Welcome to a jam packed In-Process. We have a release, a survey, several expos, an award finalist and more add-on info. Let’s dive in:
- NVDA 2024.4.1 Released
- NVDA Contributor Documentation Survey
- Out and about with NV Access
- Emma a Change Making Finalist!
- Add-on Compatibility Process
NVDA 2024.4.1 Released
NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2024.4.1 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, is now available for download. We encourage all users to upgrade to this version.
NVDA 2024.4.1 is a patch release to fix a bug when saving speech symbol dictionaries. Pressing the Close button in the Symbol Pronunciation dialog will now save the symbols dictionary and close the dialog.
This is available for users on the stable channel, and for users on the Beta / Release Candidate channel.
NVDA Contributor Documentation Survey
Following the generous input from our Braille users, we are seeking more feedback. This time we would be very appreciative to hear from users who do or would like to contribute to NVDA. Your insights will help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of our contributor documentation, and we will use these insights to make targeted improvements. There are many ways you can contribute to NVDA. These include:
- Translation (UI and user guide)
- Core NVDA software development
- Add-on software development
- Testing NVDA
- Submitting GitHub issues
- Triaging GitHub issues
If you are interested, please complete the survey here.
This survey should take around 5 minutes to complete.
Out and about with NV Access
Last week, James and Quentin took a trip to Adelaide, known as the “city of churches”. There, we attended Tech Fest, Australia’s largest blindness technology expo. This was presented by “See Differently with the Royal Society for the Blind”. We had a great time meeting users, prospective users, AT professionals and RSB staff. We had some inspiring and positive conversations and came away very enthusiastic. It was also great to be among the only people in a room full of expensive gadgets able to say that our product is FREE. It is hard to over-emphasise how important that is for people, even in a country where assistive technology is often funded. We spoke with one user who had an expensive assistive technology program initially purchased, but then the funding was not extended to cover the update for the following year. It is one thing to have technology initially funded, but it is crucial to have ongoing access to your technology or users will be left out in the dark. That is where NVDA often makes a huge difference. Users never need to worry about whether they can get funding for the latest version of NVDA. They can rely on the fact that NVDA will continue to be available to them, for free. If you have funding available, you may be able to use it to purchase our NVDA training material in order to get you up and running, and for telephone support to keep you going. Many people find the NVDA Productivity Bundle best meets their needs and is one simple purchase when it is funded. (Funding will depend on your location and circumstances; NV Access is not able to advise on what funding may be available to you).
Next Tuesday, Quentin and Sascha are at SVRC’s Tech Expo in Melbourne, Australia. Statewide Vision Resource Centre is based at Donvale; they work with students throughout Victoria. SVRC Tech Expo is always a great opportunity to meet with our users in education and their families. We look forward to seeing you there if you can make it. We will be presenting a session on the latest additions and improvements to NVDA (including NVDA 2024.4.1).
Emma a Change Making Finalist!
Earlier this year we highlighted our newest NV Access board member, Emma Bennison (https://www.nvaccess.org/post/meet-our-newest-board-member-emma-bennison/ ). And we are not the only ones to notice her outstanding efforts for the community! The Disability Leadership Institute has just announced Emma as a finalist in the “Change Making” category of the National Awards for Disability Leadership 2024.
Quote from Emma Bennison when she spoke with us earlier this year.
The Change Making Award celebrates individuals or organisations who have achieved greater equality of disabled people by changing policy, programs, or legislation. Recipients will be announced on International Day of People with Disability, Tuesday, December 3rd, starting at 9 AM.
For a full list of finalists and their bios, visit the Disability Leadership Institute webpage.
Add-on Compatibility Process
Last fortnight, we addressed some common misconceptions about NVDA’s stability and its add-on ecosystem. We highlighted the steps we take to ensure a smooth and reliable experience for all our users. In this post, we’ll delve deeper into the add-on compatibility process, explaining why it’s essential for maintaining a healthy NVDA environment.
Add-on Compatibility: A Preventative Measure, not a Problem
We understand that the add-on compatibility process can sometimes seem like an unnecessary hurdle. However, it is designed to prevent problems, not cause them. By requiring add-on developers to confirm compatibility with each new version of NVDA, we safeguard users from potentially disruptive issues that could arise from using outdated or incompatible add-ons.
Contrary to the perception that many add-ons break with each NVDA update, the actual numbers paint a very different picture. In the past year, less than 2% of add-ons required updates to maintain compatibility with the latest version of NVDA. The remainder of the add-ons worked out of the box without any changes required.
The Importance of Metadata Updates
When we have to introduce changes to NVDA’s API, we ask add-on developers to update their add-on’s metadata. This metadata includes information about the add-ons compatibility with specific NVDA versions. This metadata is an additional protection for users. As only the add-on developer can update this compatibility information, it encourages the person most familiar with the add-on (the developer) to test the add-on and confirm that it works with the latest NVDA version.
NV Access telegraphs API changes so that developers know months in advance whether their add-on is at risk of requiring updates. NVDA’s API is powerful, enabling add-on authors full access to all of the features of Python. Add-ons targeting an older NVDA API could result in undesired consequences. This could be anything from the add-on simply not working, right up to your computer crashing or restarting randomly and losing work.
Manual Override: Proceed with Caution
NVDA provides a mechanism for users to manually override the compatibility check and run add-ons that are not officially marked as compatible. If you are an experienced user of NVDA and confident in being able to restart NVDA in safe mode with add-ons disabled, this override allows you to continue to use all your familiar add-ons without having to wait for add-on authors to update the compatibility metadata.
If you are not an experienced user of NVDA we advise against using this option, unless you understand the potential risks involved). Instead, we would encourage you to reach out to add-on authors directly. You can find contact details in the “Other details” section of the add-on store entry for an add-on. We also recommend participating in the user group and other user forums to seek advice from other users. We have a very vibrant, helpful community who are always happy to share advice.
The compatibility process, while seemingly strict, is a crucial part of achieving our goal of a healthy and stable add-on ecosystem.
That is all for this week. We’ll be back near the end of the month with more news, info and tips. In the meantime, do take our new survey, update to the latest release and continue the conversation in the user group!