Understanding Screen Readers' Pronunciation of Punctuation

Body

Environment

Screen readers across various devices and settings.

Issue

How do different screen readers pronounce punctuation and what the best practices are for writing content that is accessible?

Resolution

  • Understand that pronunciation of punctuation can vary significantly between different screen readers and depends on user settings.
  • Consult the documentation of popular screen readers like JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver for specific details on how they handle punctuation.
  • Keep your writing clear and concise, using punctuation only when necessary to avoid confusion, and be consistent.
  • Use simpler sentence structures to aid in the readability and understandability of your content.

Additional Information

For more information, see this article on pronunciation across popular screen readers when set to default settings, How screen readers read special characters: an update.

Need additional information or assistance? Contact the ITS Service Center.

Details

Details

Article ID: 13450
Created
Thu 2/13/25 9:32 AM
Modified
Thu 2/13/25 1:30 PM