Software by the blind, for the blind

An image of NV Access founders Michael Curran (left) and Jamie Teh.

NV Access founders Michael Curran (left) and Jamie Teh. Images: Anjanette Webb

NV Access founders Michael Curran (left) and Jamie Teh. Images: Anjanette Webb

How two friends banded together to launch a free screen reader and open up technology to the vision-impaired community.


When Michael Curran and Jamie Teh started developing software that enables blind people to use a computer, they wanted to make it free to ensure it was accessible to anyone who needed it.

As blind people themselves, they were all too familiar with the exorbitantly high costs around existing commercial screen-reading products on the market, making them out of reach for so many people.

Curran and Teh believed they could create a high-quality product incorporating their own personal experiences as blind computer users, hoping at the same time that other blind people around the world might also contribute.

A free product by the blind, for the blind, was their dream.

Watch a video about NV Access.

The charity they set up in 2007 to enable the development of the software, NV Access, now allows more than 100,000 blind people around the world – in 150 countries – access to a computer through a screen reader, which can put into words what is on the computer screen.

Access to technology is critical for blind people, and this screen reader enables them access to education, employment and independence on a global scale.

While Non-visual Desktop Access (NVDA) has partnerships with Big Tech companies such as Mozilla, Microsoft and Google, it has developed internationally into a sort of blind people’s technology club, with the screen reader being translated from English into more than 55 different languages by volunteers in each country who undertake the translation.

And this level of involvement among the blind community internationally makes NVDA unique in its field, as access to its screen reader is free, while other screen readers can cost up to $3000.

Curran had limited vision for the first 15 years of his life but is now blind, while Teh has been blind since birth.

The two – now well into their 30s – met as teenagers at a music camp for blind children at Mittagong in NSW. Teh plays the piano and Michael sings, and they found common ground with a love of music, computers and, of course, blindness.

“We always just got on really well. As we got older we kept in contact, even though I was in Victoria and Jamie was in Brisbane. When we’d catch up we’d sometimes sit up until 3am philosophising about the state of the world," Curran said.


“We’d say things like ‘gee, wouldn’t it be good if we could develop free software instead of having to pay thousands for it’.”
Michael Curran

Fast forward a decade or so from the initial meeting at music camp, and Teh was working with a network security company in Brisbane while Curran was finishing off study in Melbourne.

But the late-night dreams and aspirations they had shared kept coming back to Curran, so he deferred his course at Monash University and started working on accessible NVDA software. He recalls some scepticism about the project within the blind community, even a little initial scepticism from Teh.

But it all changed when Curran received a message from, of all places, Slovakia.

“I was always making people aware of what I was doing, and pretty soon after we started, we were contacted by a person in Slovakia, saying ‘I want to translate your screen reader into Slovakian’,” Curran said.

“He said that while it was pretty rudimentary and not much at the moment, it was still better than what they had.

“So that was a bit of a shock, that someone actually cared about the project already and it was only six months old.”

Teh had, by this stage, suppressed his scepticism about the project and was working with his old friend when there was more interest from other countries, such as Portugal.

“I don’t think we’d grasped the other aspects of this – of enabling people who not only didn’t want to use an out-of-date screen-reading product, but also literally had no other access to the language they spoke," Teh said.

“So, I think that was the moment it became a bit more serious.”

An image of Michael Curran.
An image of Jamie Teh.

Curran had limited vision for the first 15 years of his life but is now blind, while Teh has been blind since birth.

The two – now well into their 30s – met as teenagers at a music camp for blind children at Mittagong in NSW. Teh plays the piano and Michael sings, and they found common ground with a love of music, computers and, of course, blindness.

“We always just got on really well. As we got older we kept in contact, even though I was in Victoria and Jamie was in Brisbane. When we’d catch up we’d sometimes sit up until 3am philosophising about the state of the world," Curran said.


“We’d say things like ‘gee, wouldn’t it be good if we could develop free software instead of having to pay thousands for it’.”
Michael Curran

Fast forward a decade or so from the initial meeting at music camp, and Teh was working with a network security company in Brisbane while Curran was finishing off study in Melbourne.

But the late-night dreams and aspirations they had shared kept coming back to Curran, so he deferred his course at Monash University and started working on accessible NVDA software. He recalls some scepticism about the project within the blind community, even a little initial scepticism from Teh.

But it all changed when Curran received a message from, of all places, Slovakia.

“I was always making people aware of what I was doing, and pretty soon after we started, we were contacted by a person in Slovakia, saying ‘I want to translate your screen reader into Slovakian’,” Curran said.

“He said that while it was pretty rudimentary and not much at the moment, it was still better than what they had.

“So that was a bit of a shock, that someone actually cared about the project already and it was only six months old.”

Teh had, by this stage, suppressed his scepticism about the project and was working with his old friend when there was more interest from other countries, such as Portugal.

“I don’t think we’d grasped the other aspects of this – of enabling people who not only didn’t want to use an out-of-date screen-reading product, but also literally had no other access to the language they spoke," Teh said.

“So, I think that was the moment it became a bit more serious.”

An image of Michael Curran.
An image of Jamie Teh.

The project went up to the next level again when Curran was invited to a disability conference in the US, where he was able to present the technology to some of the world’s leading IT companies.

“I hadn’t met any of those types of people before and just to be engrossed in that kind of environment was really cool. Then suddenly I was having meetings with companies like Adobe," Curran said.

“I remember sitting at breakfast one day and they said, ‘Oh, Google wants to talk with you’. IBM was very interested at the time, and Yahoo was just coming in.

“We thought, hang on a second, we’re going to drown.”

The big-time corporate interest was great, but for Curran and Teh, an important facet was keeping control of the project within the blind community. So, they set up NV Access as a registered charity in 2007.

Teh said it was important that the community be involved.

An image of Michael Curran and Jamie Teh using the NVDA screen reader software.

Michael Curran and Jamie Teh using the NVDA screen reader software.

Michael Curran and Jamie Teh using the NVDA screen reader software.

“It’s popular because the community also contributes – often their own features and changes. We’ve seen this happen a number of times, and when someone has an idea they drive it through and it becomes part of NVDA,” he said.

“But we should be able to take this matter into our own hands. Why are we relying on companies run by people who are not blind, who are producing stuff for the blind and charging for it?

“If we have a problem we should be able to take that into our own hands and fix it. That’s the best way to get what we want – do it ourselves.”

Teh, who had undertaken some psychology science subjects at UQ in 2003, had now become an enthusiastic partner in the charity. They were helped a great deal by sponsorship from Mozilla, which enabled Teh to be employed full-time, while other IT companies chipped in to employ Curran.

The 13 years or so since then have seen the charity grow around the world, to the extent that a few years ago they realised they needed more help with the management, operations and strategy.

This led them to UQ graduate James Boreham (Bachelor of Commerce '90), who came onto the team as General Manager after deciding life in the finance sector wasn’t quite enough for him.

“I graduated in 1990 and the recession that 'Australia had to have' was in 1991, so it was quite challenging. But I got accepted into a management trainee scheme with a bank and that was probably the best fit for me personally at the time,” Boreham (pictured) said.

“But I didn’t want to become a career banker. All of the time I was working in finance I was still involved with the disability sector through my volunteer work and my sister. She’s 18 months older than me and has Down syndrome, so I’ve always been heavily involved with her life and that got me involved in advocacy work with the Endeavour Foundation.

“I was part of a team that helped resolve some issues in government funding and grants in the disability space, and I found that much more rewarding and satisfying than what I was doing at work.”

Boreham said he had “a bit of a lightbulb moment” when he realised that there was a demand for people such as him in the not-for-profit sector. So, after discussing the matter with some non-profit community leaders and with his wife, he moved into a management role in a social enterprise organisation.

He stayed there for six years and then moved into a role with an organisation which had a child protection focus, before he became general manager at NV Access.

“I think that for me, the fact that it has global impact is certainly a way forward. Also, it aligns with the disability space I am so passionate about. It’s where my heart lies, my family experience and background.”

An image of James Boreham.

The 13 years or so since then have seen the charity grow around the world, to the extent that a few years ago they realised they needed more help with the management, operations and strategy.

This led them to UQ graduate James Boreham (Bachelor of Commerce '90), who came onto the team as General Manager after deciding life in the finance sector wasn’t quite enough for him.

“I graduated in 1990 and the recession that 'Australia had to have' was in 1991, so it was quite challenging. But I got accepted into a management trainee scheme with a bank and that was probably the best fit for me personally at the time,” Boreham (pictured) said.

“But I didn’t want to become a career banker. All of the time I was working in finance I was still involved with the disability sector through my volunteer work and my sister. She’s 18 months older than me and has Down syndrome, so I’ve always been heavily involved with her life and that got me involved in advocacy work with the Endeavour Foundation.

“I was part of a team that helped resolve some issues in government funding and grants in the disability space, and I found that much more rewarding and satisfying than what I was doing at work.”

Boreham said he had “a bit of a lightbulb moment” when he realised that there was a demand for people such as him in the not-for-profit sector. So, after discussing the matter with some non-profit community leaders and with his wife, he moved into a management role in a social enterprise organisation.

He stayed there for six years and then moved into a role with an organisation which had a child protection focus, before he became general manager at NV Access.

“I think that for me, the fact that it has global impact is certainly a way forward. Also, it aligns with the disability space I am so passionate about. It’s where my heart lies, my family experience and background.”

An image of James Boreham.

For Curran and Teh, both married men who live in Brisbane’s north-west outskirts, just keeping NV Access at the forefront means that there is always plenty to do.

“There are new systems and applications coming out all the time, and we need to always improve and update NVDA to make sure that it remains compatible with today's rapidly changing technology,” Curran said.


“We've always been driven by the idea that everyone, no matter their ability, has a right and responsibility to contribute to society. But some people may require a few extra tools to do it.”
Michael Curran

“We are so proud to know that NVDA has opened up the opportunity of education, employment and social engagement to so many blind people across the globe over the last 15 years. We truly hope that with the ongoing support of both the blind and wider community, whether it be through code contributions, user feedback or financial support, we can continue our important work of keeping it up to date and free for all.

“One of our taglines is ‘By users, for users’. And that seems to be very popular.”

A group image of Michael Curran, James Boreham and Jamie Teh from NV Access.

How to get involved


Everyone should have equal access to the latest technology.

The ability to move with the times and be on a level playing field with the sighted community is crucial to the success and competitive advantage, which blind and vision-impaired people deserve.