I was browsing Facebook and saw an announcement about a new addon for the NVDA screen reader which promises some additional functionality when using Zoom. I offer the following caveats.


1. I don't know if this particular addon has been vetted by the NVDA community. This doesn't in any way mean that the addon is harmful.

2. While I do use the NVDA screen reader I have not yet tested this addon and so I cannot offer any support or feedback as to its usefulness.

3. Because of this I am not endorsing this addon and so I am not responsible if it does have any negative side effects on your machine or when using Zoom.

Here is an extract from the Github page where this addon is located, along with a URL to obtain it.


Zoom Accessibility enhancements add-on for NVDA
By: Mohamad Suliman and Eilana Benish

This add-on will improve the experience of using Zoom for NVDA users by providing keyboard shortcuts to Handle alerts for Different events While In a meeting, make the process of remote control much more accessible and smoother, and more...

keyboard shortcuts for controlling alerts In meetings
NVDA + Shift + A: cycles between different modes of reporting alerts. The following modes are available:
Report all alerts mode, where all alerts are reported as usual
Beep for alerts, where NVDA will play a short beep for every alert displayed in Zoom
Silence all alerts, where NVDA will ignore all alerts
Custom mode, Where the user can customize which alerts they want to have and which not. This can be done using the settings dialog of the add-on, or by using the dedicated keyboard shortcuts for that
The following shortcuts can be used to toggle on / off the announcements of each type of alert (note that this will be effective when custom mode is selected):

NVDA + Ctrl + 1: Participant Has Joined/Left Meeting (Host Only)
NVDA + Ctrl + 2: Participant Has Joined/Left Waiting Room (Host Only)
NVDA + Ctrl + 3: Audio Muted by Host
NVDA + Ctrl + 4: Video Stopped by Host
NVDA + Ctrl + 5: Screen Sharing Started/Stopped by a Participant
NVDA + Ctrl + 6: Recording Permission Granted/Revoked
NVDA + Ctrl + 7: Public In-meeting Chat Received
NVDA + Ctrl + 8: Private In-meeting Chat Received
NVDA + Ctrl + 9: In-meeting File Upload Completed
NVDA + Ctrl + 0: Host Privilege Granted/Revoked
NVDA + Shift + Ctrl + 1: Participant Has Raised/Lowered Hand (Host Only)
NVDA + Shift + Ctrl + 2: Remote Control Permission Granted/Revoked
NVDA + Shift + Ctrl + 3: IM chat message received
Note that you need to leave reporting all alert types selected (in Zoom accessibility settings) to have the add-on function as expected.

Keyboard shortcut for Opening add on Dialogue
NVDA + Z Opens the add-on dialog !

Using this dialog you can :

See which alerts are announced and which aren't
Select the types of the alerts you want to be announced
Choose alerts reporting mode
Save custom changes
Remote control
after a remote control permission is granted, NVDA + O will move the focus in /Out of the remote controlled screen

Note that the focus should be on one of the meeting controls to be able to remote control the other screen

About
An add-on for NVDA screen reader to enhance the experience while using Zoom
https://github.com/mohammad-suliman/zoom-enhancements

--
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
JAWS Certified, 2019

WWW.DavidGoldfield.org