Making your computer speak using text to speech
Using text to speech software with your computer enables the user to have documents, emails and web pages read out loud
Reading web pages and other electronic documents
Although the world wide web provides us all with a valuable and vast information resource, it can be daunting to those who find reading difficult. However, with a text-to-speech program many web pages can be read aloud. The software will also scan text documents, emails, and even PDF files if they have been created in the right way. This means it is possible to use a computer to read back typed-in text that the user may otherwise struggle to comprehend. In addition, with some applications it is possible to have pages read aloud from books or worksheets that have been scanned and turned into editable text documents, using an optical character recognition (OCR) tool.
Proof-reading
Synthesised voices are wonderful for checking written work. As well as recognising spelling mistakes, speech output also helps spot the right word in the wrong place, missing words or duplicate words. Some applications highlight text as it is read aloud making it easier to identify where errors have occurred.
How Does a Computer Speak?
There are two ways: pre-recorded (digitised) and generated (synthesised) speech. Pre-recorded speech sounds the most natural but takes up a lot of disk space and can only read out what has already been recorded. It can't read out something that has just been written.
Synthesised speech is generated from text and is not limited by disk space. Both dyslexic and visually impaired people have found them to be a great leap forward in making text accessible. However, the latest high-quality voices have been specifically developed to sound more natural and many programs now let you train the speech engine to pronounce individual words correctly if required.
What Text-to-Speech Software is Available?
Text to speech software ranges from basic screen readers, which require you to copy and paste text into the window, to advanced packages for users needing additional support, which will read out menus and icons. Some packages also combine text-to-speech with OCR software to convert printed text into speech in one go. Specialist programs can include other features to help with reading, spelling and word finding. Below is a list of the most popular packages. Click on the product name to link through to the product page where you can find out more about the programs.
