
If the title command (NVDA+t) is pressed twice, it spells the title. If pressed thrice, it is copied to the clipboard.
Keyboard help now reads the names of modifier keys when pressed alone.
Key names announced by keyboard help are now translatable.
Added support for the recognized text field in SiRecognizer. (
#198
Support for braille displays!
Added a command (NVDA+c) to report the text on the Windows clipboard. (
#193
In virtualBuffers, if NVDA automatically switches to focus mode, you can use the escape key to switch back to browse mode. NVDA+space can still also be used.
In virtual buffers, when the focus changes or the caret is moved, NVDA can automatically switch to focus mode or browse mode as appropriate for the control under the caret. This is configured from the Virtual Buffers dialog. (
#157
Rewritten SAPI4 synthesizer driver which replaces the sapi4serotek and sapi4activeVoice drivers and should fix the problems encountered with these drivers.
The NVDA application now includes a manifest, which means that it no longer runs in compatibility mode in Windows Vista.
The configuration file and speech dictionaries are now saved in the user's application data directory if NVDA was installed using the installer. This is necessary for Windows Vista and also allows multiple users to have individual NVDA configurations.
Added support for position information for IAccessible2 controls.
Added the ability to copy text to the clipboard using the review cursor. NVDA+f9 sets the start marker to the current position of the review cursor. NVDA+f10 retrieves the text between the start marker and the current position of the review cursor and copies it to the clipboard. (
#240
Added support for some edit controls in pinacle tv software.
When announcing selected text for long selections (512 characters or more), NVDA now speaks the number of selected characters, rather than speaking the entire selection. (
#249
Changes
If the audio output device is set to use the Windows default device (Microsoft Sound Mapper), NVDA will now switch to the new default device for eSpeak and tones when the default device changes. For example, NVDA will switch to a USB audio device if it automatically becomes the default device when it is connected.
Improve performance of eSpeak with some Windows Vista audio drivers.
reporting of links, headings, tables, lists and block quotes can now be configured from the Document Formatting settings dialog. Previously to configure these settings for virtual buffers, the virtual buffer settings dialog would have been used. Now all documents share this configuration.
Rate is now the default setting in the speech synthesizer settings ring.
Improve the loading and unloading of appModules.
The title command (NVDA+t) now only reports the title instead of the entire object. If the foreground object has no name, the application's process name is used.
Instead of virtual buffer pass through on and off, NVDA now reports focus mode (pass through on) and browse mode (pass through off).
Voices are now stored in the configuration file by ID instead of by index. This makes voice settings more reliable across systems and configuration changes. The voice setting will not be preserved in old configurations and an error may be logged the first time a synthesizer is used. (
#19
The level of a tree view item is now announced first if it has changed from the previously focused item for all tree views. Previously, this was only occurring for native Windows (SysTreeView32) tree views.
Bug Fixes
The last chunk of audio is no longer cut off when using NVDA with eSpeak on a remote desktop server.
Fix problems with saving speech dictionaries for certain voices.
Eliminate the lag when moving by units other than character (word, line, etc.) towards the bottom of large plain text documents in Mozilla Gecko virtual buffers. (
#155
If speak typed words is enabled, announce the word when enter is pressed.
Fix some character set issues in richedit documents.
The NVDA log viewer now uses richedit instead of just edit to display the log. This improves reading by word with NVDA.
Fix some issues related to embedded objects in richedit controls.
NVDA now reads page numbers in Microsoft Word. (
#120
Fix the issue where tabbing to a checked checkbox in a Mozilla Gecko virtual buffer and pressing space would not announce that the checkbox was being unchecked.
Correctly report partially checked checkboxes in Mozilla applications.
If the text selection expands or shrinks in both directions, read the selection as one chunk instead of two.
When reading with the mouse, text in Mozilla Gecko edit fields should now be read.
Say all should no longer cause certain SAPI5 synthesizers to crash.
Fixed an issue which meant that text selection changes were not being read in Windows standard edit controls before the first focus change after NVDA was started.
Fix mouse tracking in Java objects. (
#185
NVDA no longer reports Java tree view items with no children as being collapsed.
Announce the object with focus when a Java window comes to the foreground. Previously, only the top-level Java object was announced.
The eSpeak synthesizer driver no longer stops speaking completely after a single error.
Fix the issue whereby updated voice parameters (rate, pitch, etc.) were not saved when the voice was changed from the synthesizer settings ring.
Improved the speaking of typed characters and words.
Some new text that was previously not spoken in text console applications (such as some text adventure games) is now spoken.
NVDA now ignores focus changes in background windows. Previously, a background focus change could be treated as if the real focus changed.
Improved the detection of the focus when leaving context menus. Previously, NVDA often didn't react at all when leaving a context menu.
NVDA now announces when the context menu is activated in the Start menu.
The classic Start menu is now announced as Start menu instead of Application menu.
Improved the reading of alerts such as those encountered in Mozilla Firefox. The text should no longer be read multiple times and other extraneous information will no longer be read. (
#248
The text of focusable, read-only edit fields will no longer be included when retrieving the text of dialogs. This fixes, for example, the automatic reading of the entire license agreement in installers.
NVDA no longer announces the unselection of text when leaving some edit controls (example: Internet Explorer address bar, Thunderbird 3 email address fields).
When opening plain text emails in Outlook Express and Windows Mail, focus is correctly placed in the message ready for the user to read it. Previously the user had to press tab or click on the message in order to use cursor keys to read it.
Fixed several major issues with the "Speak command keys" functionality.
NVDA can now read text past 65535 characters in standard edit controls (e.g. a large file in Notepad).
Improved line reading in MSHTML edit fields (Outlook Express editable messages and Internet Explorer text input fields).
NVDA no longer sometimes freezes completely when editing text in OpenOffice. (
#148
#180
0.6p2
Improved the default ESpeak voice in NVDA
Added a laptop keyboard layout. Keyboard layouts can be configured from NVDA's Keyboard settings dialog. (
#60
Support for grouping items in SysListView32 controls, mainly found in Windows Vista. (
#27
Report the checked state of treeview items in SysTreeview32 controls.
Added shortcut keys for many of NVDA's configuration dialogs
Support for IAccessible2 enabled applications such as Mozilla Firefox when running NVDA from portable media, with out having to register any special Dll files
Fix a crash with the virtualBuffers Links List in Gecko applications. (
#48
NVDA should no longer crash Mozilla Gecko applications such as Firefox and Thunderbird if NVDA is running with higher privilages than the Mozilla Gecko application. E.g. NVDA is running as Administrator.
Speech dictionaries (previously User dictionaries) now can be either case sensitive or insensitive, and the patterns can optionally be regular expressions. (
#39
Whether or not NVDA uses a 'screen layout' mode for virtual buffer documents can now be configured from a settings dialog
No longer report anchor tags with no href in Gecko documents as links. (
#47
The NVDA find command now remembers what you last searched for, across all applications. (
#53
Fix issues where the checked state would not be announced for some checkboxes and radio buttons in virtualBuffers
VirtualBuffer pass-through mode is now specific to each document, rather than NVDA globally. (
#33
Fixed some sluggishness with focus changes and incorrect speech interuption which sometimes occured when using NVDA on a system that had been on standby or was rather slow
Improve support for combo boxes in Mozilla Firefox. Specifically when arrowing around them text isn't repeated, and when jumping out of them, ancestor controls are not announced unnecessarily. Also virtualBuffer commands now work when focused on one when you are in a virtualBuffer.
Improve accuracy of finding the statusbar in many applications. (
#8
Added the NVDA interactive Python console tool, to enable developers to look at and manipulate NVDA's internals as it is running
sayAll, reportSelection and reportCurrentLine scripts now work properly when in virtualBuffer pass-through mode. (
#52
The increase rate and decrease rate scripts have been removed. Users should use the synth settings ring scripts (control+nvda+arrows) or the Voice settings dialog
Improve the range and scale of the progress bar beeps
Added more quick keys to the new virtualBuffers: l for list, i for list item, e for edit field, b for button, x for checkbox, r for radio button, g for graphic, q for blockquote, c for combo box, 1 through 6 for respective heading levels, s for separator, m for frame. (
#67
#102
#108
Canceling the loading of a new document in Mozilla Firefox now allows the user to keep using the old document's virtualBuffer if the old document hadn't yet really been destroyed. (
#63
Navigating by words in virtualBuffers is now more accurate as words do not accidentally contain text from more than one field. (
#70
Improved accuracy of focus tracking and focus updating when navigating in Mozilla Gecko virtualBuffers.
Added a findPrevious script (shift+NVDA+f3) for use in new virtualBuffers
Improved sluggishness in Mozilla Gecko dialogs (in Firefox and Thunderbird). (
#66
Add the ability to view the current log file for NVDA. it can be found in the NVDA menu -> Tools
Scripts such as say time and date now take the current language in to account; punctuation and ordering of words now reflects the language
The language combo box in NVDA's General settings dialog now shows full language names for ease of use
When reviewing text in the current navigator object, the text is always up to date if it changes dynamically. E.g. reviewing the text of a list item in Task Manager. (
#15
When moving with the mouse, the current paragraph of text under the mouse is now announced, rather than either all the text in that particular object or just the current word. Also audio coordinates, and announcement of object roles is optional, they are turned off by default
Support for reading text with the mouse in Microsoft Word
Fixed bug where leaving the menu bar in applications such as Wordpad would cause text selection to not be announced anymore
In Winamp, the title of the track is no longer announced again and again when switching tracks, or pausing/resuming/stopping playback.
In Winamp, Added ability to announce state of the shuffle and repeat controls as they are switched. Works in the main window and in the playlist editor
Improve the ability to activate particular fields in Mozilla Gecko virtualBuffers. May include clickable graphics, links containing paragraphs, and other weird structures
Fixed an initial lag when opening NVDA dialogs on some systems. (
#65
Add specific support for the Total Commander application
Fix bug in the sapi4serotek driver where the pitch could get locked at a particular value, i.e. stays high after reading a capital letter. (
#89
Announce clickable text and other fields as clickable in Mozilla Gecko VirtualBuffers. e.g. a field which has an onclick HTML attribute. (
#91
When moving around Mozilla Gecko virtualBuffers, scroll the current field in to view -- useful so sighted peers have an idea of where the user is up to in the document. (
#57
Add basic support for ARIA live region show events in IAccessible2 enabled applications. Useful in the Chatzilla IRC application, new messages will now be read automatically
Some slight improvements to help use ARIA enabled web applications, e.g. Google Docs
Stop adding extra blank lines to text when copying it from a virtualBuffer
Stop the space key from activating a link in the Links List. Now it can be used like other letters in order to start typing the name of a particular link you wish to go to
The moveMouseToNavigator script (NVDA+numpadSlash) now moves the mouse to the centre of the navigator object, rather than the top left
Added scripts to click the left and right mouse buttons (numpadSlash and numpadStar respectively)
Improve access to the Windows System Tray. Focus hopefully should no longer seem to keep jumping back to one particular item. Reminder: to get to the System Tray use the Windows command WindowsKey+b. (
#10
Improve performance and stop announcing extra text when holding down a cursor key in an edit field and it hits the end
Stop the ability for NVDA to make the user wait while particular messages are spoken. Fixes some crashes/freezes with particular speech synthesizers. (
#117
Added support for the Audiologic Tts3 speech synthesizer, contribution by Gianluca Casalino. (
#105
Possibly improve performance when navigating around documents in Microsoft Word
Improved accuracy when reading text of alerts in Mozilla Gecko applications
Stop possible crashes when trying to save configuration on non-English versions of Windows. (
#114
Add an NVDA welcome dialog. This dialog is designed to provide essential information for new users and allows CapsLock to be configured as an NVDA modifier key. This dialog will be displayed when NVDA is started by default until it is disabled.
Fix basic support for Adobe Reader so it is possible to read documents in versions 8 and 9
Fix some errors that may have occured when holding down keys before NVDA is properly initialized
If the user has configured NVDA to save configuration on exit, make sure the configuration is properly saved when shutting down or logging out of Windows.
Added an NVDA logo sound to the beginning of the installer, contributed by Victer Tsaran
NVDA, both running in the installer and otherwise, should properly clean up its system tray icon when it exits
Labels for standard controls in NVDA's dialogs (such as Ok and cancel buttons) should now show in the language NVDA is set to, rather than just staying in English.
NVDA's icon should now be used for the NVDA shortcuts in the start menu and on the Desktop, rather than a default application icon.
Read cells in MS Excel when moving with tab and shift+tab. (
#146
Fix some double speaking in particular lists in Skype.
Improved caret tracking in IAccessible2 and Java applications; e.g. in Open Office and Lotus Symphony, NVDA properly waits for the caret to move in documents rather than accidentally reading the wrong word or line at the end of some paragraphs. (
#119
Support for AkelEdit controls found in Akelpad 4.0
NVDA no longer locks up in Lotus Synphony when moving from the document to the menu bar.
NVDA no longer freezes in the Windows XP Add/Remove programs applet when launching an uninstaller. (
#30
NVDA no longer freezes when opening Spybot Search and Destroy
0.6p1
Access to web content with new in-process virtualBuffers (so far for Mozilla Gecko applications including Firefox3 and Thunderbird3)
Load times have been improved almost by a factor of thirty (you no longer have to wait at all for most web pages to load in to the buffer)
Added a links list (NVDA+f7)
Improved the find dialog (control+nvda+f) so that it performs a case-insencitive search, plus fixed a few focus issues with that dialog box.
It is now possible to select and copy text in the new virtualBuffers
By default the new virtualBuffers represent the document in a screen layout (links and controls are not on separate lines unless they really are visually). You can toggle this feature with NVDA+v.
It is possible to move by paragraph with control+upArrow and control+downArrow.
Improved support for dynamic content
Improved over all accuracy of reading lines and fields when arrowing up and down.
Internationalization
It is now possible to type accented characters that rely on a "dead character", while NVDA is running.
NVDA now announces when the keyboard layout is changed (when pressing alt+shift).
The announce date and time feature now takes the system's current regional and language options in to account.
added czech translation (by Tomas Valusek with help from Jaromir Vit)
added vietnamese translation by Dang Hoai Phuc
Added Africaans (af_ZA) translation, by Willem van der Walt.
Added russian translation by Dmitry Kaslin
Added polish translation by DOROTA CZAJKA and friends.
Added Japanese translation by Katsutoshi Tsuji.
added Thai translation by Amorn Kiattikhunrat
added croatian translation by Mario Percinic and Hrvoje Katic
Added galician translation by Juan C. buno
added ukrainian translation by Aleksey Sadovoy
Speech
NVDA now comes packaged with eSpeak 1.33 which contains many improvements, among those are improved languages, named variants, ability to speak faster.
The voice settings dialog now allows you to change the variant of a synthesizer if it supports one. Variant is usually a slight variation on the current voice. (eSpeak supports variants).
Added the ability to change the inflection of a voice in the voice settings dialog if the current synthesizer supports this. (eSpeak supports inflection).
Added the ability to turn off speaking of object position information(e.g. 1 of 4). This option can be found in the Object presentation settings dialog.
NVDA can now beep when speaking a capital letter. This can be turned on and off with a check box in the voice settings dialog. Also added a raise pitch for capitals check box to configure whether NVDA should actually do its normal pitch raise for capitals. So now you can have either raise pitch, say cap, or beep, for capitals.
Added the ability to pause speech in NVDA (like found in Voice Over for the Mac). When NVDA is speaking something, you can press the control or shift keys to silence speech just like normal, but if you then tap the shift key again (as long as you havn't pressed any other keys) speech will continue from exactly where it left off.
Added a virtual synthDriver which outputs text to a window instead of speaking via a speech synthesiser. This should be more pleasant for sighted developers who are not used to speech synthesis but want to know what is spoken by NVDA. There are probably still some bugs, so feedback is most definitely welcome.
NVDA no longer by default speaks punctuation, you can enable speaking of punctuation with NVDA+p.
eSpeak by default now speaks quite a bit slower, which should make it easier for people who are using eSpeak for the first time, when installing or starting to use NVDA.
Added user dictionaries to NVDA. These allow you to make NVDA speak certain text differently. There are three dictionaries: default, voice, and temporary. Entries you add to the default dictionary will happen all the time in NVDA. Voice dictionaries are specific to the current synthesizer and voice you currently have set. And temporary dictionary is for those times you quickly want to set a rule while you are doing a particular task, but you don't want it to be perminant (it will disappear if you close NVDA). For now the rules are regular expressions, not just normal text.
Synthesizers can now use any audio output device on your system, by setting the output device combo box in the Synthesizer dialog before selecting the synthesizer you want.
Performance
NVDA no longer takes up a huge amount of system memory , when editing messages in mshtml edit controls
Improved performance when reviewing text inside many controls that do not actually have a real cursor. e.g. MSN Messenger history window, treeview items, listview items etc.
Improved performance in rich edit documents.
NVDA should no longer slowly creep up in system memory size for no reason
Fixed bugs when trying to focus on a dos console window more than three or so times. NVDA did have a tendency to completely crash.
Key commands
NVDA+shift+numpad6 and NVDA+shift+numpad4 allow you to navigate to the next or previous object in flow respectively. This means that you can navigate in an application by only using these two keys with out having to worry about going up by parent, or down to first child as you move around the object hyerarchy. For instance in a web browser such as firefox, you could navigate the document by object, by just using these two keys. If next in flow or previous in flow takes you up and out of an object, or down in to an object, ordered beeps indicate the direction.
You can now configure voice settings with out opening the voice settings dialog, by using the Synth Settings Ring. The synth settings ring is a group of voice settings you can toggle through by pressing control+NVDA+right and control+NVDA+left. To change a setting use control+NVDA+up and control+NVDA+down.
Added a command to report the current selection in edit fields (NVDA+shift+upArrow).
Quite a few NVDA commands that speak text (such as report current line etc) now can spell the text if pressed twice quickly.
the capslock, numpad insert and extended insert can all be used as the NVDA modifier key. Also if one of these keys is used, pressing the key twice with out pressing any other keys will send the key through to the operating system, just like you'd pressed the key with out NVDA running. To make one of these keys be the NVDA modifier key, check its checkbox in the Keyboard settings dialog (used to be called the keyboard echo dialog).
Application support
Improved support for Firefox3 and Thunderbird3 documents. Load times have been improved by almost a factor of thirty, a screen layout is used by default (press nvda+v to toggle between this and no screen layout), a links list (nvda+f7 has been added), the find dialog (control+nvda+f) is now case-insensitive, much better support for dynamic content, selecting and copying text is now possible.
In the MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger history windows, it is now possible to select and copy text.
Improved support for the audacity application
Added support for a few edit/text controls in Skype
Improved support for Miranda instant messenger application
Fixed some focus issues when opening html and plain text messages in Outlook Express.
Outlook express newsgroup message fields are now labeled correctly
NVDA can now read the addresses in the Outlook Express message fields (to/from/cc etc)
NVDA should be now more accurate at announcing the next message in out look express when deleting a message from the message list.
APIs and toolkits
Improved object navigation for MSAA objects. If a window has a system menu, title bar, or scroll bars, you can now navigate to them.
Added support for the IAccessible2 accessibility API. A part from the ability to announce more control types, this also allows NVDA to access the cursor in applications such as Firefox 3 and Thunderbird 3, allowing you to navigate, select or edit text.
Added support for Scintilla edit controls (such controls can be found in Notepad++ or Tortoise SVN).
Added support for Java applications (via the Java Access Bridge). This can provide basic support for Open Office (if Java is enabled), and any other stand-alone Java application. Note that java applets with in a web browser may not work yet.
Mouse
Improved support for reading what is under the mouse pointer as it moves. It is now much faster, and it also now has the ability in some controls such as standard edit fields, Java and IAccessible2 controls, to read the current word, not just the current object. This may be of some used to vision impared people who just want to read a specific bit of text with the mouse.
Added a new config option, found in the mouse settings dialog. Play audio when mouse moves, when checked, plays a 40 ms beep each time the mouse moves, with its pitch (between 220 and 1760 hz) representing the y axis, and left/right volume, representing the x axis. This enables a blind person to get a rough idea of where the mouse is on the screen as its being moved. This feature also depends on reportObjectUnderMouse also being turned on. So this means that if you quickly need to disable both beeps and announcing of objects, then just press NVDA+m. The beeps are also louder or softer depending on how bright the screen is at that point.
Object presentation and interaction
Improved support for most common treeview controls. NVDA now tells you how many items are in the branch when you expand it. It also announces the level when moving in and out of branches. And, it announces the current item number and number of items, according to the current branch, not the entire treeview.
Improved what is announced when focus changes as you move around applications or the operating system. Now instead of just hearing the control you land on, you hear information about any controls this control is positioned inside of. For instance if you tab and land on a button inside a groupbox, the groupbox will also get announced.
NVDA now tries to speak the message inside many dialog boxes as they appear. This is accurate most of the time, though there are still many dialogs that arn't as good as they could be.
Added a report object descriptions checkbox to the object presentation settings dialog. Power users may wish to sometimes uncheck this to stop NVDA announcing a lot of extra descriptions on particular controls, such as in Java applications.
NVDA automatically announces selected text in edit controls when focus moves to them. If there isn't any selected text, then it just announces the current line like usual.
NVDA is a lot more careful now when it plays beeps to indicate progress bar changes in applications. It no longer goes crazy in Eclipse applications such as Lotus Notes/Symphony, and Accessibility Probe.
User Interface
Removed the NVDA interface window, and replaced it with a simple NVDA popup menu.
NVDA's user interface settings dialog is now called General Settings. It also contains an extra setting: a combo box to set the log level, for what messages should go to NVDA's log file. Note that NVDA's log file is now called nvda.log not debug.log.
Removed the report object group names checkBox from the object presentation settings dialog, reporting of group names now is handled differently.
0.5
NVDA now has a built-in synthesizer called eSpeak, developed by Jonathan Duddington.It is very responsive and lite-weight, and has support for many different languages. Sapi synthesizers can still be used, but eSpeak will be used by default.
eSpeak does not depend on any special software to be installed, so it can be used with NVDA on any computer, on a USB thumb drive, or anywhere.
For more info on eSpeak, or to find other versions, go to http://espeak.sourceforge.net/.
Fix bug where the wrong character was being announced when pressing delete in Internet Explorer / Outlook Express editable panes.
Added support for more edit fields in Skype.
VirtualBuffers only get loaded when focus is on the window that needs to be loaded. This fixes some problems when the preview pane is turned on in Outlook Express.
Added commandline arguments to NVDA:
-m, --minimal: do not play startup/exit sounds and do not show the interface on startup if set to do so.
-q, --quit: quit any other already running instance of NVDA and then exit
-s, --stderr-file fileName: specify where NVDA should place uncaught errors and exceptions
-d, --debug-file fileName: specify where NVDA should place debug messages
-c, --config-file: specify an alternative configuration file
-h, -help: show a help message listing commandline arguments
Fixed bug where punctuation symbols would not be translated to the appropriate language, when using a language other than english, and when speak typed characters was turned on.
Added Slovak language files thanks to Peter Vagner
Added a Virtual Buffer settings dialog and a Document Formatting settings dialog, from Peter Vagner.
Added French translation thanks to Michel Such
Added a script to toggle beeping of progress bars on and off (insert+u). Contributed by Peter Vagner.
Made more messages in NVDA be translatable for other languages. This includes script descriptions when in keyboard help.
Added a find dialog to the virtualBuffers (internet Explorer and Firefox). Pressing control+f when on a page brings up a dialog in which you can type some text to find. Pressing enter will then search for this text and place the virtualBuffer cursor on this line. Pressing f3 will also search for the next occurance of the text.
When speak typed characters is turned on, more characters should be now spoken. Technically, now ascii characters from 32 to 255 can now be spoken.
Renamed some control types for better readability. Editable text is now edit, outline is now tree view and push button is now button.
When arrowing around list items in a list, or tree view items in a tree view, the control type (list item, tree view item) is no longer spoken, to speed up navigation.
Has Popup (to indicate that a menu has a submenu) is now spoken as submenu.
Where some language use control and alt (or altGR) to enter a special character, NVDA now will speak these characters when speak typed characters is on.
Fixed some problems with reviewing static text controls.
Added Translation for Traditional Chinese, thanks to Coscell Kao.
Re-structured an important part of the NVDA code, which should now fix many issues with NVDA's user interface (including settings dialogs).
Added Sapi4 support to NVDA. Currently there are two sapi4 drivers, one based on code contributed by Serotek Corporation, and one using the ActiveVoice.ActiveVoice com Interface. Both these drivers have issues, see which one works best for you.
Now when trying to run a new copy of NVDA while an older copy is still running will cause the new copy to just exit. This fixes a major problem where running multiple copies of NVDA makes your system very unusable.
Renamed the title of the NVDA user interface from NVDA Interface to NVDA.
Fixed a bug in Outlook Express where pressing backspace at the start of an editable message would cause an error.
Added patch from Rui Batista that adds a script to report the current battery status on laptops (insert+shift+b).
Added a synth driver called Silence. This is a synth driver that does not speak anything, allowing NVDA to stay completely silent at all times. Eventually this could be used along with Braille support, when we have it.
Added capitalPitchChange setting for synthesizers thanks to J.J. Meddaugh
Added patch from J.J. Meddaugh that makes the toggle report objects under mouse script more like the other toggle scripts (saying on/off rather than changing the whole statement).
Added spanish translation (es) contributed by Juan C. buo.
Added Hungarian language file from Tamas Gczy.
Added Portuguese language file from Rui Batista.
Changing the voice in the voice settings dialog now sets the rate, pitch and volume sliders to the new values according to the synthesizer, rather than forcing the synthesizer to be set to the old values. This fixes issues where a synth like eloquence or viavoice seems to speek at a much faster rate than all other synths.
Fixed a bug where either speech would stop, or NVDA would entirely crash, when in a Dos console window.
If support for a particular language exists, NVDA now automatically can show its interface and speak its messages in the language Windows is set to. A particular language can still be chosen manualy from the user interface settings dialog as well.
Added script 'toggleReportDynamicContentChanges' (insert+5). This toggles whether new text, or other dynamic changes should be automatically announced. So far this only works in Dos Console Windows.
Added script 'toggleCaretMovesReviewCursor' (insert+6). This toggles whether the review cursor should be automatically repositioned when the system caret moves. This is useful in Dos console windows when trying to read information as the screen is updating.
Added script 'toggleFocusMovesNavigatorObject' (insert+7). This toggles whether the navigator object is repositioned on the object with focus as it changes.
Added some documentation translated in to various languages. So far there is French, Spannish and Finish.
Removed some developer documentation from the binary distribution of NVDA, it is only now in the source version.
Fixed a possible bug in Windows Live Messanger and MSN Messenger where arrowing up and down the contact list would cause errors.
New messages are now automatically spoken when in a conversation using Windows Live Messenger. (only works for English versions so far)
The history window in a Windows Live Messenger conversation can now be read by using the arrow keys. (Only works for English versions so far)
Added script 'passNextKeyThrough' (insert+f2). Press this key, and then the next key pressed will be passed straight through to Windows. This is useful if you have to press a certain key in an application but NVDA uses that key for something else.
NVDA no longer freezes up for more than a minute when opening very large documents in MS Word.
Fixed a bug where moving out of a table in MS Word, and then moving back in, caused the current row/column numbers not to be spoken if moving back in to exactly the same cell.
When starting NVDA with a synthesizer that doesn't exist, or is not working, the sapi5 synth will try and be loaded in stead, or if sapi5 isn't working, then speech will be set to silence.
Increasing and decreasing rate scripts can no longer take the rate above 100 or below 0.
If there is an error with a language when choosing it in the User Interface Settings dialog, a message box will alert the user to the fact.
NVDA now asks if it should save configuration and restart if the user has just changed the language in the User Interface Settings Dialog. NVDA must be restarted for the language change to fully take effect.
If a synthesizer can not be loaded, when choosing it from the synthesizer dialog, a message box alerts the user to the fact.
When loading a synthesizer for the first time, NVDA lets the synthesizer choose the most suitable voice, rate and pitch parameters, rather than forcing it to defaults it thinks are ok. This fixes a problem where Eloquence and Viavoice sapi4 synths start speaking way too fast for the first time.