[[File:Accessible Books Consortium explains - a digital file is not necessarily accessible.webm|thumb|An example of someone using a screen reader showing documents that are inaccessible, readable and accessible]]
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A '''screen reader''' is a form of [[assistive technology]] (<abbr>AT</abbr>)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/types.aspx|title=Types of Assistive Technology Products|publisher=Microsoft Accessibility|access-date=13 June 2016}}</ref> product that renders text and image content as speech or braille output. Screen readers are essential to people who are [[blindness|blind]],<ref name="afb"/> and are useful to people who are [[visual impairment|visually impaired]],<ref name="afb"/> [[Illiteracy|illiterate]], or have a [[learning disability]].<ref name="Screen1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vadsa.org/ace/reader.htm|title=Screen Readers and how they work with E-Learning|publisher=Virginia.gov|access-date=31 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113075826/https://www.vadsa.org/ace/reader.htm|archive-date=13 November 2018}}</ref> Screen readers are [[Application software|software applications]] that attempt to convey what people with normal eyesight see on a [[Display device|display]] to their users via non-visual means, like [[text-to-speech]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hear-text-read-aloud-narrator#1TC=windows-8|title=Hear text read aloud with Narrator|publisher=[[Microsoft Office|Microsoft]]|access-date=13 June 2016}}</ref> sound icons,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://css-tricks.com/accessiblility-basics-turn-your-css-off/|title=Accessibility Basics: How Does Your Page Look To A Screen Reader?|last=Coyier|first=Chris|date=29 October 2007|publisher=CSS-Tricks|access-date=13 June 2016}}</ref> or a [[Refreshable Braille display|braille device]].<ref name="afb">{{cite web|url=https://www.afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/using-technology/assistive-technology-videos/screen-reading-technology|title=Screen reading technology|publisher=[[American Foundation for the Blind|AFB]]|access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref> They do this by applying a wide variety of techniques that include, for example, interacting with dedicated [[#Accessibility APIs|accessibility APIs]], using various [[operating system]] features (like [[inter-process communication]] and querying [[user interface]] properties), and employing [[hooking]] techniques.<ref name="SR Overview">{{cite web|url=https://www.nomensa.com/blog/2005/what-screen-reader|title=What is a Screen Reader|publisher=[[Nomensa]]|access-date=9 July 2017}}</ref>
[[Microsoft Windows]] [[operating systems]] have included the [[Microsoft Narrator]] screen reader since [[Windows 2000]], though separate products such as [[Freedom Scientific]]'s commercially available [[JAWS (screen reader)|JAWS]] screen reader and [[ZoomText]] screen magnifier and the [[free and open source]] screen reader [[NonVisual Desktop Access|NVDA]] by NV Access are more popular for that operating system.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey9/|title=Screen Reader User Survey #9|publisher=[[WebAIM]]|access-date=July 1, 2021}}</ref> [[Apple Inc.]]'s [[macOS]], [[iOS]], and [[tvOS]] include [[VoiceOver]] as a built-in screen reader, while [[Google]]'s [[Android (operating system)|Android]] provides the [[Google TalkBack|Talkback screen reader]] and its [[ChromeOS]] can use ChromeVox.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chromevox.com/|title=ChromeVox|publisher=Google|access-date=March 9, 2020}}</ref> Similarly, Android-based devices from Amazon provide the VoiceView screen reader. There are also free and open source screen readers for [[Linux]] and [[Unix-like]] systems, such as Speakup and [[Orca (assistive technology)|Orca]].
