DTB Software Reading Systems

Last updated: February 27, 2014

Notes

The table below describes whether a DTB software reading system…

  • displays images, scalable vector graphics (SVG) or MathML;
  • provides screen-reader or TTS access to descriptions of images or SVGs;
  • provides screen-reader or TTS access to MathML.

A field containing a dash does not necessarily indicate that a feature is unsupported, but that more research is required to make a determination.

For more information about metadata and image descriptions, read DIAGRAM’s Potential Use of Image Description Metadata for Accessibility and the follow-up addendum, Alternatives, Content Model, New Tools, Dependencies and Updates. Also, read the results of the 2012 DIAGRAM Reading Technology Survey to learn how people who are blind and visually impaired obtain and access reading material.

Name; cost; OS DTB sources Visual display Display images Read alt: TTS or screen reader Read longdesc: TTS or screen reader Read prodnote: TTS or screen reader Display SVG Read SVG title: TTS or screen reader Read SVG desc: TTS or screen reader Display MathML Read MathML: TTS or screen reader Misc.
AMIS 3.1.3; free; Windows DAISY 2.02, 3 Yes Yes TTS: no; screen reader: yes TTS: no; screen reader: yes (announces the presence of longdesc TTS: no; screen reader: yes No TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no
  • Open-source software
  • Displays fallback images when supplied with mathML
Book Wizard Reader; free; Windows RFB&D; DAISY 2.02, 3 Yes Yes TTS: no; screen reader: yes TTS: no; screen reader: yes (announces the presence of longdesc TTS: no; screen reader: yes if visible No TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no
Buttercup Reader; free; Win/Mac DAISY 3 Yes Yes TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no
  • Browser-based Silverlight DTB reader.
  • Self-voicing feature only works with IE/Windows.
DDReader+; free; Windows DAISY 3 Yes Yes TTS: yes; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no
EasyReader 6.04; $; Windows RFB&D; Bookshare; DAISY 2.02, 3; others Yes Yes TTS: yes; screen reader: yes TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: yes; screen reader: yes No TTS: yes; screen reader: yes TTS: yes; screen reader: yes Yes TTS: yes; screen reader: yes
  • Reads @alt but does not identify the image
  • Displays prodnote, SVG title and SVG desc visibly
FSReader 2.0; $; Windows RFB&D; Bookshare; DAISY 2.02, 3 Yes No TTS: n/a; screen reader: no TTS: n/a; screen reader: no TTS: n/a; screen reader: no No TTS: n/a; screen reader: no TTS: n/a; screen reader: no No TTS: n/a; screen reader: no
  • Included with JAWS; download available for use with PAC Mate.
GoRead 4.1; free; Android Bookshare; DAISY 2.02, 3; EPUB Yes Yes TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: yes; screen-reader: yes No TTS: no; screen-reader: TTS: no; screen-reader: n/a No TTS: no; screen-reader:
  • Does not read alt on images
  • Makes prodnote visible; places the words “Image Description” at the beginning of the prodnote and “End Image Description” at the end of the prodnote.
  • Recognizes markup within prodnote: displays lists, links and text formatting but not tables; does not convey markup aurally.
IVEO Viewer 2.1; free; Windows Yes No TTS: no; screen-reader: n/a TTS: no; screen-reader: n/a TTS: no; screen-reader: n/a Yes TTS: yes; screen-reader: n/a TTS: yes; screen-reader: n/a No TTS: no; screen-reader: n/a
JAWS for Windows 12/13/14; $; Windows n/a n/a n/a TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes if visible n/a Yes No n/a Yes with MathPlayer or MathJax
  • Screen reader; can read DTBs in browsers or in some DTB readers.
Kurzweil 1000 version 12; $; Windows any Yes
  • Comments based on documentation only
  • TTS software that works in conjunction with various scanners.
  • Converts WAV or MP3 to DAISY 2.02.
Kurzweil 3000 5.0 (standalone); $; Mac DAISY 3; PDF; HTML; others Yes Yes TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: Yes; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no Makes prodnote visible
Kurzweil 3000 13.28 (standalone); $; Windows DAISY 3; PDF; HTML; others Yes Yes TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: Yes; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no TTS: no; screen reader: no No TTS: no; screen reader: no Makes prodnote visible
NVDA; free; Windows n/a n/a n/a TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes if visible n/a Yes No n/a Yes with MathPlayer or MathJax
  • Screen reader; can read DTBs in browsers or in some DTB readers.
ReadHear Mac/PC; $; Win/Mac DAISY 2.02, 3; RFB&D; Bookshare Yes Yes TTS: no; screen-reader: yes TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: yes; screen-reader: yes Yes TTS: yes; screen reader: no TTS: yes; screen reader: no Yes TTS: yes; screen reader: no
  • Reads prodnote but does not identify it as such
  • Does not recognize markup within prodnote
Read:OutLoud 6; $; Win/Mac Bookshare; DAISY 3; PDF; NIMAS; others Yes Yes TTS: yes; screen-reader: no TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: yes; screen-reader: no No TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: yes; screen-reader: no No TTS: no; screen-reader: no
  • Will open NIMAS, PDF, RTF, HTML, DAISY, XML and TXT
  • Makes prodnote visible
  • Makes SVG desc visible
Read2Go 1.0.3.10; $; iOS Bookshare; DAISY 2.02, 3 Yes No TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: yes; screen-reader: no No TTS: no; screen-reader: no TTS: no; screen-reader: no No TTS: no; screen-reader: no
  • Makes prodnote visible and draws a box around the prodnote text
  • Recognizes markup within prodnote: displays lists, tables, links and text formatting but does not convey markup aurally.
VoiceOver; free; Mac/iOS any n/a n/a Yes No TTS: n/a; screen reader: no n/a TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes n/a TTS: n/a; screen reader: yes
  • Screen reader built in to OS X and iOS
Window-Eyes 8.4; $; Windows any n/a n/a Yes, via alt Yes, via longdesc and prodnote (if visible) Will read title element but not desc element n/a Yes with MathPlayer or MathJax
  • Screen reader; can read DTBs in browsers or in some DTB readers.

Ideas that work.The DIAGRAM Center is a Benetech initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (Cooperative Agreement #H327B100001). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education.

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