I would rather not talk about which option is "best".

Screen readers are tools, and different tools have their strengths and weaknesses. Personally, I choose to use NVDA as my primary screen reader, and I think it is a great tool. I also have JAWS on my computer, for accessibility testing, and I am glad to have it as a backup option. I really think the most important thing is to have options and choices; honestly, I wish we had more viable options for the tools we depend on. As blind people we become incredibly attached to our preferred screen readers, and I suppose that is understandable; I myself am very philosophically aligned with the open source, blind created, aspects of NVDA. With that said, NVDA is just a tool for me, and I will stop using it as soon as it stops getting the job done.

Screen readers should not be sport teams that we root for, they should be like pens, pencils, paper clips, etc. Their only value is in getting the job done, and if they get the job done for you, that’s all that matters.

NVDA. I'm not willing to give any company $1200 for any type of software, screen reader or otherwise. Yes, I'm sure I could get government funding to purchase it for me. But I take pride in my independence; I'm not willing to ask the tax payers to support me more than is absolutely necessary. And NVDA was written by blind programmers, for blind users. That means it's well tested, and works extremely well. I'd rather use NVDA and make a monthly donation to support an organization of blind folks in there goal to improve the world for us all, than save up to hand over thousands of dollars to the JAWS sighted corporate owners.

I kind of low key hate both, I prefer voiceover.

I just feel like Jaws and NVDA are written for people who've never seen, so as someone who could see and used the internet lots, it feels unintuitive navigating as they do.

It's complicated. Some programs work very well with one and not the other. I need both anyway for my job as an accessibility tester. I can definitely understand the desire to use free/lower cost solutions where ever possible.

I will tell you my preference but it is not gospel. Hence, I would not want you to consider it as such. I encourage others to make their own decisions. Screen readers are super personal. I am primarily a voiceover user. I have a few macks and a few ios devices. I just bought myself a few new keyboards to be able to wordprocess and type sufficiently on my phone as well.

I would say however, as far as either JAWS or NVDA, I would rather go with Jaws. It’s quite a bit more expensive but it’s very well polished. I have not have much experience with a Newer NVDA however. The last version I had tried was probbaly a few years ago. I am sure there has been some good improvements but I rarely use windows except for at school mostly on exams just to read through a word document. I rarely use windows otherwise except for on the occasion. At school they have jaws = not given NVDA much of a chance.

NVDA due to its open source nature has a slight edge over jaws. I don't see it being dismissed over JAWs . NVDA supports a great variety of add ons. Keeping the price aside, NVDA is on par with JAWS, if not better.

TalkBack FTW

Hi. I have found JAWS and NVDA to be bothe excellent options. JAWS is EXPENSIVE, but is more polished in certain areas. NVDA works similar to JAWS, but it is slightly less polished, but it is available to anyone free of charge. As others have said, what matters is what works for you.