- Post History
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark as New
- Mark as Read
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Report Inappropriate Content
Thursday - edited Thursday
Have you ever been listening to your screen reader work through a document — everything going smoothly — and then it hits a product name, an acronym, or a colleague's name and just completely mangles it? Maybe it confidently reads "ONCE" as "once" or attempts "MCDB" as if it were a word, or mispronounces a brand name in a way that's distracting enough to break your entire focus.
You are not stuck with that. Screen readers are more customizable than many users realize, and one of the most practical — and underused — features is the ability to teach your screen reader exactly how to pronounce specific words, names, and terms.
Why Pronunciation Matters
For screen reader users, audio output is the interface. Mispronounced words aren't just minor annoyances — they can:
- Break comprehension, especially in technical or specialized content
- Cause errors when a misheard term leads to wrong input or navigation
- Create fatigue when the brain has to constantly "translate" garbled pronunciation
- Undermine confidence in the tool itself
This is especially relevant in enterprise environments, where users regularly encounter industry-specific jargon, branded product names, acronyms, partner integrations, and the names of colleagues from around the world.
The good news? Every major screen reader has a built-in way to handle this.
How the Major Screen Readers Handle Custom Pronunciation
JAWS — Dictionary Manager
JAWS (Job Access With Speech) includes a feature called the Dictionary Manager, which lets you define custom pronunciation rules for specific words. You can add a word exactly as it's spelled, then define the phonetic string you want JAWS to use when it encounters that word in any context.
This is particularly powerful for:
- Acronyms that should be spelled out letter by letter (like "SPM" → "ess-pee-EM")
- Product names that don't follow standard English phonics
- Proper nouns and names
👉 Get started with the JAWS Dictionary Manager
NVDA — Speech Dictionaries
NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) offers Speech Dictionaries, found under the Preferences menu. You can create entries for:
- Default dictionary — applies across all contexts
- Voice dictionary — applies only to the currently active voice/synthesizer
- Temporary dictionary — applies only for the current session
Each entry lets you define a pattern (the word or phrase as written) and its replacement pronunciation. You can even use regular expressions for more advanced matching — handy when you want to catch a term whether it's capitalized or not.
VoiceOver — Pronunciation Settings
On Apple devices, VoiceOver includes a Pronunciations tab within its settings (found under Accessibility → VoiceOver → Verbosity → Pronunciations on iOS/iPadOS, or VoiceOver Utility → Verbosity → Pronunciations on macOS).
Here you can add specific words and define their phonetic replacements, and optionally scope them to a particular language — which is especially useful in multilingual environments.
The Multilingual Reality: When Your Screen Reader Speaks the Wrong Language
Here's a scenario that comes up more than you might expect: a screen reader is set to read content in French, and it encounters an English product name — say, Now Platform App Engine. Because the speech synthesizer is in French mode, it attempts to apply French phonetic rules to English words, often with awkward (or hilarious) results.
The pronunciation customization tools above are your solution. By adding entries for terms that should always be read in English — even when the surrounding content is in another language — you can ensure consistent, accurate audio output regardless of the document's language.
This is exactly the kind of problem that a Do Not Translate (DNT) list is designed to solve. In localization, DNT terms are words and phrases that should remain in their original language rather than being translated. When paired with phonetic pronunciation guidance, a DNT list becomes a powerful resource for screen reader users navigating multilingual content.
A Ready-Made Starting Point: A Sample ServiceNow DNT + Phonetic Pronunciation List
Building your own pronunciation dictionary from scratch can feel overwhelming — especially in a product environment with hundreds of named features, applications, and integrations. That's why we're sharing a sample glossary as a community resource to get you started. This list was built for French screen reader users, so make any necessary changes based on your localization needs.
This list contains 978 ServiceNow terms — product names, application names, acronyms, plugin names, and more — paired with:
- Their French (fr-FR) equivalents (or confirmation that they remain in English as DNT terms)
- Their term type (Product Name, Application Name, Acronym, DNT, Trademarked, etc.)
- A phonetic pronunciation guide in syllable-stress notation
A few examples of what's in the list:
| Term | Phonetic Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| Now Platform App Engine | NOW PLAT-form AP EN-jin |
| NIST Risk Management Framework | en-eye-ess-TEE RISK MAN-ij-munt FRAYM-wurk |
| Graph API | GRAF ay-pee-EYE |
| SPM | ess-pee-EM |
| Rapid7 with Exploit Integration | RAP-id-sev-un with EK-sployt in-tih-GRAY-shun |
| QMS | kyoo-em-ESS |
| AWS Gov | ay-dub-ul-yoo-ESS GUV |
The phonetic notation uses capital letters to indicate stressed syllables and hyphens to separate syllable breaks — a format that translates naturally into what you'd type into a JAWS Dictionary Manager entry or NVDA Speech Dictionary.
How to Use This List
Here are a few practical ways your organization can put this resource to work:
For individual users: Browse the list for terms you encounter regularly. Use the phonetic column to create entries in your screen reader's pronunciation dictionary for the ones that your current setup mispronounces.
For accessibility teams: Use this as a foundation for building a curated pronunciation guide for your organization. You can filter by term type (start with "Product Name" and "Acronym" for the highest-impact entries) and prioritize the terms most relevant to your users' daily workflows.
For content authors and localizers: Use the DNT classifications to ensure consistency across your content ecosystem — and flag terms that should carry pronunciation guidance in any training materials you develop for screen reader users.
For IT and assistive technology administrators: If your organization manages JAWS at an enterprise level, JAWS supports shared dictionary files that can be distributed to users, meaning pronunciation fixes can be deployed once and benefit everyone.
A Note on Names
One area where pronunciation customization pays particular dividends — and where no glossary can fully prepare you — is personal names. A screen reader's default behavior with an unfamiliar name can range from merely awkward to genuinely incorrect in ways that matter to the person being named.
If you're a screen reader user, consider adding phonetic entries for the names of colleagues, managers, and customers you interact with regularly. If you're building accessibility resources for your organization, consider including a section on names alongside your product term guidance.
Join the Conversation
Have you built out a pronunciation dictionary for your organization? Have tips for managing entries across different screen readers, or experience with enterprise JAWS dictionary distribution? We'd love to hear what's working for your team.
Drop your thoughts in the community comments below — and if you have additional phonetic entries to contribute to this list, share them and we'll work to keep this resource growing.
Attached resource: ServiceNow Glossary — Terms to Keep in English, including phonetic pronunciation guide. 978 terms covering product names, application names, acronyms, and more.
Have accessibility questions or want to contribute to the community? Connect with us through accessibility_support@servicenow.com.
