Welcome to August! The big news this time is the release of NVDA 2020.2, so let’s get straight into it:
NVDA 2020.2 Now available
NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2020.2 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, is now available for download. We encourage all users to upgrade to this version.
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.
Read more and download NVDA 2020.2 on the NVDA 2020.2 Release Announcement.
Troubleshooting Update Issues
While we haven’t seen any issues updating to 2020.2, after updating any software, it is a good idea to restart the PC. Restart by going to the Shutdown dialog, selecting “restart” and pressing ENTER. Updating software can change files which are in use. This can lead to instability and strange behaviour which is resolved by rebooting. This is the first thing to try if you do notice anything odd after updating.
After that, if problems persist, do please write to us with a description.
Exciting Employment Opportunity
NV Access is looking to appoint a Full-Time Software Engineer to join our small team. Your work will focus on improving our NVDA screen reading software and related online infrastructure, including feature implementation and bug fixing.
NV Access is a global non-profit organisation, based in Australia, dedicated to the ideal that access to technology should not incur an extra cost for blind and vision impaired users. The purpose of NV Access is to lower the economic and social barriers associated with accessing Information Technology for people who are blind or vision impaired. NV Access develops the free, open source NVDA screen reading software for Microsoft Windows, enabling more than 100,000 blind and vision-impaired people across the globe to access computers.
To apply for this position, you must be classed as “An Australian Resident for tax purposes”, and be prepared to work full time from home with occasional face to face meetings. Please see the full requirements, as well as application information on the NV Access Seeking Software Engineer post.
For those outside Australia
We have had a few questions about the need for Australian residency in our job advertisement. Much as we’d love to be able to cast the net wider, we aren’t able to open applications to non-Australian residents. One of the fantastic things about working for NV Access is working in a small team, able to make a real difference on a product you love. One of the few disadvantages, is that, unlike much larger companies, we don’t have the resources to operate easily across countries. As a relatively small Australian registered charity, we are currently not in a position to easily manage the complex issues across international employment law and logistics, tax laws and obligations, and everything else associated with employing internationally.
“Australian resident for tax purposes” is an Australian Government term. If you are unsure whether you qualify, please find more information on the Australian Taxation Office site.
If that changes in the future, we will publicise it across our channels and in future job postings.
I appreciate it’s no substitute, but if that requirement rules you out, there are other ways you can still contribute to NVDA. Being open source means we can accept input from anyone. There is no restriction on where you are, and we do value our many volunteer contributors around the world. We have a list of open NVDA Issues on GitHub. We are always happy to receive new, well written issues. We also appreciate people investigating and confirming existing reported issues. We also accept pull requests to resolve issues. If you have an idea which might not fit in NVDA core, you might consider creating an add-on for it. See The NVDA Add-ons site for information on add-ons. Finally, we have an active NVDA User Email Group where expertise and help is always welcome (and questions too).
That’s all for this week. Do update to NVDA 2020.2 if you haven’t already. If you have updated, please share how you are finding NVDA 2020.2 In the NVDA User Email Group. And for those applying for the NVDA Software Engineer position, best of luck with your application, and I look forward to working with you soon!