introduction

Ultimate Screen Access (USA) connects the open source NVDA screen reader with the powerful magnification capabilities present in Windows 10. This creates a very powerful package that can provide a good solution in various situations.

System requirements

To use USA successfully, the following system requirements apply:

Installation

NVDA

Note: In order to successfully use Ultimate Screen Access, it is necessary to have an installed version of NVDA. In a portable version of NVDA (for example, from a USB stick), the mouse will not function properly when the screen is enlarged.

If you do not yet have NVDA, you can download it from nvaccess.org. On the download page you will find the link to the latest version of NVDA. By running the downloaded file, a temporary copy of NVDA is started. Then you will be asked whether you want to install NVDA, create a portable copy or continue to use the temporary copy. Choose install and follow the on-screen instructions.

Ultimate Screen Access

USA comes as an NVDA add-on. Installation is therefore performed via the “Manage Add-ons” item under Tools in the NVDA menu.

In the “Manage Add-ons” dialog box, you will find a list of all installed Add-ons that are currently in your user configuration folder. For each Add-on the package name, status, version and author is displayed. To install a previously acquired USA Add-on press the “Install” button in this window. Then look for the USA installation file (a file with the extension “*.nvda-addon”). As soon as you click on the “Open” button, the installation procedure will begin.

When the installation starts, NVDA will ask you if you really want to install Ultimate Screen Access. Since the functionality of Add-ons within NVDA is not restricted, which in theory means that access is gained to your personal data as well as the whole system, it is important to only install Add-ons that you trust. In other words, only install a version of Ultimate Screen Access that comes from Babbage. Once USA is installed, NVDA needs to be restarted to activate the Add-on. Without a restart, USA will display an “Install” status.

Usage

For the use of NVDA we refer to the NVDA manual. This can be found in the NVDA menu, which can be opened by pressing NVDA+N or clicking on the NVDA_icon in the Windows system tray. Then select “”User Manual”” from the “Help” menu.

USA enable

If the USA NVDA add-on is installed, you can enable USA as follows.

  1. Open the NVDA menu.
  2. Navigate to “Ultimate Screen Access”
  3. Select “Enable USA”

Adjust USA settings

When USA is enabled, the following settings can be changed within the menu item “simple settings USA” of the “Ultimate Screen Access” menu, or within the “Visual” tab of the NVDA_ settings.

Step Level

The magnification step level to be used when zooming in or out. A step level of 0.1 means that the screen gets enlarged with 10% every time.

Enable soft edges around images to improve magnification quality

This setting will in most cases increase the quality of text. When this option is turned off, the content of the screen is literally enlarged. When enabled, the software tries to adjust the edges of images and letters to present a more natural result.

Follow the system focus

When enabled, USA will ensure that the system focus is always on the screen as much as possible. For example, the system focus is changed when you use the keyboard to navigate through a dialog box or make a selection from a list.

Focus Limitation

The settings in this picklist allow you to set where the system focus is positioned on the screen.

Follow foreground window changes

When you switch between different active windows, for example by using the keyboard combination alt+tab, there is a foreground window change. When this option is enabled, USA tries to ensure that the relevant information from the foreground window is immediately visible.

Follow the navigator object

When this option is enabled, USA will ensure that the object you selected with the NVDA object navigation is visible on the screen. For more information on the navigator object, see the NVDA manual.

Follow the system cursor

The system cursor is the usually blinking cursor visible in text fields, for example in Word or Notepad. When this option is enabled, USA will follow the position of the cursor and ensure that the part of the text where the cursor is blinking is always visible. This option also applies to NVDA’s browse mode.

System Cursor Limitation

This setting determines the boundary of the system cursor within the edges of the screen. With this option, the choices are the same as the Focus Limitation option.

Follow reading cursor

When this option is enabled, USA will ensure that the text where the reading cursor of NVDA is located is visible on the screen. For more information on the reading cursor, please refer to the NVDA manual. For the position of the cursor of NVDA browsing mode, the setting for the system cursor is used.

For text tracking during continuous reading (NVDA+ arrow down or NVDA+A), it can be set in USA that the words read aloud are also tracked. In addition, in the settings it can also be chosen whether a rectangle is to be projected over the spoken word and whether the caret must be moved with it. The colour and thickness of the rectangle can also be adjusted in the settings menu.

Follow mouse pointer

When this option is enabled, USA will follow the position of the mouse and make sure the mouse is always visible. Disabling this option results in the mouse pointer disappearing from view when it falls outside the edge of the enlarged reality on the screen.

Mouse limiting

This setting determines the boundary of the mouse pointer within the edges of the screen. The options for this option are the same as for the Focus Limiter option.

Colour scheme

This option allows you to set different predefined colour schemes. The option “Manage custom colour scheme…” affects the “custom” colour scheme. Here you can create your own colour scheme. In the settings you can also make a sub-selection of all available colour schemes, this way you only switch through colour schemes you really use.

It is also possible to select a colour scheme for a certain application. With NVDA+Control+P the current colour scheme is linked to the current application. Every time this application comes to the foreground, the colour scheme will be switched to this application.

Object Reader Mode

Object Reader Mode is a mode where NVDA and USA can be used more simply. With this mode, the voice is turned off by default and is only used for reading aloud. With USA you can also read out loud if the object is under the mouse. With NVDA+left-mouseclick this can be activated. USA then jumps automatically and a rectangle is drawn around the spoken word, if that is set.

USA license

To use USA, you need a valid license code. Each license key can be used to activate USA up to three times.

If you have a valid licence code, you can enter it by choosing the option “license USA” within the “Ultimate Screen Access” menu. In this window it is sufficient to enter the licence code and to choose OK, after which the licence will be activated. The licence can also be deactivated in the same way, e.g. if it is desirable to remove USA from the computer.

Offline Activation

USA offers an offline activation. With this the user can send their instance ID and license key to support@babbage.com. They will receive a unique activation hash and with that the USA license does not have to be checked online on that machine.

(BETA) Automatic Activation

USA offers an automatic activation. This is for “non-presistent” enviroments where USA activates itself every time it starts. It also attempts to deactive itself automatically.

Hotkeys

Within USA, specific shortcuts have been assigned to adjust the magnification functionality and for the colour schemes.

The settings below can be adjusted via the NVDA menu. Choose “Options” and then “Input actions”. The USA shortcuts can then be found under the category “Ultimate Screen Access”. For more information on how the Input Actions dialog box works, please refer to the NVDA manual.

Shortcut Function
NVDA+alt+0 Turns the magnifier on or off
Control + 0 Turns the magnifier on or off
NVDA+alt+= increase the magnification factor
NVDA+alt+- decrease the magnification factor
control+pageUp increase the magnification factor
control+pageDown decrease the magnification factor
control+ Plus (+) increase the magnification factor
control+ minus (-) decrease the magnification factor
NVDA+alt+arrow left Scroll enlargement area to the left
NVDA+alt+arrow right scroll zoom area to the right
NVDA+alt+arrow up Scroll enlargement area up
NVDA+alt+down arrow Scroll magnification area down
NVDA+alt+backspace switches between the different colour schemes
control+backspace switches between the different colour schemes
NVDA+alt+s Enables or disables soft edges around images and text.
not connected stop speech and disable browsemode if enabled. If the speech and browsemode is off.
not connected Enables or disables word tracking.
NVDA+control+p Set current colour scheme as default for foreground application.
NVDA+control+r Read everything from the mouse

Limitations and known issues

Ultimate Screen Access is continuously under development. It is therefore possible that some desired functionality is not (yet) available in the product. When using USA, please take into account the following known limitations: