How to Read

Read

This section will focus on performing various tasks related to the reading process. The most common use of Kurzweil is to read text contained in a document.

1) Set up

Prior to starting the reading process, it is important to first identify and set certain parameters that can contribute to a better experience video (3 min). These factors include:

The speed at which the text is read – this is dependent on the difficulty of the subject, familiarity with the language, comprehension level, or competing factors such as background noise. While the average reading speed is around 250 words per minute, this may be too fast for some users. Note that having text read too slowly may affect the understandability of the voice.
The voice used when text is read aloud. Some users may find that they are more receptive to either a male or female voice and for some non-native language learners, they may find it easier to relate to a voice with an accent similar to theirs. There are a selection of voices that come with Kurzweil in addition to the built-in voices in Windows. Additional voices can be downloaded from the Kurzweil website depending on the license.
It is important to specify the Reading Unit which relates to the way in which text is read (commonly used units include one word at a time, an individual sentence or a paragraph at a time). The Reading Unit is an important setting as it determines how much information is presented. Students who require longer processing times will likely wish to select a shorter reading unit. The Reading Unit may also relate to the type of material being read aloud. For fictional work, it may interrupt the flow of the storyline to have text read out in short segments whereas for highly academic writing, this will allow the content to be better digested.
Related to the Reading Unit is the Reading Mode. Whereas the unit is defined as the amount that is read, the reading mode is defined as how the reading unit is read. There are three modes that can be selected sorted by flow:

i. Word by word – the program will only read one word in the reading unit before stopping. The user will need to click the play button to read the next word. For example, even if the reading unit was set at the sentence level, the program would only read the first word of that sentence.

ii. Self-paced – the program will read the entirety of the unit whether that is the entire sentence or paragraph. Once the unit has been read, the program will stop reading and the user will have to click the play button to read the next unit.

iii. Continuous – when the unit has been read, the program will continue to read the next unit until all text in the file has been read.

There are four different languages that can be set: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

There are three areas where reading preferences can be set up. First, click on the text labelled “Read” in the top menu bar. This will expose various options including the Reading Speed, Read Mode, Read Unit, and Language. The second area is the Options menu which can be accessed by clicking the “Tools” text in the top menu bar and selecting Options from the drop-down menu. Within the Options window, select the Reading tab on the left to expose various settings that can be adjusted in the Reading pane that include language, voice, and reading speed with the ability to hear a sample of text read aloud based on the chosen preferences. The third and most comprehensive area for setting or making adjustments to the reading preferences is located in the Audio Options menu video (3 min) located in the top right-hand corner. Adjustments that can made in the Audio Options window include speed, voice, reading mode, reading unit, and language.

Once reading preferences have been set for the user’s specific needs, it is unlikely that these settings will need to be changed on a regular basis unless the nature of the text changes significantly.

2) Opening a document

There are three ways to open a document in Kurzweil to start the reading process:

i) From the Kurzweil 3000 home screen – click the open file icon in the Read area. The placement of an arrow in the bottom right hand corner of the icon indicates that this icon will trigger additional options that appear when clicked. Options for opening up a file include selecting from a file on the computer hard drive, a file uploaded to the Kurzweil Universal library, or a file stored in Google drive.

ii) From the Read tab on the ribbon – click the open file icon in the left toolbar. The placement of an arrow in the bottom right hand corner of the icon indicates that this icon will trigger additional options that appear when clicked. Options for opening up a file include selecting from a file on the computer hard drive, a file uploaded to the Kurzweil Universal library, or a file stored in Google drive.

iii) From the menu bar – select the text labelled “File” and select either, “Open” (from local computer), “Open from library” (Kurzweil Universal library), or “Open from Google Drive” (requires log in).

3) Managing documents

Kurzweil allows multiple documents to be open at the same time and there are various ways of managing open files:

i) Switching between documents – from the top menu bar, select the text labelled “Window” where all open documents will be shown at the bottom of the drop down menu and will be assigned a number based on the order in which they were open. Select any of the documents that are currently open by clicking on the document or press the number assigned to it.

ii) Displaying multiple documents – there are situations in which a user may wish to view multiple documents at the same time (while it is possible to display unlimited multiple windows at the same time, it is generally most effective with two documents). Having multiple documents open at the same time facilitates a multitude of functions including comparing and contrasting, notetaking (one document is the source reading and the other document is for typing or extracting notes), or creating citations. There are a number of ways to achieve this from the Window menu bar:

a. Cascade – this option will rearrange all open windows so that they are staggered in a way where the title of each document is visible. Click on the desired document to switch to it.

b. Tile Horizontally – this option will rearrange all open documents evenly in a horizontal display.

c. Tile Vertically – this option will rearrange all open documents evenly in a vertical display.

iii) Closing documents – either click the ‘x’ icon in the top right hand corner of each document, or to close all documents from the Windows menu bar, select “close” and choose “all windows”.

4) Navigating a document

Kurzweil provides a variety of ways to navigate a document:

i) Page navigation using the ribbon tools – page navigation icons are common to all tabs in the top ribbon area and consist of the previous or next buttons which advance or returns one page at a time. In addition, it is also possible to directly type in the page number directly in to the page field.

ii) Page navigation using the menu bar – from the top menu bar, select “View” and select “Page” from the drop-down menu. This will open up a side sub-menu with the options to go to the first, last, next (CTRL+E), previous (CTRL+R), or a specific user entered page (CTRL+G).

iii) Navigation using thumbnails – thumbnails are a pictorial representation of the pages of a document at a glance. While it is not usually a readable format, it may allow users to quickly identify the page that they are looking for and to go to that page by clicking on the thumbnail. Turn on the thumbnail view by clicking on the icon in the ribbon or by selecting the “Thumbnails” submenu item under the View category in the Menu bar. Additionally, the submenu will allow users to change the size of the individual thumbnails.

iv) Bookmarks – adding a bookmark can be convenient when a page needs to be frequently accessed. To add a bookmark, click on the Bookmark icon in the ribbon toolbar. Alternatively, from the “Tool” item in the menu bar, select “Bookmark” in the submenu (CTRL+F12). This will bring up the Bookmarks pane. Type a description of the page that is going to be bookmarked in the description field and click the “Add” button. Note that a red icon now appears on the page that is bookmarked. When multiple bookmarks have been added, pages can be sorted alphabetically by the description or in the reading order in which they appear in the document. To quickly navigate to a bookmarked page, select the bookmark followed by the “Go To” button.

5) Navigating a page video (6 min)

The display of each page can be configured in a variety of ways:

i) Display settings using the ribbon tools – display setting icons are common to all tabs in the top ribbon area and consist of the Zoom in, Zoom out, and the manual Zoom field in which a specific Zoom value can be entered or when clicked, a variety of pre-set options are available. These pre-set options include standard percentages as well as the height or width of the text on the page, the height or width of the physical page, or the use of a predetermined saved personal value (found in the General tab of the Options menu).

ii) Changing the Zoom magnification using the menu bar - from the top menu bar, select “View” and then “Zoom” from the drop-down menu. This will open up a side sub-menu with the options to Zoom in 10% (F7), Zoom out 10% (F8), Zoom to 100%, or Zoom to the user defined value <CTRL>+M.

iii) Fit the page to specified values – from the top menu bar, select “View” and then “Fit To” from the side sub-menu with the options of Text Height, Text Width (F5), Height, Width or the Page. Height, Width, and Page refer to the physical boundaries of the page whereas Text Height and Text Width refer to the boundaries of the text and ignores white spaces in the margins.

iv) Using the user defined Zoom value – users who have a specific Zoom value that meets their needs may find it cumbersome to constantly manually change the zoom value every time they navigate to a new page. As an alternative, it is possible to configure a pre-set Zoom value as a user default by clicking “tools” in the top menu bar, then selecting “Options” in the drop-down menu. In the Options window, select the General tab and enter the desired Zoom level into the “My Zoom Value” field under Miscellaneous.

v) To set the Zoom level to a specified value for every page without having to manually adjust it every time a page is turned, go into the Options window and select the Image tab on the left. Under the “Extras” section, select the desired value in the “Default Fit” field including the use of My Zoom if desired.

vi) Remember or forget page view settings - an additional setting can be adjusted in the top menu bar under “View” and selecting “Page View” from the side sub-menu. Selecting “Remember” will save the current display configurations so that the view remains the same when returning to the page. Selecting “Forget” will remove the current display configuration.

vii) Page thumbnail – particularly for users who require a large Zoom value, the entire page may not be shown and it may present difficulties around navigating on the page. By enabling the page thumbnail (select “View” from the top menu bar and then “Thumbnails” from the side sub-menu, enable the page thumbnail by clicking the text. A thumbnail of the page appears on the right side of the screen. The red rectangle represents the area of the page that is displayed. Navigate by either moving the red rectangle or by using the four directional arrows underneath the thumbnail to move the rectangle.

viii) Magnifying the spoken word video (40 sec) – an option this is available for those who have visual impairments is to have the current word that is spoken displayed in a separate window where the word is magnified. This window can be further configured (e.g. colour contrast or font type) by entering the Options menu (select “Tools” in the top menu bar then “Options”, followed by selecting the Magnifier tab.

ix) The page may require rotation – this can be achieved by selecting “View” in the top menu bar then “Rotate” in the side sub-menu.

6) Reading

i) Reading - position the cursor where you would like reading to start. Using the play controls in the Ribbon menu at the top of the screen, initiate reading by clicking the play button (or press F3). The program will start reading based on the parameters that were used in the set up. The reading unit will be highlighted in one colour while the word that is being read will be highlighted in a separate colour. When the reading unit has been completed, reading will stop if the read mode is set on Self-Paced. If the read mode is set on Continuous, reading will continue until there is no more text in the document to be read.

ii) Silent reading – some individuals may wish to make use of the highlighted text without having the words read aloud. This is possible in silent reading mode which is toggled on or off by clicking the blue icon in the play controls. Note that silent reading mode changes the appearance of the icon so that there is a diagonal line across the icon.

iii) Moving backwards (F2) or forward (F4) by reading unit – use the two directional double arrows to navigate forward one reading unit which is set in the Read Menu in the top menu bar. This will move the cursor forward or backwards either one word, phrase, line, sentence, or paragraph.

iv) Speed of reading – the speed in which the text is read aloud can be quickly adjusted in the Read Menu in the top menu bar using the increase (F11) or decrease (F12) controls in the side menu bar. These controls are also available in the Audio Options menu video (3 min) in the Top Ribbon Menu Bar.

7) Reading Tools

i) A number of tools are available in the left pre-set toolbar area which can be customized for the specific tasks. For example, toolbars exist for “Pleasure Reading”, “Research”, or “Vocabulary Building” among many others. The standard toolbar set for Reading is called “Default”. To load different toolbars, right click on the left toolbar area and click “Load a Toolbar Set” from the menu. Choose from one of the many options in the drop down menu and click “OK”. A warning will pop up asking to confirm whether you would like to navigate away from the current toolbar set and replace it with the selected toolbar.

Alternatively, individual tools can be added to an existing toolbar set to create a customized toolbar. Position the cursor where the tool is to be added and right click the mouse button. Select either “Insert before” or “Insert after” and find the desired tool to be inserted. Tools are organized in menus by function. Tools that already exist in the toolbar are shown in light grey whereas tools not yet added are in a darker grey. Delete tool icons that are no longer required by right clicking on the icon and selecting delete. Save customized toolbars by right clicking in the left toolbar area and selecting “Save a toolbar set” and giving it a unique name.

ii) Reading tools – the following tools may be useful during the reading process:

a. Highlighting video (53 sec) – six different coloured highlighting tools are available for marking up text. There are also blue and red circle tools video (42 sec) that can be used for multiple choice quizzes and a strike out tool. To use any of the highlighters, click on the highlight icon and select the desired colour/tool from the expanded menu. The main highlighting icon will be coloured and the cursor will be replaced with a highlighting symbol indicating that the tool is active. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the highlight cursor over the desired text to be highlighted.

b. Erase highlights – this tool removes any unwanted areas that were previously highlighted. Click on the erase highlight icon and holding down the left mouse button, drag the highlight cursor over the desired text to be erased.

c. Adding notes: a variety of notes, each of which serves different purposes, can be added to any document. Notes can be easily moved, edited or deleted.

To insert a note, first click on the note icon and then click on the desired location within the document where the note will be added. Alternatively, enter the “Notes” menu by clicking the “Tools” item from the top menu bar.

Notes can be moved by hovering the mouse cursor over the note until a four headed arrow appears. Alternatively, right click on the note and select “Move note”. Hold down the left mouse button and reposition the note.

Notes can be edited by clicking on an area within the note.

Delete a note by right clicking on the note and select “Delete note” or by clicking the note and hitting the <Delete> button on the keyboard or the delete icon in the left toolbar area.

Text notes and sticky notes have additional properties that can be configured by selecting “Note” in the Tools section of the top menu bar. In the side menu bar, select default note options (<CTRL>+F3), where properties such as font, font size, and text colour, background text colour (sticky notes only) can be configured.

i. Text note – A text note has a transparent background and does not stand out. It is typically used on forms or tests.

ii. Sticky note – a sticky note resembles a physical sticky note in real life. It is a note that is captured on a bright background that is easy to spot. It is typically used as a reminder. The sticky note will obscure any text behind it but the note can be easily moved.

iii. Voice note – A voice note has no text but is an audio recording. The audio recording is accessed by double clicking the voice note icon.

iv. Footnote – A footnote appears at the bottom of the page and is associated with a corresponding number placed next to text on the page.

d. Dictionary video (1 min) – words can be defined using the Dictionary tool. Click on the word to be defined and then click on the Dictionary icon. The definition will open up in a separate window which can be read aloud using the playback controls.

e. Picture dictionary – some but not all words can have an associated picture that can help further explain the meaning of the word. Click on the word to be defined and then click on the Picture Dictionary icon.

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