Orca Screen Reader

Orca Screen Reader

Orca is a free, open source, flexible, and extensible screen reader from the GNOME project for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. It provides access to the graphical desktop via user-customizable combinations of speech and/or braille.
Accessibility Screen Readers
Orca Screen Reader image
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Orca Screen Reader alternatives ➤

Orca Screen Reader

Free, open source screen reader for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, providing customizable speech and Braille access to the graphical desktop.

What is Orca Screen Reader?

Orca is a free, open source screen reader from the GNOME project that provides access to the graphical desktop via customizable speech and braille. It is designed for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

Some key features of Orca include:

  • Supports various speech synthesizers such as eSpeak, Festival, and more
  • Can display screen contents in contracted and uncontracted braille
  • Advanced focus tracking and screen review for efficient navigation
  • Scriptable for automation and customization
  • Supports popular applications like Firefox, LibreOffice, and more
  • Available for multiple Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.

Orca is highly flexible and extensible. Users can customize speech parameters, braille settings, and keyboard shortcuts. It also has a powerful scripting interface for creating macros and custom scripts. The open source nature of Orca allows developers to enhance and extend it.

Overall, Orca aims to provide a pleasant screen reading experience with robust customizability for blind and visually impaired Linux users to access the desktop and applications.

Orca Screen Reader Features

Features

  1. Text-to-speech output
  2. Braille output
  3. Magnification
  4. Full keyboard access
  5. Screen reader
  6. Customizable and scriptable

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Works on Linux operating systems

Supports over 40 languages

Highly customizable

Strong community support

Cons

Steep learning curve

Limited support for proprietary applications

No support for Windows or MacOS

Accessibility issues with some desktop environments

Official Links

Official Website
https://library.gnome.org/users/orca/stable/

The Best Orca Screen Reader Alternatives

Top Accessibility and Screen Readers and other similar apps like Orca Screen Reader

Here are some alternatives to Orca Screen Reader:

NVDA icon
NVDA
Microsoft Narrator icon
Microsoft Narrator
Window-Eyes icon
Window-Eyes
Supernova screen reader icon
Supernova screen reader
System Access Standalone icon
System Access Standalone
Suggest an alternative ❐

NVDA icon

NVDA

NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a free, open source screen reader for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It allows blind and visually impaired users to access and interact with the Windows operating system and many third party applications through speech and Braille.Some key features of NVDA include:Supports over 80 languagesVoice...
NVDA image
Microsoft Narrator icon

Microsoft Narrator

Microsoft Narrator is a free screen reading utility included in Windows that reads aloud text on screen and describes events like error messages. It allows visually impaired users to access the text, controls, and navigation elements on their screen via text-to-speech.Narrator has various keyboard commands that enable users to navigate...
Microsoft Narrator image
Window-Eyes icon

Window-Eyes

Window-Eyes is a popular screen reader software developed by GW Micro for blind and visually impaired users to access Windows computers. It comes with advanced speech and Braille output allowing users to control their PC and access software applications and the Web.Key features include:Reads text from documents, web pages, menus,...
Supernova screen reader icon

Supernova screen reader

The Supernova screen reader is a free, open source screen reading software designed for blind and vision impaired computer users. It allows them to navigate computers, access content, and interact with applications using text-to-speech, Braille displays, and keyboard shortcuts.Supernova reads aloud text content on the computer screen and converts that...
Supernova screen reader image
System Access Standalone icon

System Access Standalone

System Access Standalone is a remote desktop software used to access computers remotely without the need for a dedicated server. It enables peer-to-peer remote control connections, allowing a user to access one computer from another computer over the internet or local network.Some key features of System Access Standalone include:Easy remote...
System Access Standalone image