I just came across a video I made a couple of years ago about CLiCk,Speak.  I’d forgotten all about it.  That has prompted me to repeat a post I wrote about CLiCk,Speak in June of 2008.  The resolution isn’t great, but I think the video does a pretty good job of demonstrating CLiCk,Speak in action and of showing how to install it.  I’ve embedded the video at the conclusion of the post.

CLiCk,Speak is a FREE tool that I believe needs to be available to ALL learners who have any reason to go online. It is a powerful tool, and one that is extremely easy to use for anyone who can use a mouse. The CLiCk,Speak toolbar installs with three buttons, as shown here.

In order to have text from a web page read aloud, simply place the cursor where you want to begin reading and click the green button. To stop reading aloud, click the red button. If you wish to read a selection of text, click the white button after selecting the desired text.

Under the Firefox ‘Tools’ Menu is an item called ‘CliCk,Speak Options’. You are able to adjust the reading rate and the pitch of the voice here.

As I repeat frequently, if schools are truly interested in supporting all learners, there is no excuse for continuing to insist on using Internet Explorer. If schools are really interested in trying to facilitate universal access, Firefox is a far superior browser because it is so much more accessible for countless learners. There is absolutely no monetary cost for using Firefox, but the potential to help learners with reading challenges is priceless!

When he set it up, I doubt if Gary Bishop could have foreseen the phenomenal growth that Tar Heel Reader would achieve.   This amazing online collection of accessible “books for beginning readers of all ages” has grown to 5805 titles!  Beautifully illustrated with images from Flickr, these books are truly engaging for a wide range of readers.

In the context of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Tar Heel Reader books are accessible to ALL learners.   Almost all of the titles are ‘age-appropriate’ for learners of any age.  The books can be read and/or listened to online.  They can be accessed with a mouse, with up to three switches, or via overlays on Intellikeys.  As well, the books can be downloaded quickly and easily for use offline.  Here’s a video that shows how a switch user might read a Tar Heel book either online or offline.

PowerTalk is a free add-on that provides text-to-speech for PowerPoint files, and it works brilliantly with Tar Heel Reader books when downloaded as PowerPoint files.  The experience of reading a Tar Heel Reader book is enhanced tremendously when viewed as a full screen slide show and when narrated with PowerTalk.  It’s even better if a quality voice has been installed on your computer for text-to-speech.

Excellent voices can be purchased and downloaded from NextUp, and elsewhere, for about $30.  If you already have a good voice because it has come with another program, this voice can be set as the default for all text-to-speech on your computer.  For example, VW Paul is the default voice on my computer because I have Kurzweil 3000.  The default is set in ‘Speech’ at the Control Panel.

I have downloaded a sampling of about 70 Tar Heel Reader books as PowerPoint files.  If you would like to have these, you can download them in a zipped file HERE.  Also included in the folder is an executable file for installing PowerTalk.  I hope you find this helpful.

I have made and embedded a short video below, that demonstrates opening and reading a downloaded Tar Heel Reader story with PowerTalk.  This is exactly as it looks and sounds for me when I use PowerTalk with a downloaded Tar Heel Reader book.  Narration begins automatically on the title page, but the reader chooses to move through the pages of the book at his or her own pace.  I used the right-arrow key to move through the pages.