The purpose of this page is to gather together information on existing HTML UAs. It may even be useful to add more detailed version information (e.g., release date, features added) or even separate pages on each UA/engine.
Quick Links: Renderers | 3rd-Party Assistive Technologies | Acessibility-oriented UAs | All-in-One Suites | Content Management Tools | Authoring Tools | List Management Tools | Email Clients | Related Pages
General Purpose Rendering Engines (listed alphabetically)
Amaya engine and browser (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix).
Cobra: a pure Java HTML renderer and DOM parser. (requires J2SE 5+ or JDK 1.5+). Used in:
Lobo - an open source web browser written completely in Java; Lobo supports HTML 4, Javascript (AJAX) and CSS2. Lobo uses the Cobra rendering engine and HTML parser. The renderer is Swing/AWT based.
Gecko from Mozilla. Used in:
- Mozilla (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux)
- Firefox (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux)
- Netscape (Windows, Mac OS X)
Epiphany (GNOME's integrated web browser)
Camino: open-source browser optimized for Mac OS X with a Cocoa object-oriented UI and the Gecko renderer
Minimo, a mobile web-browser from Mozilla, supports JavaScript and AJAX (Windows Mobile OS)
- Note: The Minimo Project page lists "cross-platform capability" as one of Minimo's strong points, but does not elaborate on which platforms, other than Windows Mobile
MozzIE: a plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer that allows the display of XHTML and XForms using the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine
iCab engine and browser (Mac OS X) from iCab
- Since Version 4 iCab uses the Webkit Engine. The iCab Engine is only used in legacy versions
Interactor from Oregan Networks. Suitable for embedded devices. Used in:
- Oregan Media Browser (Linux, Windows, VXWorks, Nucleus, WinCE)
KHTML from KDE. Used in:
Konqueror for KDE/Qt (Linux, FreeBSD).
Presto from Opera Software. Used in:
- Opera (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux)
Trident from Microsoft. Used in:
WebKit from WebKit/MacOSForge. Used in
- Safari (Mac OS X, Windows and iPhone)
- Shira (Mac OS X)
OmniWeb (Mac OS X)
- S60 Browser from Nokia (Symbian OS)
Third-Party Assisstive Technologies
Alternative Input
ClickCatch: an autoclicker, which simulates mouse clicks with constant intervals of time.
Click-N-Type Virtual Keyboard: an on-screen virtual keyboard, giving access to the keyboard characters through the use of a mouse or other pointing device.
GazeTalk: a predictive text entry system that has a restricted on-screen keyboard with ambiguous layout for severely disabled people. The main reason for using such a keyboard layout is that it enables the use of an eye tracker with a low spatial resolution (e.g., a web-camera based eye tracker).
Jambu: makes the web easier to access for those who interact with computers using switches and head mice or other types of alternative Input devices. It is designed for users with mobility impairments who find keyboard and mice difficult or impossible to use.
MorseAll: allows a user to control a computer using only the mouse buttons; it also enables a user to produce keystrokes by tapping Morse code with just a single button or with a three-button mouse for faster entry.
Mouseketeer: mouse clicking replacement software which can execute left click, right click, double click, highlight and drag-drop actions.
MouseWrap: makes the mouse pointer circulate around the screen instead of stopping at the edges, so that moving the pointer requires less movement by the user. "Movement pattern recognition" also gives a user access to custom actions, for example, cut and paste.
Open Eyes: an open-source open-hardware toolkit for low-cost real-time eye tracking.
PointNClick: a free stand-alone on-screen virtual mouse designed for anyone with a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to click a physical computer mouse. As long as they can move a mouse, trackball or other pointing device, they can send mouse clicks to virtually any Windows application or DOS application that can run within a window and even many that are full screen.
pVoice: an application for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Users who cannot speak and who have very little possiblities to operate a computer can use pVoice by selecting photo's or symbols to generate speech output
Sensory Switch Driver: supports both USB and serial switches; configureable switch response, with options for ignoring accidental switch presses, which can be configured for individual users, allowing several switch users to share the same computer
Speech Dasher: a novel interface for the input of text using a combination of speech and gestures; a speech recognition engine provides the initial guess of the user's desired text while a gesture-based interface allows the user to confirm and correct the recognizer's output
SUITEKeys: provides access to a virtual keyboard and mouse through continuous speech input on Windows platforms.
Whistling User Interface: a whistling-driven mouse pointer which provides an alternative way to control a pointer
ZenKEY: enables control of almost all aspects of a computer via the keyboard, by creating new keyboard shortcuts. ZenKEY can also control the mouse pointer, including its speed, from keyboard shortcuts.
Color Identification Software
Eye Dropper: a magnified window is attached to the pointer to show the user the exact location and color the pointer is on. Within the same window, the program displays the hex color values of what is being pointed at.
EyePilot: assists color-blind persons to navigate and use color coded information (available for both Windows and Macintosh)
Instant EyeDropper: color identifier (pastes hex value to clipboard on RightMouseClick)
Sensible Colors: "Colors for the Color-Blind"
Visolve software that transforms colors of a computer display into the discriminable colors for various people including people with color vision deficiency, commonly called color blindness. In addition to distinguishing colors and finding a specific color, it aims to help people with color blindness to guess a normal color, and to feel the color gradations in natural scenery, etc. Visolve can execute the following three types of color transformation, filtering, and hatching: Red-Green transform, Blue-Yellow Transform, and Saturation Increase
WhatColor a "PC Tool for Colourblind People" (Windows 95 through Vista) WhatColor identifies a color of the pixel on the screen. It tells you not only RGB values, but also the name of the color of the point.
On-Screen Keyboards
Dasher: rapid text entry system alternative to keyboard. Also available for Windows. (GPL)
GOK: GNOME On-Screen Keyboard: a keyboard assistant for users with mobility difficulties. (LGPL)
PVoice: an application for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).Disabled people who cannot speak and have very limited possiblities to operate a computer can use pVoice by selecting photographs or symbols to generate speech output.
Screen Magnification
Dolphin's Lunar: screen magnification program (Windows)
Dolphin's LunarPlus: screen-magnifier with speech (Windows)
Dolphin's SuperNova: screen-magnifier and screen-reader with Braille support (Windows)
MAGic screen-magnification program from Freedom Scientific
Magnus: screen magnifier for Windows
Sonar4: provides an expanded ring around the mouse pointer for users who have difficulty locating the pointer
Virtual Magnifying Glass: an easy-to-use screen magnification tool for Windows.
Screen Readers
AtGentive: "Attention Agents for Collaborative Learners"
HAL a screen reader for Windows from Dophin Access
- Note: HAL also supports refreshable Braille displays
JAWS (for Windows) from Freedom Scientific
- Note: JAWS includes support for refreshable Braille displays.
Jupiter: a "speech system for Linux"; unique features include: reading the accumulated log of an interactive session (as well as screen review mode), audio feedback as text is displayed on the screen, alternative keyboard (for one-handed typing), customizable speech commands (not just key bindings), a modular interface between the kernel and the speech package, and escape sequences that allow applications to speak for themselves.
LookOUT screen-reader for the Windows platform
LSR: an extensible Python-based screen reader for the Gnome desktop. (IBM CPL)
NVDA: NonVisual Desktop Access (free, open source screen reader for Windows)
PCVoz a screen-reader for Windows (Spanish is default/English is an option)
Penfriend XL - screen-reader which also provides word prediction and on-screen keyboards in many languages, marketed primarily to those with learning disabilities (Windows)
ReadPlease - a screen-reader developed for and used by individuals with certain types of dyslexia (Windows)
Speakup: a screen review package for the Linux operating system, which allows a user to interact with applications and the GNU/Linux operating system with audible feedback from the console using a synthetic speech device.
Sreader: provides voice-output for Linux using which reads the screen and puts the information through to a software Text-To-Speech package, such as [ festival] or a hardware speech synthesizer.
Thunder Screen-Reader: a screen reader for the XP or Vista Windows operating systems; includes WebbIE, a text browser which eliminates visual clutter and presents a website in clear line by line text which can be adjusted to suit the user
VoiceOver from Apple
Note: VoiceOver will support refreshable Braille displays in the next version due in October 2007.
WindowEyes from GW Micro
Note: WindowEyes also supports refreshable Braille displays.
Speech-Recognition
Open Mind Speech: free (GPL) speech recognition tools and applications, as well as collect speech data from "e-citizens" using the Internet.
Speech Dasher: a novel interface for the input of text using a combination of speech and gestures; a speech recognition engine provides the initial guess of the user's desired text while a gesture-based interface allows the user to confirm and correct the recognizer's output
Accessibility-oriented UAs
Aural/Self-Voicing Browsers
Aural Browser (A-Browser) from IBM (news story)
BrailleSurf: although still available, technical development of BrailleSurf ceased in 2001, there is a successor project: MozBraille: an extension for FireFox which makes it a "stand alone" browser for blind and partially sighted persons; features: braille output (to braille terminal), text-to-speech, and "big characters" view
Note: MozBraille is part of the Vickie Project, whose aim is to create an "electronic school bag" for visually impaired children
BrookesTalk: a voice web browser for blind and visually impaired people;
Note: released in 1998, BrookesTalk pioneered features now supported in current commercial voice web browsers. It was translated into Spanish and is still used by blind schoolchildren in South America. BrookesTalk is available for free but is unsupported as the Advanced Interfaces development group at the Department of Computing at Oxford Brookes University is currently working on speech access to new XML based Web technologies.
Home Page Reader (discontinued) from IBM
Opera (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) from Opera Software
Talklets (A web-server-based aural browser)
Sensus Web Browser: still downloadable, but no longer supported
Simply Internet 2000: can be run in 2 modes: speech-friendly (works with third party screen readers) or speech-enabled (self-voicing)
WeMedia Talking Browser: not a screen reader, but a talking web browser through which a user can surf the net, complete with large buttons and keystroke commands for easy navigation; WeMedia "speaks" any text a user selects within the browser.
WWAAC Web Browser: a talking, keyboard, switch and mouse pointer accessible web browser with page summarizing tools; features a highly configerable user interface
WeMedia Talking Browser: not a screen reader, but a talking web browser through which a user can surf the net, complete with large buttons and keystroke commands for easy navigation; WeMedia "speaks" any text a user selects within the browser.
WWAAC Web Browser: a talking, keyboard, switch and mouse pointer accessible web browser with page summarizing tools; features a highly configerable user interface
Browsers Developed to Work with Third-Party Assisstive Technologies
webbIE a complete suite of products developed for accessibility and compatibility with third-party assisstive technologies (includes text-only mode browsing, an accessible podcatcher. RSS feed manager, a Gutenburg library collector/renderer, and more)
Firefox Accessibility Extensions (listed alphabetically)
Accessibar an "Accessibility Toolbar" which enables easy manipulation of web page display with limited text-to-speech capabilities
CLC Star: stylesheet tweaker for Accessibility and Readability in FireFox (although designed to work with FireVox and CLiCk, Speak, it is a stand-alone extension which can function for itself)
Developer's Note: "Unlike FireVox, which is designed for visually impaired users, CLiCK, Speak is designed for sighted user who want or need text-to-speech functionality. [...] If you're a sighted user who wants to have web pages read to you because you have cognitive issues (for example, dyslexia), because you have literacy issues (like me - I can understand spoken Mandarin Chinese just fine, but reading is difficult for me), because you want to reduce eyestrain and listen to a web page being read, etc., then you are likely to prefer CLiCk, Speak over Fire Vox."
Fangs (visual emulation of aural browser)
Fire Vox a self-voicing CSS3-Speech compliant extension (requires Windows or Java runtime)
Maavis is a "new accessibility program that provides greatly simplified access to computer activities including videos, music, photos, web information and video calls, which is specifically designed for older people in care who have dementia or related issues, Maavis aims to engage and provide discussion opportunities through being a transparent medium delivering interesting activities. By providing a non threatening 'appliance' that appears to be something of a 'clever TV' it has been designed to allay the fears of those who are alienated by or highly nervous of ICT and the interweb."
MozBraille: an extension for FireFox which makes it a "stand alone" browser for blind and partially sighted persons; features: braille output (to braille terminal), text-to-speech, and "big characters" view
Note: MozBraille is part of the Vickie Project, whose aim is to create an "electronic school bag" for visually impaired children
Mouse Gestures: allows the use of mouse gestures to control the FireFox web browser, so as to allow "mouse only" internet browsing
NoSquint: a Firefox extension that allows you to adjust the default text zoom level.
ReefChat: a free and open source accessible Ajax chat application developed by Peter Thiessen and designed to work with the Fire Vox screen reader or any other screen reader that supports WAI-ARIA. Features include: accessible layout; ARIA Live Region support; message highlighting based on message importance; message filtering using FireVox screen reader; and chat transcript history (ReefChat gets its name from a coral reef where fish meet to socialize.)
Note: this application requires access to a server, preferably Linux based. For the database, it requires MySQL and the scripting language PHP. Refer to the ReefChat Installation page for more details
WebVisum: available in English, German, Russian, Italian and Slovak
Screen-Reader Simulators
Text-Based Browsers
Lynx: a widely used text-based browser; works well with all output modalities
NetTamer: a text-based shareware browser whose developers promise "will run on your customer's oldest and slowest PC"
Voice Browsers
ConversaWeb: voice-activated browser allowing spoken selection of links using "saycons".
WebHearIt: a telephone-based tool which uses the telephone keypad as an interface to navigate "suitably configured" pages.
TelWeb: An experimental telephone-based browser allowing access to any site using voice and dialled commands.
Accessibility Inspectors and Toolkits
GNOME's accerciser Accessibility Explorer allows an author to check whether an application provides the information needed by accessibility tools such as GNOME's Orca screenreader. (Latest Build of Accerciser)
Vischeck: shows an author or developer how their web application or document is perceived by someone who is color blind.
one can also use a web-based interface, rather than downloading the software: Vischeck online
a collection of links to filter and transformation tools
All-in-One Internet Application Suites (Browsers/Editors/Media Collectors)
Amaya editor and browser (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix)
SeaMonkey, from Mozilla, is a browser, advanced email and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and a WYSIWYG HTML editor (Windows, Linux, Mac OSx)
Note: The SeaMonkey project is an effort to deliver production-quality releases of code derived from the application formerly known as "Mozilla Application Suite". It includes the NGLayout/Gecko layout engine and is built atop the XPCOM component architecture.
HTML Content Management Tools
The Web Repair Initiative hosts a list of over 300 wikis, blogs, forums, CMSs, embedable editors, etc.
Authoring Tools
The Web Repair Initiative hosts a list of over 300 wikis, blogs, forums, CMSs, embedable editors, etc.
HTML compatible list serves
HTML email clients
This section is for mail clients that support HTML content (such as "text/html") for either just reading email or composing email too. Many web-based mail clients typically support HTML. The use of HTML in email has developed without necessarily adhering to W3C HTML recommendations and so is often very presentational HTML. However, the following lists any mail clients that provide HTML content support.
AnyEmail WebMail Client, from Netbula LLC
GMail from Google
Hotmail from Microsoft
Hypermail, GPL software that converts email from Unix mbox format into HTML
Mail for OSx from Apple
Open WebMail open source email client
Outlook from Microsoft
Thunderbird from Mozilla
Related Pages
A partial list of commercial products that utilize W3C Semantic Web technologies. Commercial products are defined loosely as a tool, application, software, etc. that a company / person sells (and ideally another company / person is willing to buy).
A list of Grddl implementations for using XML/XHTML dialects as custom RDF dialects.