Understanding Screen Reader Users
Approximately 43 million people worldwide are blind, with millions more having severe low vision. Screen readers—software that reads web content aloud—provide the primary interface through which blind users access websites. Designing for screen reader users requires understanding how screen readers work and applying specific technical and structural principles. Screen reader users experience websites entirely through audio output. They cannot see visual design, colors, layout, or images. Instead, they navigate through semantic structure, announcements, and text content read aloud by screen reader software. Common screen readers include NVDA (free, Windows), JAWS (commercial, Windows), VoiceOver (Mac/iOS native), TalkBack (Android native), and Narrator (Windows native). Screen readers vary in features and capabilities, but all share fundamental principles: they read text content, announce structural elements, and allow keyboard navigation. Screen reader users often develop sophisticated navigation strategies, using keyboard shortcuts to jump between headings, form fields, or landmark regions. Understanding these navigation patterns helps designers create efficient structures.