WebAnywhere

A web-based, self-voicing screen reader developed at the University of Washington that enabled blind users to access the web from any computer with an Internet connection and sound output, without installing software. Launched in 2008, WebAnywhere ran entirely within a standard web browser, using server-side text-to-speech generation and client-side JavaScript to traverse and speak web page content. It addressed the equity barrier of screen reader cost and portability, allowing blind users to access the web from public terminals, shared computers, and other locations where traditional screen readers were unavailable. Released as open source under the BSD license.