Accessibility

Accessible chess for blind and low-vision players

Chess you can play entirely by ear: say your move, hear it confirmed, and have the full position read aloud on demand — included free on every plan.

Accessibility is built into Chess in 3-D from the ground up, not bolted on — and it is never paywalled. Blind and low-vision players can play a full game by voice and sound, with the whole board read aloud on demand. Both features are included free on every plan.

Speak your moves, with spoken confirmation

You can play by talking to the board. Say a move like “knight to f3” and the app previews it with highlights and echoes it back aloud — “Knight to f 3 — OK?”— then plays it only after you confirm with a spoken “yes.” Nothing moves until you approve it, so a misheard word never costs you a piece. If a command is ambiguous (two knights could reach the same square), it offers numbered spoken choices. Your opponent's replies can be announced aloud too, so you always know what just happened.

Have the whole board read aloud

Press Read board aloud at any time and the app speaks the entire position in order: whose turn it is, the last move played, the material balance, and every piece with the square it stands on. The sentence being spoken is highlighted on screen at the same time, which also helps low-vision and sighted players follow along. It is a complete, spoken picture of the board whenever you want one.

Why it is free on every plan

We think the parts of a game that make it playable at all should never sit behind a paywall. Voice moves and board narration use your browser's built-in speech, so they cost nothing extra to run and are available to every registered player — on the free 2-D board, the 3-D board, and in the immersive modes. The paid Pro plan only adds mixed reality and VR on a headset.

Getting started

  1. Create a free account and verify your email.
  2. Open a game and allow microphone access when your browser asks, so voice moves can listen.
  3. Speak a move, listen for the echo, and confirm with “yes.”
  4. Press “Read board aloud” whenever you want the full position spoken.

Voice input and speech work best in browsers with good built-in speech support; a quiet room and a clear microphone help recognition. Everything is keyboard reachable, with a skip link and clearly labelled controls throughout.