NVDA Coach

Screen reader training inside the screen reader. 45 lessons, six chapters, one step at a time, no videos, no PDFs, no switching windows.

Free. Version 1.6.0. In the NVDA Add-on Store, or download it direct.

How it teaches

Press NVDA+Shift+C and the Coach opens. Each step speaks an instruction, names the key, and waits for you to do it. F1 repeats, F2 hints, F3 skips. Completed lessons are marked and survive a restart.

Practice happens where you are: the reading lessons put a text area in the Coach window, the web lessons open a practice page, and several of the first chapter's lessons use a live form with real buttons and checkboxes.

What it covers

Getting Started, 14 lessons, the NVDA key, title bar, silencing speech, focus, Tab, buttons and checkboxes, Input Help, Alt+Tab, battery.
Your Keyboard, 3, where the modifiers live on desktop and laptop boards, Fn and the function keys, choosing your layout.
Reading and Moving Through Text, 8, character, word and line; Say All; selection; paragraphs and pages; font and formatting.
Browse Mode and the Web, 10, headings and levels, links, form fields, browse and focus modes, landmarks, the Elements List, Find, tables.
Object Navigation, 6, the object pyramid, moving across and between levels, routing focus, and when to use it.
Customizing NVDA, 4, keyboard layout, speech rate and voice, output device, audio ducking. Finishing it earns a Certificate of Completion.

Nine languages

English, Japanese, Polish, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Full translations of the lessons, the interface and the practice environments, not machine-swapped strings.

Japanese and Polish are new in 1.6.0. Brazilian Portuguese is a real translation for the first time: the folder had been there since 1.5.1, but the lessons inside it were still in English.

What people have said

RNIB Tech Talk #614 featured it as step-by-step training for screen reader users.
Double Tap with Steven Scott and Shaun Preece.
Blind Abilities with Jeff Thompson, From First Keystroke to Confidence.
The Blind Life with Sam Seavey, Master NVDA with NVDA Coach.
The Knowledge Chest, Bits & Bytes.

For instructors

Built by an assistive technology instructor for classroom and one-to-one use. Assign a chapter before a session, use it as a warm-up, or set it for practice between appointments. The lesson picker shows progress at a glance.

Lessons are plain JSON files, so a new set is one file dropped in a folder. Get in touch about custom lessons for your programme.

Requirements

NVDA 2024.1 or later, tested through 2026.1.1. Windows. GPL v2.