At the annual Sight Village vision impairment conference in Birmingham, United Kingdom, a new screen reader was launched. The conference, dedicated to addressing blindness issues, released screen reader software, Thunder.

This tool helps site owners detect and promptly fix any problems that might be experienced by low vision and blind website visitors. At the same time, screen readers help give more of the population the means to having true access to technology. Thunder uses audio output to convey the text on the web page to the user. It can be downloaded from the ScreenReader website. For a modest fee, SAMSA can set it up for you and address any other accessibility needs your organization’s website may have.

ScreenReader is a non-profit, Community Interest Company from Choice Technology that partnered with United Kingdom international assistive technology company Sensory Software to develop this new innovative accessibility software. Thunder is free to individuals but businesses using this software have to pay for a yearly subscription based on their size. If you prefer, SAMSA can maintain your account for you.

Requirements to run this software effectively include a Windows 2000, XP, or Vista operating system along with working speakers or headphones. This software is easy for vision impaired users who are new or veterans of navigating the web. It also has a very low chance of conflicting with other software running on the family or company computer, making it great screen reading software to use on computers with multiple users unlike competitor software.

So while individuals are able to use screen readers to surf the web, web site owner’s can use the software to make sure that their website is accessible and functioning right for potential customers that rely on a screen reader to navigate and conduct business with you.