How to Use the Read Aloud Extension

1. The Read Aloud extension is available by clicking the puzzle-shaped icon located to the right of the URL address bar at the top of the screen.  If you want to keep the Read Aloud extension's icon visible at all times, click the puzzle-shaped icon.  From the dropdown menu, click the Pin icon next to the Read Aloud extension.

2. The Read Aloud extension will now stay visible to the right of the URL address bar.  The extension's icon looks like a megaphone.

3. To enable the Read Aloud extension, simply open a website that you want read aloud to you.  Then click the Read Aloud extension.  A small dashboard containing a play button and a settings button will appear.

4. You can adjust the settings on the Read Aloud extension by clicking the Setting gear icon.

5. Here you see the various options that can be adjusted to suit your needs.

6. The Voice setting allows you to select a male or female voice from a variety of choices.  The Offline Voices section contains all voices speaking English. 

7. You can also adjust the Speed of the voice playback.  Just slide the bar left to slow it down and right to speed up the sound.

8. Repeat these steps to adjust the Pitch and Volume.

9. The Text Highlighting feature automatically highlights each individual passage of text as it is being read to you.  The student can see the text in highlight as the voice reads each word.  To adjust the Text Highlighting, click the dropdown menu and select one of three options:  Turn off, Show in popup, and Show in a separate window.

10. The Show in pop-up option opens a box that shows the highlighted text as it is read to you.  

11. The Show in a separate window option opens a small window tab in the middle of the page.  You can open this window to make it full screen.

12. The Turn-off option simply shows a small box with the Pause, Stop, rewind, and fast foward options.  No highlighted text will be seen on the screen in this option.

Using Read Aloud on PDF Files:

1.Download the PDF document that you want the Read Aloud extension to read to your computer.

2. Open the downloaded PDF file.

3. Open the Read Aloud extension by clicking the puzzle piece icon or, if you have already pinned the Read Aloud extension to your taskbar, click the extension itself.

4. Click Choose File.

5. In the Downloads folder on your device, select the downloaded PDF file from the list of available files.

6. The PDF opens in a new window within the Read Aloud extension.

7. Click the Read Aloud extension again to open the program.

8. The Read Aloud extension automatically begins reading the text from the PDF file. 

9. Click the Pause or Stop buttons to stop the audio.  You can also highlight any part of the text that you want read aloud to you.

10. When you close the Read Aloud extension, a small tab located in the top left corner of your screen remains in place in case you want to use the extension again on another website or PDF file.  This tab automatically closes after 5 minutes of no activity.