1. Listen Up: Overview of Text to Speech Software Dan Comden University of Washington

2. Whenver you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of influence, try ordering someone else’s dog around. - Unknown

3. outline  Why  Platforms  Apps  What UW uses  What I missed (What you use)

4. why TTS?  Academic texts  Ancillary/Adjunct reading  Recreational reading  ESL  Other?

5. platforms  Handheld  iOS  Everything else  Mac  Windows

6. apps – everything else  Zip, zilch, nada  (not really)  Android – TalkBack  Mantano, Book Place, blio, Moon+  FB Reader, MultiReader  Blackberry Text ‘nDrive (what?)  Others?

7. apps -iOS  Google Books – only ePUB format will work with VoiceOver  iBooks – VoiceOver, other tools?  Others?

8. mac OS Built-in  TextEdit Add-on  Read:OutLoud  Snap&Read floating toolbar  Read&Write toolbar  NaturalReader

9. windows  K-3000, WYNN  Read:OutLoud  Read&Write  ClaroRead  UltraHal  NaturalReader (free and paid)  Balabolka  TextAloud  Narrator…

10. too big to fail? (no)  K-3000  WYNN  Great for K-12, not so much for higher ed

11. mid range  ClaroRead  Read&Write

12. low cost  Text Aloud  NaturalReader Personal/Professional/Ultimate

13. free  Balabolka  NaturalReader (free version)  UltraHal  (ReadPlease discontinued)

14. UltraHal (free)  zabaware.com  Unique highlighting @ bottom of window  Converts into.WAV only  Auto-reads dialogs  Mouse only – no keyboard shortcuts  Beware of Adware/Malware w CNET download

15. Balabolka  The Chatterer is free!  Supports spell checking, skins,  Uses any unlocked SAPI voice  Focus indication by color  MP3 creation  Sketchy keyboard and OS integration (shortcuts, cut and paste)

16. TextAloud  Reasonable price  Group/site licenses available  Custom audio processing, different voices  Creates MP3, other formats Batch Processing Firefox plugin

17. NaturalReader  Lots of options  Save to mp3 feature (paid)  Free version works for many  Easy to distribute, uses installed SAPI

19. outside the box  ZoomText  MAGic  Other tools?

20. what UW uses  ClaroRead  NaturalReader (Free)  ZoomText  JAWS/VoiceOver  On deck: Read&Write and NVDA  *All supported by local OCR & DRS

21. what you use (what did I miss?)  (+3) Ginger - spell and grammar checker – Clockwork booth  NaturallySpeaking Read That Back feature  ClaroSpeak – iOS available now  VoiceDreamReader masking reader (sounds cool!)

22. Demos  ClaroRead  NaturalReader  TextAloud