In-Process 3rd July 2024
We’ve got a new stable release AND a new beta to cover. And do please read the important note on the new Code Signing Certificate as it will affect you if you download a new build of NVDA in the next few weeks. In this edition:
- NVDA 2024.2 Released
- NVDA 2024.3 Beta 1
- New Code Signing Certificate
- Thank you to our donors
- Vale Austin Pinto
NVDA 2024.2 is here
First the big release news, NVDA 2024.2 is here! Featuring all the features we’ve been talking about over the last couple of months, you can find it here. Here are the highlights:
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 value of 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 a new language, Tigrinya.
There are many minor bug fixes for applications, such as Thunderbird, Adobe Reader, web browsers, Nudi and Geekbench. If you haven’t already updated, you can find the full what’s new and the download from the NVDA 2024.2 Release Announcement.
NVDA 2024.3 Beta 1
Next up, for those interested in testing new versions before they come out, we’ve just released the first beta of NVDA 2024.3 for testing. It includes notification of add-on updates, unicode normalisation options, unassigned commands for mouse wheel scrolling, new Braille displays and tables, fixes for Windows 11, browsers & more. For those interested in testing the new version before it is released, we welcome you to download the beta & provide feedback. Read more & download from the release announcement.
We would love to have you try out 2024.3 beta 1 and let us know what you think. Please be aware that you might encounter an extra step when running the beta:
New Code Signing Certificate
NV Access have recently updated our code signing certificate. This certificate gives peace of mind that you are running a genuine copy of NVDA. It is a newer version of the certificate we have been using (which needs to be updated every few years). While the certificate is new, Windows may give a warning that Windows Defender prevented an unrecognised program from running. It is important to take note of warnings like this, but in this case, it is expected. When the warning appears, press tab to “More info”, then press enter. Reading through the dialog, note that the publisher is listed as:
“AU, Queensland, Camp Mountain, NV Access Limited, NV Access Limited”
To allow NVDA to run, press tab to “Run anyway”, and press enter to run the snapshot. This will help us get through this period until Windows considers our certificate “trusted”.
For those interested in learning more about the code signing process, and this warning, please see this thread about code signing on Microsoft’s forums.
and if you would like to test out Alpha builds of NVDA, head to: Please feel encouraged to run the latest alpha snapshot.
If you do have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us.
Thank you to our donors!
As we come to the end of another “financial year”, we would like to thank all our donors. Regular and one-off, small amounts or large. Every donation helps and is something YOU should feel proud of as well. If you would like to donate, we would be incredibly grateful! You can find all the details on our “Support us” page.
Vale Austin Pinto
Nimer Jaber shared news of the passing of NVDA community member Austin Pinto. He noted “Austin contributed by moderating this (WinAccess email) group, to the original Anatad podcast, the BlindAndroidUsers podcast, the BlindTechGuys podcast, and more. He shared his knowledge with the world, and did it while having some fun.”
We also note Austin’s input as a valuable member of the planning committee of the NVDACon international conference over many years. We echo Nimer’s thanks for Austin’s contributions, and pass on our condolences to Austin’s family.
That’s all this time around. Please do download NVDA 2024.2 if you want the stable version, or NVDA 2024.3 Beta 1 if you’d like to test out the next version. We’ll be back soon with more news and updates.