Information and links in this LibGuide were compiled by:
Robert David Dawson, Ph.D., CRC
Associate Professor, USC Counseling and Rehabilitation Program
Text and Web readers are programs or extensions, which enable a user to hear the information on the screen. Text and Web readers can be found embedded in many applications such as Microsoft Office products and Adobe reader. Some Text and Web readers programs need be downloaded or extensions used in combination with an existing website.
Adobe Reader
Steps to hearing Adobe Reader on a Windows computer
Open the document
Click on the view and go to the bottom of the screen to the text that says Read out Loud.
Click activate Read out Loud
Choose reading format. A user can choose to read one page, all pages, or may click on the text in which they were read.
To stop or pause reader click on the view and go to the bottom of the screen to the text that says Read out Loud.
Microsoft Office Reader
Microsoft office version 2010 or later has a Text-to-speech (TTS) feature. Text-to-speech (TTS) is the ability of your computer to play back written text as spoken words. Depending upon your configuration and installed TTS engines, you can hear most text that appears on your screen in Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/using-the-speak-text-to-speech-feature-HA102066711.aspx
Steps to add Speak to the Quick Access Toolbar
You can add the Speak command to your Quick Access Toolbar by doing the following:
Next to the Quick Access Toolbar, click Customize Quick Access Toolbar.
Click More Commands.
In the Choose commands from list, select All Commands.
Scroll down to the Speak command, select it, and then click Add.
Click OK.
When you want to use the text-to-speech command, click the icon on the Quick Access Toolbar.
After you have added the Speak command to your Quick Access Tool, you can hear single words or blocks of text spoken by highlighting the text you want to hear, and then clicking the Speak command. ChromeVox Web ReaderChromeVox Web reader
Can also be found in Google Web Store
ChromeVox is a screen reader for Chrome which brings the speed, versatility,. ChromeVox is available as an extension for Google Chrome on Windows and Mac OS and comes built into Chrome OS to provide out of box accessibility. The information below should help you setup ChromeVox in your environment. This program has been used successfully with library searches, blackboard, Gmail and Google doc papers.
Unless there is in an extension manager on the desktop it will have to be turned on and off manually through the extension menus.
Click on chrome main menu
Click on settings
Click on extensions
Click on check the box enable .
At this point you should be able to hear ChromeVox speaking. You should be able to navigate and select areas of the web for chrome to speak aloud.
To turn off ChromeVox
Click on settings
Click on extensions
Click on unchecked the box enable .
