Using the Asus ROG Ally for screen reader testing

The ROG Ally isn't just a gaming device!

My line of work is digital accessibility. I routinely have to do functional accessibility testing using different screen readers.

One of these screen readers is NVDA. Unfortunately, NVDA is only available on Windows and I'm primarily a Mac user. Until recently, I was using a Microsoft Surface Tablet to do NVDA testing in a native Windows environment. But that device got too old and couldn't be updated anymore.

I was considering purchasing a new testing device when it occurred to me that my ROG Ally from Asus is a fully functional Windows device running Windows 11 Pro (I upgraded the OS from default). And I thought "why not try this?".

Sure, the screen on the Ally isn't big. But the point of testing with a screen reader is that you don't need the visuals!

So I connected my mechanical keyboard to the Ally, installed NVDA, and took it for a spin. It'll work really well.