There’s a particular kind of patience that only musicians develop — the ability to sit with a student through a hundred failed attempts at a chord, knowing that the hundred-and-first try will produce something beautiful. Tony Gebhard has been cultivating that patience since he was seven years old, when he first picked up a guitar and started to sing.
Decades later, he’s applying it to a very different kind of instruction.
Tony is the creator of NVDA Coach, a free add-on for the NVDA screen reader that is quietly changing how blind people take their first steps into independent digital life. With 35 structured lessons covering everything from basic navigation to reading and customization, the tool is designed for users who aren’t ready — or willing — to sit down with a trainer, wade through a dense manual, or admit they need help.
“Think about someone like Sally,” Tony says, describing a hypothetical but achingly familiar user: a 62-year-old woman who has recently lost her sight and needs to check her bank balance, send an email to her daughter, or order something online. “She doesn’t need a classroom. She needs something patient. Something that won’t rush her.”
That sensitivity to the learner’s emotional experience isn’t accidental. Tony has spent seven years as an assistive technology specialist, working for a non-profit in Anchorage, Alaska, coordinating transitions for youth with disabilities, and eventually landing a role with a state government agency in Oregon. A graduate of the Assistive Technology Instructor Career Training Program from World Services for the Blind in Little Rock, Arkansas, he holds and recommends fellow professionals pursue Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist for Individuals with Visual Impairments (CATIS) certification.
But long before any of those credentials, there was the music.
Tony started writing original songs at age 12. Today, he has published 12 albums — primarily in metal and progressive genres — available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon. His music, like his teaching, reflects an appetite for complexity and a refusal to take the obvious path. Progressive metal is not a genre for the faint-hearted; it rewards listeners who are willing to be challenged, who trust that the dissonance will eventually resolve into something extraordinary.
He brings that same philosophy to assistive technology. NVDA Coach doesn’t dumb things down. It meets users where they are.
The add-on is now available on Tony’s GitHub repository. Version 1.0.0 marked its official debut, and Tony is already planning ahead: version 1.2 or 1.3 will introduce language translations, extending the tool’s reach to users in developing regions around the world where access to screen reader training is scarce or nonexistent.
“This isn’t just about the United States,” Tony says. “There are people everywhere who need this.”
From a seven-year-old learning his first guitar chord in a living room somewhere, to a 62-year-old learning to navigate a screen reader alone in her kitchen — Tony understands that the best teachers don’t just transfer knowledge. They make people believe they can do it themselves.
Now at Version 1.2.0 as of this publication date, NVDA Coach is available for download from Tony’s GitHub page.
Not yet convinced? Play the demo video and see for yourself why the connected, online blind community is all abuzz about NVDA Coach!