audio browser

A Web browser that provides a text-to-speech capability for the blind and visually impaired. Because Web pages are coded in HTML, the audio browser can readily identify links, article headers, body text and other attributes, allowing users to skip around the page.

Such applications use keyboard shortcut commands and may offer voice recognition. An extra large input box is typically available for users who have some visual capacity. Images may be disabled in order to render the pages more quickly, and just like a regular Web browser, the user can access menu functions such as bookmarks and have them read verbally.

Frames Are Not Audio Browser Friendly
The use of HTML frames on Web pages, which divides the page into multiple windows, may confuse audio browsers. Newer browsers are better than older ones, but if a frame-based site does not offer a "no-frames" option, the audio browser may not work well or at all. See frames.