Accessible Authoring Tools
Programmers’ text editors remain the best tool for authoring text-heavy web content, since most specialized web design tools are fundamentally misconceived and generate terrible markup. If you’re familiar only with such broken tools, see my guide for beginners for links to tutorials and documentation about how to get started with web design.
Text editors usable with screen readers
Linux
On the console, Emacspeak and Edbrowse are good choices, while Nano is a simple solution. On a X desktop, GEdit is accessible with GNOME screen readers like Orca.
Windows
On Windows, there are various options including:
- Scite (free and open source)
- Aptana (free and open source): requires Java.
- Jamal Mazrui’s EdSharp (free and open source): designed with screen readers in mind.
- Crimson Editor (free and open source)
- PSPad (freeware)
- HTML Kit (freeware)
- ConTEXT (freeware)
- Jamal Mazrui’s Textpal (freeware): designed specifically for use with screen readers, but can’t save in a choice of encodings.
- EditPadPro (trialware)
- EditPlus (shareware)
- NoteTab (three versions: free lite, commercial standard, and trialware professional)
- UltraEdit (shareware)
- TextPad (trialware)
- Arachnophilia 4.0, last accessible version, now unsupported (freeware).
- Notepad (comes bundled with Windows): simplistic text editor, can’t save UTF-8 without a Byte Order Mark.
Mac OS X
Contact me
If you have queries, complaints, or praise, please contact me at:
bhawkeslewis@googlemail.com