Assistive Software

Text Aloud

Text Aloud from Nextup.com converts text to speech allowing the user to hear a document being read. The effectiveness of this product depends on the quality of the voice used. There are default Windows voices on most computers but these will not be of a high enough quality to be effective with Text Aloud.

Better quality voices are available from a number of sources including: AT&T Natural voices, acapela and Realspeak.

Using TextAloud

Text Aloud can be downloaded from www.nextup.com. Once downloaded the program can be run by clicking on the desktop icon:

Text Aloud allows learners to hear a piece they have written or read a piece of text. It can also be useful in highlighting mistakes. Text Aloud can also be added to the Internet Explorer toolbar and can read web pages by highlighting the text on the page and then clicking on the read button

This will also include the option to change the voice. ( if you don’t see the Text Aloud bar on the tool bar go to VIEW –TOOLBARS- then click the check box beside Text Aloud)

Using Text Aloud to read text

Using Text Aloud to read web page text.

Word Talk

WordTalk is a free plug-in developed for use with all versions of Microsoft Word (from Word 97 upwards), which can help people with reading difficulties use Microsoft Word more effectively. It will speak the text of the document and will highlight it as it goes. It contains a talking dictionary to help decide which word spelling is most appropriate. It sits neatly in your toolbar and is highly configurable, allowing you to adjust the highlight colours, the voice and the speed of the speech.

Word Talk can be downloaded free from http://www.wordtalk.org.uk

Using Word Talk

Open Microsoft Word

In earlier versions of Word the Word Talk toolbar will sit with the other tool bars at the top of the page: In Word 2007 this toolbar can be accessed by clicking on the Add-Ins Tab at the top of the page:

To run word talk

Open the document you want to read then click on the read button.

Tiny spell

Occasionally you need to check spelling in an application that does not include a spelling checker and you don't want to launch your word processor just for that. This is when tinySpell becomes handy. It is a small utility that allows you to easily and quickly check and correct the spelling in any application including e-mail and Internet Explorer.
tinySpell can watch your typing on the fly and alert you whenever it detects a misspelled word. It can also check the spelling of text that you copy to the clipboard.
tinySpell installs itself in the system tray for easy access.

Tinyspell 1.7 (Free) Can be downloaded from http://tinyspell.m6.net

Tinyspell works any time you are typing and indicates a mistake by making a sound, to correct a mistake click on the tinyspell icon in the system tray.

Ghotit

Ghotit offers unique writing and reading online services for people who suffer from dyslexia, or people who are not native-English speakers.

NOTE: Ghotit now offers a download of the program which can be added to Microsoft Word.

It is the best spell checker available at the moment because it has audio which reads the spelling options: