NVDA RC is the release candidate build of the free NVDA screen reader for Windows, published ahead of each stable version so testers can try new speech, braille, and browsing changes early.
An NVDA RC is the release candidate of the NVDA screen reader: the same program, frozen just before a stable release, handed out so people can test it on real work. Functionally it is what the next version will be, including the new speech and braille handling and the fixes listed in the changelog, with the understanding that a last-minute bug is still possible. Testing it takes minutes: install it beside the stable copy, or run the portable build, and use it for a day. Reports that reach the developers before the release are the entire point.
The awkward part of any release-candidate stage is deciding who should be running one. Anyone relying on a screen reader for paid work, exams, or medical appointments should stay on the stable channel, because an untested regression in speech output can cost an afternoon. Testers with a second machine, a virtual machine, or a portable install are the better audience, and so are people who use an uncommon braille display or a specific application that rarely gets attention. Keeping the stable build installed alongside is standard practice: NVDA even lets a portable copy run from a USB stick while the installed version stays untouched.
The benefit of the NVDA RC channel is that problems surface while they are still cheap to fix. A release candidate is a request for scrutiny: the changelog names what changed, testers exercise it against the sites and applications they know best, and a regression gets reported days before it would reach every user. That feedback loop is why accessibility bugs in popular applications sometimes disappear between versions rather than lingering for years. The NVDA RC build also lets an organisation validate a rollout before committing, checking that a payroll system or a bespoke internal tool still speaks correctly. Running it costs nothing but attention: a second install, a week of ordinary work, and a clear bug report with steps to reproduce. The NVDA RC channel is how users shape the release they eventually depend on.
Key capabilities and highlights.
An NVDA RC is not a side product with experimental extras bolted on; it is the upcoming version, finalized and renamed, so whatever you test in it is what everyone else will be installing a few weeks later, including the fixes and behaviour changes you may not expect.
The candidate can be unpacked as a portable copy and run from a folder or a USB stick, so it sits beside the stable installation without touching its configuration, its add-ons, or its saved settings, and the two builds can be compared side by side.
Release notes for the build list every new command, behaviour change, and fix, which turns testing from guesswork into a checklist: read what changed, then deliberately exercise those areas on the sites, documents, and applications where you would actually notice a problem.
Add-ons are the usual casualty of any change to the reader's internals, so a candidate build is the moment to confirm that a braille driver, a remote support plugin, or an application-specific script still loads and behaves before the stable release reaches people who depend on it.
Speech and braille need checking separately, because a change that reads correctly through a synthesizer can still break the output sent to a display. The NVDA RC exists partly so users of specific hardware can catch that regression while the developers are still in a position to patch it.
The reader can copy its own log to the clipboard, and the issue tracker asks for the build, the steps that produced the fault, and the log itself, which means a tester does not need to be a programmer to file a report that a developer can act on immediately.
There is no licence to buy, no trial period, and no paid tier, so testing costs only the time it takes to install and use the build; the source is published under the GPL and the project is funded through donations rather than seat licences.
Testing before the stable release is the only reliable way to influence what ships, since a report filed against a candidate can still change the outcome, while the same report a month later becomes a fix scheduled for the following version instead.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
Common questions about NVDA RC.
It stands for release candidate, the build published just before a final version where the feature set is frozen and only serious bugs should still change anything. It is intended for testing rather than everyday reliance.
No. Keep the stable release as your working setup and treat the candidate as a second copy, because an unexpected regression in speech or braille could interrupt real work and there is no support promise for a build that has not shipped yet.
The portable version does not: it runs from its own folder with its own settings. Installing the candidate as a normal application, however, replaces the installed reader, which is why serious testers keep a stable install separate or work from a portable copy.
Most do, but any add-on that reaches into the reader's internals can break when those internals change. Check your essential ones first, then report failures to the add-on author, who usually needs the same testing window to publish an update.
Reproduce the fault, copy the log from the tools menu, then file an issue with the exact steps, the build you tested, your Windows version, and the log attached. Reports with a reliable reproduction path get fixed; reports that only describe a symptom usually stall.
Nothing beyond time. The project is free and open source, funded by donations, and the candidate build carries no licence key, no trial limit, and no telemetry requirement, so you can install it on a spare machine and remove it afterwards.
It is short by design, since a candidate appears only after the version is essentially finished and the final build follows once serious reports are resolved. That compressed timeline is exactly why testing during this window has more influence than testing afterwards.
NVDA RC is the release candidate build of the free NVDA screen reader for Windows, published ahead of each stable version so testers can try new speech, braille, and browsing changes early.
Gephi is an open-source desktop application for exploring and visualising networks, letting analysts import graph data, run layout and centrality metrics, then export publication-ready network diagrams.
NVDA Beta is the pre-release testing channel of NVDA, the free open-source Windows screen reader, giving blind and low-vision users early access to upcoming speech, braille and application support changes before they reach the stable release.
NVDA is a free, open-source screen reader for Windows that speaks what is on screen and follows the keyboard, giving blind and low-vision users access to applications, documents, and the web without a paid licence.
Balabolka is a free Windows text-to-speech program that reads documents aloud with installed voices and saves the narration as MP3, WAV, or other audio files for later listening.
Comments