


You can find scenes by tabbing until you hear an empty space or “scenes”, depending on the screen reader. A scene in OBS is similar to a profile, and within the scene are sources, each a puzzle piece that is responsible for what your viewers hear and see, such as your camera, your game, etc. What makes OBS so powerful is through the use of scenes, sources, and your overlay. Most buttons are clearly labeled and self-explanatory: record is to record, stream is to go live, etc. Go ahead and download, install, and run OBS, and then tab around to familiarize yourself with the program.

Not to mention, Streamlabs uses an accessibility overlay. Compared to Streamlabs, OBS is much lighter on your computer and is generally more accessible with a screen reader. That leaves us with OBS, a tried and true software that essentially jumpstarted the streaming craze in 2012.

Right away, I will mention that I specifically do not use Streamlabs because of how resource intensive it is on the RAM, but also because of the recent plagiarism scandal that has been revealed regarding their practices. Within the streaming community, there are generally two programs streamers use to stream their content to Twitch and those are Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and Streamlabs, both open source. In this article you’ll learn how to use OBS with a screen reader, how to use Stream Elements or Firebot to control your stream, and tips to improve your streaming experience. No matter if you have a gaming PC or just a console, this guide will provide solutions to make your stream more accessible. Fortunately for you, I’ve been streaming content for a few years now and I want to pass on what I’ve learned. Knowing what software to use is critical, but can also be intimidating to learn because of the wide spectrum of inaccessible products in the industry. Whether you want to stream yourself playing video games, arts and crafts, or just chatting, compared to Youtube gaming, Twitch is currently the best place for a blind person to begin.
