Afrim, to be honest trying to say one screen reader is better than another isn't the point, nor personal preference the be all to end all when it comes to screen reader choice. I think the important thing, which has been overlooked in the prior posts, is weather or not a certain screen reader will meet the end users personal needs.
For example, let's just say for argument's sake that Jaws is the absolutely best screen reader ever developed. I don't happen to agree with that point of view, but let's assume it is true for argument's sake. What good would it do me if I can't afford it. I am frankly speaking flat broke right now, can't afford a $1,000 screen reader, so no matter how good Jaws might be it doesn't meet my needs. What I need right now is an affordable, low cost, screen reader that costs less.
As it happens there is such a screen reader called NVDA. it is basically free unless I wish to donate. It allows me to have decent access to things like Firefox for internet, to Thunderbird for e-mail, I can use all the stock Windows apps like Notepad, as well as a few specialty apps like Goldwave for sound editing, and Visual Studio 2010 for programming. In short, it does everything I need it to do for far less than Jaws so it meets my personal needs. From a practicality point of view I don't see how paying $1,000 for Jaws would really improve my over all end user experience.
First of all, Eloquence has never been my favorite synthesizer. So while Jaws would supply Eloquence as part of the screen reader I would not consider that to be any great advantage. I'm personally okay with Espeak since I use it both on Windows and Linux, and I have a license for the Vocalizer voices for NVDA so I can do without Eloquence.
Second, the Vocalizer voices. No matter what I do I'd have to pay for them. Its just with jaws the cost for the Vocalizer voices are bundled up in the $1,000 you pay for the screen reader with NVDA the $99 license is separate. Either way, if I want those voices I have to pay for them, and I already have a license for Vocalizer for NVDA. So Once again Jaws offers me no real advantages as far as voices goes.
Third, Jaws and NVDA both offer scripting. Jaws has its own proprietary scripting language where NVDA uses Python. So regardless of which screen reader I choose I still have the option to write scripts, modules, and to extend the functionality of the screen reader to have better support for applications as need be.
Fourth, one of Jaws's big features is the Research It ability. While I can see someone out there possibly getting use out of it that someone isn't me. I have no need for such a feature so if I paid for Jaws 16 I'd essentially be paying for extra features I simply do not need.
I could probably go on siting features I wouldn't need or wouldn't use, but the point here is NVDA meets my needs. It doesn't matter if the screen reader is better or worse than Jaws in some real or tangible way. The only thing that matters if it meets my needs which it does. So the next time we get into a debate like this do try to remember that better or worse is largely subjective and often is based on the person's wants and needs rather than how much money was spent developing said product.
Sincerely,
Thomas Ward
USA Games Interactive
http://www.usagamesinteractive.com