AT Supports for Reading

Text to Speech/Reading Text

For struggling readers, enabling the text to be read out loud by a computer, tablet or phone can greatly improve independence and confidence. All electronic devices have an internal feature to have text on the screen be read out loud in a synthesized voice.

• On Apple/Mac computers or laptops, simply highlight a word/sentence, click on the “edit” menu on the toolbar, select “speech” and then “start speaking”
• On an iPad/iPhone, enable “speak selection” in the accessibility menu. Here is a link to a training video that explains how to enable and use this feature.
• On a Chromebook, the “select to speak” feature must be enabled in accessibility. Here is a link to a document that describes how to enable and use this feature
• A chrome extension “Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader” is a chrome extension that students can use to have text read on the chrome browser. For help installing a chrome extension, refer to this tutorial.
• Snap and Read Universal is a subscription-based real-time reading assistant that works within the chrome browser. It allows students to hear text read aloud, level text into more simplistic vocabulary, remove ads and distractions from web pages, and has a picture-supported dictionary for struggling readers.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Apps

OCR is technology that allows an individual to take a photo of text with a smartphone, read the text out loud. OCR technology is not perfect (it is very tricky to do!) but has vastly improved compared to just a few months ago. The accuracy of OCR apps typically depends on the camera of the device taking the photo and the visual quality of the text being taken. Users should not use OCR for reading books or long paragraphs of text but instead reserve it for short text (menu, worksheets, etc).

• The app Voice Dream Scanner is a new option by the makers of Voice Dream Reader that appears promising. It highlights text scanned and reads aloud in a digital synthesized voice. There is a one time cost to use the app, compared to other OCR apps that require a subscription.
• The app Seeing AI is a free app for iphones designed for the visually impaired community can be useful for those with dyslexia. This app can read short text aloud just by hovering the phone’s camera over text. There is an experimental feature that allows the app to read handwriting, which makes it especially useful. It also has a number of features that would be useful for the visually impaired.

Digital Books

Digital books are books read through a synthesized voice. In general, digital books are easier to download and less expensive than audio books (human-read). Many digital books can be accessed for free.

• Bookshare is an online library of digital (computer read) books that students with a documented “print disability” (dyslexia, specific learning disability, visual impairment, orthopedic impairment, etc) can access for free. Most classroom textbooks and books can be accessed using Bookshare. These books can be read out loud using various 3rd party apps (see below) on a ipad, phone, or tablet. There is also the Bookshare web reader tool that allows books to be read via the website on any computer or chromebook.

3rd party apps required to download and listen to books via Bookshare:

1. Voice Dream Reader (iOS, $14.99) can read aloud websites, PDFs, Bookshare Books, etc. Choose from a number of high quality digital voices.
2. GoRead (for Android, free) allows bookshare books to be read for free on an Android device.

Audio Books

Audio books (human read) cost money to produce so therefore are more expensive than digital books. Most textbooks do not have audiobook formats. There are a number of subscription-based apps to quickly load audio books onto a tablet.

• Audible- 3 titles a month for $15/month subscription
• Audiobooks.com- 2 titles a month for $15/month subscription
• Libby- Libby is an app to listen to free audiobooks on a tablet or a smartphone via the local public library. Users need a library card. Audiobook or ebooks are installed on the device for a limited time (usually 2-3 weeks) and many titles might not be available depending on their popularity.