Rough Guide: browsers, operating systems and screen reader support – Updated

Practical screen reader support by browser and OS

When testing aspects of support for new HTML5, WAI-ARIA features and HTML features in general, I often test browsers that do not have practical support for screen readers on a particular operating system. I find they have support for feature X, but lack support for feature Y that is required to enable practical support to web content for screen reader users. While it is useful to test and find successful implementations of discrete features, it needs to be viewed in the broader context of which browsers can be considered usable with popular OS level screen readers.

I found it difficult to get a complete understanding from the resources available on the web, but have put together a high level support table based on information I could glean.

If you have any further information or find any inaccuracies please comment.

Practical support

Practical support for screen readers means that a browser can be successfully used to browse and interact with commonly encountered web content, using current versions of OS level screen readers such as, on Windows; JAWS, NVDA, Window Eyes. On Mac OSX and iOS; VoiceOver. On Linux; Orca and on Chrome OS; ChromeVox.

Table legend

• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view. “supported” means that the browser is usable in practice with a screen reader on the operating system (OS).
  Note: in the case of Internet Explorer it lacks support for some important features, but due to its market share screen readers hack around its lack of support.
• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view. “partial support” lacks support for some important features. For example, Chrome on Windows supports browsing using JAWS, but does not fully support accessible name calculation.
• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view. “not applicable” means the browser does not run on the OS
• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view. “not supported” means the browser does not have practical support for screen readers on the OS.
• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view. “not known” means that accessibility support information is not publicly available.
• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view.browsers recently added to OS’s, Early data indicates usable accessibility support.
• Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
  Clik here to view. not known, but likely is unsupported.

Note: The table refers to the current (12/10/2014) versions of browsers and current versions of operating systems.

Practical screen reader support by browser and OS (12/10/2014)

	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Windows	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. note	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
OSX	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Linux	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
IOS	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Android	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. (built-in Android browser webkit  based)
Chrome OS	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Firefox OS	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.	Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.

References:

• Accessibility in Firefox OS: An update
• FireFox for Android – Accessibility Support
• Comparison of Web Browsers
• Comparison of screen readers
• Mobile Operating Systems
• The Current State of Cell Phone Accessibility
• Cell Phone Accessibility: An Evaluation of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Using the Nexus 7