Overview of Text to Speech: Ja Medlicott NCATP AT Consultant “Getting the computer to read your printed document out loud”Getting the computer to read your printed document out loud”

Text to Speech This presentation will review options for using the computer to read text

Text Reader “Text-to-Speech software is used to convert words from a computer document (e.g. word processor document, web page) into audible speech spoken through the computer speaker”audible speech

Reasons for Using a Text Reader Visual Issue (Difficulty seeing text) Cognitive Issue ( Low reading level/comprehension) Motor Issue (Difficulty handling a book or paper)

Text Reader: Will only read text Screen Reader: For navigation purposes will read both what is on a computer desktop and will also read textdesktop Text Reader vs. Screen Reader Today we are focusing only on Text Readers!

Forms of Text E text Most of the text you see on your computer Examples: Internet, , Word Document, E Books Paper text Any text is printed on paper Examples: Newspaper, Book, Magazine Most people ask for help with printed text. They want a book they have to be placed on the computer

How to get Printed Text into your Computer Scan A scanner takes a picture of the document A scanned document is a picture first! Example Scan Text.jpgScan Text.jpg

Can a text reader read a picture? It can not! Must have additional software to change or format it into a text file or document This software is called OCR Optical Character Recognition

OCR Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Converts the scan picture of text into a true text file or document. Most scanners you buy today come with their own OCR software

Example of My Scanner OCR Software Scanned Text Converted Text File

Better OCR SimpleOCR 3 (Free)SimpleOCR 3 Example OmniPage 15 ($150)OmniPage 15 ABBYY FineReader ($400)ABBYY FineReader

Scanner Issues A flatbed scanner produces a spine shadow or text distortion Cutting a book …damages it and page order is a issue

Better Scanners OpticBook 3600 ($240)OpticBook 3600 Zoom Ex ($2400)Zoom Ex Scanning is time consuming and labor intensive! …..Maybe

Forms of Text E text Most of the text you see on your computer Examples: Internet, , Word Document, E Books Paper text Any text is printed on paper Examples: Newspaper, Book, Magazine

Types of Text Readers Free Versions Uses “free” computer sounding voicescomputer sounding voices Reads e text that is on your computer Fee Base Versions Have human sounding voiceshuman sounding voices Reads e text and some have OCR software

Speech Engine A speech engine is what your computer uses to convert text into speech Sometimes called a speech synthesizer or text-to-speech (TTS) It gives you computer a voice

Text-To-speech (TTS) “Voice” Resources

Free Text Readers NaturalReader (100 Character Limit) reviewNaturalReader review ReadPlease reviewReadPlease review WordTalk ReviewWordTalk Review Adobe Reader reviewAdobe Reader review Microsoft Reader reviewMicrosoft Reader review Bookshelf ReviewBookshelf Review

Commercial Text Readers Natural Reader Professional/Enterprise WYNN Premier Assistive Technology TextOutloud Kurzweil 3000

How to choose a Text Reader What are you using it for Vision Cognition Motor

E- Libraries www North Carolina's Digital Media LibraryNorth Carolina's Digital Media Library www Universal Library Project. www Internet Public Library (7,700 books) www Linklist "Other Online Text Collections" at ipl.org www Athena authors & text English, France, Italian... www Baen www UVa Electronic Text Center. 20,000 books www The William Morris Homepage www Alex: A Catalogue of Electronic Texts on the Internet www California Digital Library www Bibliomania www BannedBooks www Guttenberg (www) www Romantic Circles: University of Maryland and elsewhere Byron, the Shelley's, Keats, and their contemporaries. www The American Verse Project: 35 volumes of American verse prior to 1920 www Project Bartleby at Columbia University: a collection of 38 authors www University of Chicago Philosophy Project www Greatest books worldwide. Current list of the top 100 books. www Isaac Newton www Library Project.Internet Public Library (7,700 books)Linklist "Other Online Text Collections" at ipl.orgAthena authors & textBaenUVa Electronic Text Center. 20,000 booksThe William Morris HomepageAlex: A Catalogue of Electronic Texts on the InternetCalifornia Digital LibraryBibliomaniaBannedBooksGuttenberg (www)Romantic Circles: University of Maryland and elsewhereThe American Verse Project: 35 volumes of American verse prior to 1920Project Bartleby at Columbia University: a collection of 38 authorsUniversity of Chicago Philosophy ProjectGreatest books worldwide. Current list of the top 100 books.Isaac Newtonhttp://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/makeauthorpage

E books http:// Go to Google a type in E books

Questions This PowerPoint presentation will be on the NCATP web site next week.