How to test your website with a screen reader

Automated tools can tell you an image has alt text. Only a screen reader tells you whether that alt text makes sense, whether your checkout announces errors, and whether a pop-up silently swallows the user. This routine takes about 30 minutes once you’ve learned the keys.

Set up

Windows: NVDA. Download NVDA free from nvaccess.org and install it. Use it with Firefox or Chrome. The NVDA key is Insert (or Caps Lock if you choose the laptop layout). Press Ctrl to stop speech at any time.

Mac: VoiceOver. Press Cmd+F5 to turn it on and off. Use Safari. The VoiceOver key (“VO”) is Ctrl+Option. Open the Rotor with VO+U.

iPhone: VoiceOver. Settings → Accessibility → VoiceOver. Swipe right to move to the next item, double-tap to activate, and rotate two fingers to use the rotor. Set up the Accessibility Shortcut (triple-click the side button) before you start, so you can turn it off easily.

The essential keys (NVDA, browse mode)

The 30-minute routine

1. Listen to the page load (2 minutes)

Is the page title announced and meaningful? Does anything start talking or playing on its own?

2. Navigate by headings (5 minutes)

Press H repeatedly, or open the headings list. Do the headings outline the page like a table of contents? Is there one H1? Are any visually obvious headings missing (styled text that isn’t a real heading)?

3. Navigate by landmarks and the skip link (3 minutes)

Press D. You should hear banner, navigation, main and content info. Reload and press Tab once — is there a skip link?

4. Pull up the links list (5 minutes)

Do link names make sense on their own? Listen for “link, link, link”, “click here”, “read more” repeated twenty times, or long URLs being read aloud.

5. Check images (5 minutes)

Arrow through the content. Does every meaningful image get a useful description? Do decorative images stay silent? Do icon buttons say what they do?

6. Complete your most important task (10 minutes)

This is the real test. Sign up, search, add to cart, check out, or submit the contact form — using only the screen reader and keyboard. Listen for:

• Fields announced with their label, type and whether they’re required.
• Errors announced when you submit, and a way to find each one.
• Changes announced: “Item added to cart,” “3 results.”
• Pop-ups and menus: does focus move into them, and back out when they close?
• Custom controls (date pickers, sliders, dropdowns) announcing their name, role and value.

Common failures you’ll hear

• “Button” with no name — an icon-only button missing an accessible label.
• “Graphic, IMG_4521.jpg” — an image with no alt text.
• “Clickable, clickable” — divs and spans used instead of buttons and links.
• Silence after submitting a form — errors shown visually but not announced.
• The page keeps reading behind a modal — focus wasn’t moved into the dialog.

Then what?

Write down every place you got stuck. Those are your highest-priority fixes. For a systematic review against all of WCAG 2.2 AA across multiple screen readers, book an accessibility audit.