Free Accessibility Software
The Accessibility Unit of the International Hellenic University (IHU) provides free accessibility software for individuals with disabilities and/or special educational needs. These tools are designed to enhance both the educational and everyday experience of users by offering functionalities, such as Text-to-speech conversion, Reading of digital books, Speech recognition, and more.
The following software applications offer essential accessibility features and are internationally recognized for their effectiveness. The choice of the right tool depends on the user’s individual needs and preferences.
| Application | Description | Operating System | |
| Any Text to Voice | A Text-to-Speech application that allows you to export text to audio files (mp3, wav, etc.). The Greek voice “Stefanos” by Microsoft is available. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| AMIS | A DAISY eBook player providing audio access to content in DAISY 2.02 and DAISY 3 format. It supports any language depending on the language of the SAPI 5 speech composer. It doesn’t have a built-in speech composer. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| Dolphin Easy Reader | An accessible eBook reader combining text, speech, and image. It is ideal to be used in schools and libraries, to empower readers to access a wider world of reading. Direct access to 15 global accessible libraries. It supports 19 languages. The app is not free, but it provides a 30-day trial/demo. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| DSpeech | DSpeech is an app with speech recognition capability. It can also work with a Text-to-Speech app to get texts spoken. It manages TXT, DOC, and PDF files. It supports SAPI 4 and SAPI 5. It saves text files to audio files in WAV or MP3 format. It also saves the PDF files in TXT. It supports Greek if the Greek voice is installed. It can dictate texts from the clipboard. It can also run-in command mode (without a graphical interface with command execution). It supports multiple languages such as: English, Italian, Spanish, French, German. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| JDVoiceMail |
| Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| NVDA Portable | NVDA detects all text formats (visible or hidden) in the graphical user interface (icons, buttons, option lists, dialog boxes, lists, message boxes) of a computer and sends them to the Text-to-Speech system, so that the user can perceive the graphical environment audibly, be able to navigate it with acoustic assistance and listen to the text. It is available with the built-in eSpeak speech composer, which includes many languages, one of which is Greek. It supports SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 and espeak. The main applications it supports are: Outlook Express, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Word, Excel, Calculator. It can be operated from the USB port without installation | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| Perky Duck | A free Braille typing tool that simulates a Braille keyboard layout and allows printing of output. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| RoboBraille | A web-based service that converts uploaded files (e.g., DOCX, PDF, JPG) to audio (MP3), eBooks, or Braille. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| eSpeak | A simple Text-to-Speech tool that supports audio output (mp3, wav). | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| VoiceNote II | A Speech-to-Text tool allowing dictation via voice input. Requires a connected microphone. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| WebbIE | It is a Web Browser for people with blindness or low vision and especially for users with a Screen Reader. It has been used since 2001 all over the world. It is offered with a group of programs, Accessible, which facilitate access to news and audio on the Internet, in a simple and accessible way, allowing the use of podcasts, listening to radio and reading RSS through the Screen Reader or other access solution. WebbIE together with Accessible allows you to access Websites and online material and it’s all free! It is noted that it needs a Screen Reader and a Text-to-Speech Conversion System already installed, i.e. it does not have its own such systems built-in, but it works with those that the user already has. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| WordTalk | WordTalk is a text-to-speech application that is installed on Microsoft Word (for word 97–word 2010 versions). It has a spoken dictionary for better word selection. Its disadvantage is that it only supports SAPI 5 and uses the selected voice of the operating system. Additional voices will need to be installed separately. It has the ability to save the text in WAV or MP3. | Windows 10, Windows 11 | |
| Magnifixer | A magnifier tool creating a resizable window that zooms whatever is under the mouse pointer. Also available in portable version. | Windows 10, Windows 11. Διαθέσιμη επιπλέον portable έκδοση | |
| Seeing AI | A free iOS app (iPhone/iPad) by Microsoft designed for blind users. Uses the camera to describe surroundings with voice feedback. | iOS (iPhone/iPad) | |
| RogerVoice | Enables real-time subtitled phone calls for deaf or hard-of-hearing users. Supports multiple languages and works with Wi-Fi or mobile data. | iOS & Android |