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Test accessibility using Screen Reader on desktop

You can test the accessibility of your website using the Screen Reader feature of BrowserStack Live on desktop. When you enable the Screen Reader feature on Live, the NVDA screen reader is used on Windows and VoiceOver is used on macOS.
You can also use the JAWS screen reader on Windows 11 devices if you have a paid BrowserStack Web Accessibility subscription.

To know more about paid subscriptions that include JAWS support, see the BrowserStack pricing page. If you already have a subscription, contact BrowserStack support to enable JAWS for your account.

Supported operating systems and browsers

Windows Version Browsers Supported screen readers
Windows 10 Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Yandex, Edge (v17 onwards) NVDA only
Windows 11 Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Yandex, Edge (v17 onwards) NVDA, JAWS
macOS Version Browsers Supported screen readers
macOS Tahoe Chrome, Safari (v19) VoiceOver
macOS Sequoia Chrome, Safari (v18) VoiceOver
macOS Sonoma Chrome, Safari (v17) VoiceOver
macOS Ventura Chrome, Safari (v16) VoiceOver
macOS Monterey Chrome, Safari (v15) VoiceOver
macOS Big Sur Chrome, Safari (v14) VoiceOver
macOS Catalina Chrome, Safari (v13) VoiceOver

Enable Screen Reader

Ensure that your system audio is turned on.

  1. Log in to the Live dashboard.
  2. On the Live dashboard, select the device combination to start your test session.
  3. On the Live toolbar, click Screen Reader. Accessing Screen Reader
  4. To enable Screen Reader, switch the Screen Reader toggle to on. Toggling on Screen Reader The Screen Reader feature starts providing the audio description for every action on the website including pointing, clicking, keyboard navigation, etc.
    To configure NVDA settings, see Configure Screen Reader settings.

You must have a paid BrowserStack Web Accessibility subscription with JAWS support enabled. To enable JAWS for your account, contact BrowserStack support.

To use JAWS with BrowserStack Live, you must start your test session from the Accessibility dashboard:

  1. Log in to the Accessibility Testing dashboard.
  2. In the left navigation pane, click Screen Readers.
    The App Accessibility dashboard with Screen Readers option highlighted.
  3. On the Screen reader launcher dashboard, select the JAWS supported device combination to start your test session.
    The Screen reader launcher dashboard displaying device combinations that support JAWS screen reader testing.
  4. On the Live toolbar, click Screen Reader. The Screen Reader button in an active BrowserStack Live test session.
  5. To enable Screen Reader, switch the Screen Reader toggle to on. Toggling on Screen Reader The Screen Reader feature provides audio descriptions for all website actions, including pointing, clicking, and keyboard navigation.
    To configure JAWS settings, see Configure Screen Reader settings.
  1. Log in to the Live dashboard.
  2. On the Live dashboard, select the device combination to start your test session.
  3. On the Live toolbar, click Screen Reader. Accessing Screen Reader

  4. To enable Screen Reader, switch the Screen Reader toggle to on. Toggling on Screen Reader

    The Screen Reader feature starts providing the audio description for every action on the website including pointing, clicking, keyboard navigation, etc.

    After Screen Reader is enabled, VoiceOver Utility opens automatically. You can click on the browser on which you want to test your website to bring it to front.
    To configure VoiceOver settings, see Configure Screen Reader settings.

Supported keyboard shortcuts for Screen Reader

The Screen Reader feature enables the NVDA screen reader on Windows and VoiceOver screen reader on macOS. You can use the keyboard shortcuts to perform various actions supported by NVDA and VoiceOver.

For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts, refer to the following topics:

Configure Screen Reader settings

If you are using macOS to test a Windows machine on BrowserStack or are using a keyboard that doesn’t have the Insert key, see Basic NVDA commands for alternate keyboard shortcuts.

To configure NVDA settings:

  1. Enable screen reader.
  2. Press the Insert + N shortcut to open the NVDA menu.
  3. Navigate to Preferences > Settings to open the NVDA Settings menu.
  4. In the NVDA Settings menu, navigate to the setting you want to configure.
    You can configure settings related to speech, braille, vision, keyboard, and more. For more information about all available NVDA menu functionalities, refer to the NVDA user guide.

The following example video starts after step 2 and demonstrates how to change the language through the NVDA menu:

If you are using macOS to test a Windows machine on BrowserStack or are using a keyboard that doesn’t have the Insert key, use Control + Right Option instead. For example, to open the JAWS menu, press Control + Right Option + J.

To configure JAWS settings:

  1. Open the JAWS settings by pressing Insert + J to open the JAWS menu. The settings open in a new window.
    The JAWS menu window.
  2. Click on the Help option in the JAWS top menu bar.
  3. In the Help menu, navigate to Startup Wizard to open the JAWS Startup Wizard application.
    The Startup Wizard option in the JAWS Help menu.
  4. Configure specific JAWS parameters by clicking Next to move through the options such as speech and braille preferences, verbosity settings, and JAWS startup options.
    The JAWS Startup Wizard window where you can configure various JAWS settings.
  5. After you finalize your selections, click Finish on the final screen to apply the settings.
    The final screen of the JAWS Startup Wizard with the Finish button highlighted.

For detailed information on configuring JAWS settings, refer to the JAWS documentation.

To configure VoiceOver settings, follow theses steps:

  1. Enable screen reader.
    The VoiceOver Utility window opens automatically once the screen reader is enabled.
  2. Use the VoiceOver Utility to configure settings such as verbosity, speech, sound, and more. For detailed information on the VoiceOver Utility, refer to the VoiceOver user guide.

Do not close the VoiceOver Utility window during an ongoing session.
If you close it during a session, you must disable and re-enable the screen reader to open the VoiceOver Utility again.
It is recommended to keep the VoiceOver Utility running in the background while testing and bring it to the forefront whenever needed.

The following example video demonstrates how to bring the VoiceOver Utility to the forefront and change the VoiceOver language:

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