NVDA Roadmap
This document outlines NV Access’s planned development roadmap for NVDA and its supporting infrastructure. Priorities are grouped into short, medium and long-term timeframes. This roadmap will be updated to reflect completed projects, development progress and significant changes to the world of screen readers and the wider technology space.
Short-Term Priorities
These priorities focus on enhancements and improvements that we aim to deliver in the near future.
- MathCAT integration into core: Integrating the MathCAT math expression reader directly into the NVDA core, providing seamless access to mathematical content.
- ARIA compliance: Continued improvements and updates to NVDA’s ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) support, ensuring compatibility with modern web content.
- Braille enhancements: Addressing known issues and improving the overall stability and reliability of braille support in NVDA.
- Braille font attributes: Adding support for braille font attributes, allowing for more customised and informative braille displays.
- Updated project linting: Updating our linting tools and rules to improve code quality and consistency across the project.
- Optimising certification system queries: Optimising database queries used by the NVDA certification system to improve performance and reduce latency.
- Containerising server infrastructure: Migrating our server infrastructure to containers, enhancing scalability, maintainability, and deployment flexibility.
- Add-on Store automatic updates: Enabling automatic updates for add-ons downloaded from the NVDA Add-on Store, ensuring users have the latest features and bug fixes.
Medium-Term Priorities
These priorities represent significant features and improvements that require more extensive development effort.
- Integration of NVDA Remote into core: Migrating the functionality of the NVDA Remote add-on into NVDA’s core for enhanced functionality and security.
- Braille multi-line prototype: Development of a prototype for multi-line braille display support, exploring new ways to present information in braille.
- Enhanced Excel UIA support: Improvements to NVDA’s UIA (User Interface Automation) support for Microsoft Excel, providing a more robust and intuitive experience for navigating and interacting with spreadsheets.
- Support for Microsoft Natural Voices: Adding support for Microsoft’s Natural Voices text-to-speech engine, expanding user choice and providing access to high-quality synthetic voices.
- Web front end for Add-on Store: Creating a web-based front end for the NVDA Add-on Store, making it more accessible and easier to browse and search for add-ons.
- Add-on installation telemetry: Gathering anonymous data on add-on installations to understand usage patterns to help prioritise development efforts to improve the add-on ecosystem.
- ARM installation telemetry: Gathering anonymous data on ARM installations, providing insights into changing usage patterns.
- Anonymous identifier: Implementation of a system for generating unique, rotating, anonymous identifiers for NVDA installations, allowing for better data collection and analysis without compromising user privacy.
- End of support for Windows 8.1, 2012/R2: Officially ending support for older versions of Windows, allowing us to focus on developing for modern operating systems and their latest accessibility features.
Long-Term Priorities
These priorities represent ambitious goals and initiatives that will shape the future of NVDA.
- Integrated AI image description: Free, secure, performant, private and VI-focussed AI image description available out of the box.
- Secure add-on environment: Building a more secure add-on ecosystem, protecting users from potentially malicious add-ons.
- Magnifier prototype: Exploring the development of a built-in screen magnification feature as a prototype, to better support our low-vision users.
- Feature usage telemetry: Implementing anonymous telemetry to track feature usage within NVDA, helping us understand how users interact with the software and identify areas for improvement.
- Official training material for NVDA accessibility testers: Developing comprehensive training materials for individuals interested in becoming NVDA accessibility testers, ensuring high-quality testing and feedback.
- NVDA help AI chatbot prototype: Exploring the development of an AI-powered chatbot to provide instant support and answer frequently asked questions about NVDA.
- Automated C++ and markdown linting: Implementing automated linting for C++ and Markdown files, further improving code quality and consistency within the project.
Contributing and Feedback
We encourage contributions from the community!
Please explore NVDA’s GitHub repository or user group to learn more about how you can get involved.