Editing Screen reader (section)

== Customization ==

Most screen readers allow the user to select whether most [[punctuation]] is announced or silently ignored. Some screen readers can be tailored to a particular application through [[script (computing)|'''scripting''']]. One advantage of scripting is that it allows customizations to be shared among users, increasing accessibility for all. <abbr>[[Job Access With Speech|JAWS]]</abbr> enjoys an active script-sharing community, for example.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

=== Verbosity ===

Verbosity is a feature of screen reading software that supports vision-impaired computer users. Speech verbosity controls enable users to choose how much speech feedback they wish to hear. Specifically, verbosity settings allow users to construct a mental model of web pages displayed on their computer screen. Based on verbosity settings, a screen-reading program informs users of certain formatting changes, such as when a frame or table begins and ends, where graphics have been inserted into the text, or when a list appears in the document. The verbosity settings can also control the level of descriptiveness of elements, such as lists, tables, and regions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zong |first1=Jonathan |last2=Lee |first2=Crystal |last3=Lundgard |first3=Alan |last4=Jang |first4=JiWoong |last5=Hajas |first5=Daniel |last6=Satyanarayan |first6=Arvind |date=2022 |title=Rich Screen Reader Experiences for Accessible Data Visualization |journal=Computer Graphics Forum |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=15–27 |doi=10.1111/cgf.14519 |arxiv=2205.04917 |s2cid=248665696 |issn=0167-7055}}</ref> For example, [[JAWS (screen reader)|JAWS]] provides low, medium, and high web verbosity preset levels. The high web verbosity level provides more detail about the contents of a webpage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=JAWS Web Verbosity |url=https://www.freedomscientific.com/SurfsUp/Web_Verbosity.htm |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=www.freedomscientific.com}}</ref>

=== Language ===

Some screen readers can read text in more than one [[language]], provided that the language of the material is encoded in its [[Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard|metadata]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developer.yahoo.com/blogs/ydn/yahoo-search-results-now-natural-language-support-7318.html|title=Yahoo! search results now with natural language support|date=March 13, 2008|author=Chris Heilmann|work=[[Yahoo! Developer Network]] Blog|access-date=February 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125024422/http://developer.yahoo.net/blog/archives/2008/03/yahoo_search_re.html|archive-date=January 25, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Screen reading programs like [[JAWS (screen reader)|JAWS]], [[NonVisual Desktop Access|NVDA]], and [[VoiceOver]] also include language verbosity, which automatically detects verbosity settings related to speech output language. For example, if a user navigated to a website based in the United Kingdom, the text would be read with [[British English|an English accent]].{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}