A relative newcomer to the Web 2.0 scene Zap Reader reminds me of the reading class exercises I used to practice when I took reading classes in Middle School with Mrs. Cook. The premise of the tool is to focus and help people read more quickly. While I found the 300 words per minute speed a bit too quick for my liking (sorry, Mrs. Cook) I did like the fact that the speed is easily adjusted to a lower (or higher) speed. You can also adjust the style and font size and the number of words that will appear at one time. Zap Reader might also be useful if you work with students who have vision challenges since the font size can be adjusted. You can also select a white background with black text or black background with white text. Experiment with settings to see which setting works best for your students and watch the video below to learn more and think about whether this type of tool might help some of your slower readers pick up speed.
In a past post: Readability, I talked about how challenging it can be for some individuals to read web pages. Sometimes the text is small, the advertising can be distracting, etc. I recently found a free tool similar to the Readability application I reviewed called TidyRead.
“TidyRead provides both browser bookmarklet and add-on, which strips away all the extra stuff from news or blog article pages, leaving you with some nicely formatted text to read.” Installation of the bookmarklet was seamless (just drag and drop) and the product does a nice job of siphoning out the content of the page. There were some options that set this product a step above Readability (and I thought Readability was great…still do), especially if you are working with students who are visually impaired. TidyRead includes a toolbar at the top of the converted page that allows you to change background color and text color for contrast that can be individualized to the reader. The toolbar also allows the reader to enlarge or decrease the font size. In addition, each paragraph is numbered so that a teacher could direct students to a specific paragraph and they could easily find it. Readers can even change the font style and direction of the text. It struck me that this would also be a great tool to use when showing students a site on an interactive whiteboard…the text could be adjusted for easier reading from the back of the room. Learn more about this terrific product as you view TidyRead video below and by all means visit their site and start using this valuable tool you will not be disappointed!
Read the Words.com is a limited free web-based service that can be used to help students who have visual problems or trouble reading. The service can be used to generate a clear sounding audio file from almost any written material. You can write text, or copy text from another file, and paste it into a text box. Read the Words.com also features a file upload section, where you can upload any Microsoft office document, Adobe PDF, txt, or HTML document. You can input a website address, or RSS feed url, and have that read as well. Select from 15 voices, using a dropdown list with samples of each reader’s voice. You can hear a sample before you create your reading.
You can download any of the sound readings to your computer, ipod, or mp3 player. Listen from any computer and/or embed a saved file to your website, blog or embed the file in an email. I have included an embedded reading of this blog below and have posted a video that you can watch to learn more. Oh…and by the way, this tool will also reads Spanish and French. You must enter text in that respective language and choose a reader that reads Spanish and French. Next to each reader in the drop down list that states the language in which the reader is fluent. Please keep in mind the recordings you create using this application are for personal use only…not for resale. In addition, the free version of this tool only records up to 30 seconds of text to speech and you are limited to three sound recordings before you have to upgrade your account. Generally, I do not recommend any service that requires payment, but the pricing of this product was very reasonable ($20 to $35 a year depending on the membership you select).
Another text to speech resource that you may want to check out prior to purchasing an application is SitePal. You can copy and paste text in the application to try it out free of charge. Teach students how to copy and paste words they don’t know how to read/pronounce. Then, compare and contrast various systems prior to purchasing. Click on the image below to go to experience SitePal free of charge…
It’s ironic that I keep thinking I have completed this post and then stumble across another tool I would like to share. I Speech is another text-to-speech tool that you may want to investigate. The free version of this program requires registration, but no email verification. Once you have an account you can translate up to 100,000 words a month and can convert text to speech from documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, .pdf files, etc.), websites, or text you insert in the translator. The free membership allows only one voice option. I appreciated the ease with which you could embed a converted file on a blog or webpage (see my sample below), download a soundclip, or listen to converted files online. There are various options and prices available if you choose to upgrade your account. The file i converted is my entry essay for graduate school written in 1995…I chose it randomly and found it was pretty funny to look back on what my technology vision for the future was fourteen years ago (my how times flies when you are having fun!)…
Additional text to speech applications that I have reviewed in past posts include…
Hey, nice post, really well written. You should post more about this.