Microsoft provides grant to improve NVDA

Microsoft has recently decided to support NV Access and the  NVDA screen reader project by providing funding and support that will allow NV Access to improve NVDA in two key areas:

• Allowing NVDA to support Microsoft's UI Automation API in Windows 7 (the next Microsoft Windows Operating System); and
• Improving NVDA's support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and other related applications.

Supporting UI Automation means that NVDA gains access to applications built on top of Microsoft's .net and Silverlight 2 platforms. UI Automation massivly improves upon Microsoft's older accessibility API (MSAA) by providing greater access to textual and other rich data.

Improved support for Microsoft Internet Explorer is a much requested feature of NVDA by its users. Improvements will include rapid speed ups of page loads due to in-process virtual buffers and an improved user interaction model (including the ability to select text and access a list of links) which users of NVDA have been enjoying already in its support for the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

Not only do the improvements help support for Internet Explorer, but also Windows CHM viewer, Windows Help and Support centre, Windows Mail / Outlook Express and any other application that makes use of the Internet Explorer engine.

This funding from Microsoft has enabled NV Access to employ me full-time along side James Teh to work on the core development of NVDA. The funding will also help to sustain NV Access into the near future.