Tony Gebhard

NVDA Coach

Version 1.0.0  ·  Free  ·  No account required

NVDA Coach is a free add-on for the NVDA screen reader that teaches you commands through short, guided practice sessions — from inside NVDA itself. No videos, no PDFs, no switching between windows to follow along. Press one key and the Coach begins walking you through what to do and why, one step at a time.

Download NVDA Coach — Free (v1.0.0)

“The hardest part of learning a screen reader isn’t finding the right resource — it’s the gap between reading about a command and actually using one. NVDA Coach closes that gap.”

— Tony Gebhard, Assistive Technology Instructor

What Makes It Different

  • Guided, step-by-step lessons. Each step speaks an instruction, tells you which key to press, and waits for you. F1 repeats the instruction, F2 gives a hint, F3 skips the step.
  • Inline practice text. Reading and navigation lessons embed a practice text area directly inside the Coach window. Arrow down from the instruction into real text — no extra windows needed.
  • Live practice forms. Tab navigation and control lessons open a real accessible form alongside the Coach window — actual buttons, checkboxes, and text fields to practice on.
  • Practice web page. Browse mode lessons open a fully accessible HTML practice page in your browser, complete with headings, links, forms, landmarks, and lists.
  • Progress tracking. Completed lessons are marked in the picker and saved across NVDA restarts so you pick up exactly where you left off.
  • Instructor-extensible. All lessons are plain JSON files. Add a new file to the lessons folder to create custom lesson sets for your students or organization.

24 Lessons Across Three Chapters

Chapter 1: Getting Started with NVDA — 10 lessons

The essential commands every beginner needs: the NVDA modifier key, reading the title bar and time, silencing speech with Control, identifying your current focus, Tab navigation through forms, activating buttons and checkboxes, reading the current line, Input Help mode, and opening the user guide. No prior screen reader experience required. Several lessons include a live accessible practice form alongside the Coach window.

Chapter 2: Reading and Moving Through Text — 6 lessons

Character-by-character navigation, word-by-word navigation, line-by-line navigation, jumping to document start and end, Say All (continuous reading), and text selection with Shift plus arrow keys. Every lesson includes an inline practice text area built directly into the Coach window — no switching to Notepad or another application.

Chapter 3: Browse Mode and Web Navigation — 8 lessons

What browse mode is and how it works, heading navigation, heading level shortcuts, link navigation, form field navigation, toggling between browse mode and focus mode, landmark and list navigation, and the Elements List dialog. A fully accessible practice web page opens automatically in your browser when you start this chapter.

How to Get Started

  1. Make sure NVDA is installed. NVDA is free at nvaccess.org. Any version from 2024.1 onward works.
  2. Download NVDA Coach. Click the download button on this page to get nvdaCoach-1.0.0.nvda-addon.
  3. Open the file. Double-click or press Enter on the downloaded file. NVDA handles the installation automatically and asks you to confirm.
  4. Press NVDA+Shift+C. That is the only shortcut you need to know. The Coach window opens, the lesson picker appears, and you are ready to begin.
  5. Work at your own pace. Each lesson takes 2–5 minutes. Press Ctrl+N after finishing a lesson to move to the next one, or press NVDA+Shift+C at any time to jump to a different chapter.

For AT Instructors and TVIs

NVDA Coach was designed for classroom and one-on-one instruction. Assign a chapter as pre-session homework, use it as a structured warm-up, or give it to students for independent practice between appointments. The lesson picker shows completed lessons at a glance so you and the student can track progress together.

Need custom lessons for your program, organization, or specific student population? All lessons are plain, human-readable JSON files and are designed to be extended. Get in touch to discuss custom lesson development or training consultations.

Download NVDA Coach — Free (v1.0.0)

No account. No internet connection after install. Just open the file and press NVDA+Shift+C to begin.
Questions or feedback: info@tonygebhard.me