MyStudyBar is a floating toolbar of free open source applications that can be downloaded and then easily installed on a flash drive for use on any Windows computer. In his introductory video overview, developer Craig  Mill makes the important point that although these applications are intended primarily for learners with “literacy difficulties”, the tools have the potential to support ALL learners.  To this proponent of UDL, Craig’s statement really resonates.

The MyStudyBar toolbar offers applications for mind mapping, screen masking, word prediction, a talking dictionary, text to speech, and voice recognition.  (The voice recognition requires the built-in speech recognition that comes with Windows Vista or Windows 7.)  I’ve embedded Craig Mill’s overview video here.  In follow up posts, I’ll discuss each of the tools on MyStudyBar.

It is worth mentioning, that MyStudyBar does not have to be run from a flash drive.  It can also be installed on any PC and run from the desktop.

For reading online content with Internet Explorer, the best option I’ve found is the free Natural Reader toolbar, which will also read in Microsoft Outlook, OpenOffice, Google Docs, etc.  A huge bonus with Natural Reader is that this software is available for both the PC and Mac. I believe the best text-to-speech option for reading content in Microsoft Word, at least on a PC, is the free and versatile WordTalk toolbar.

Free online text-to-speech options include AudioPal, iSpeech, YaKiToMe, vozMe, and probably more.   Today I want to write about the  downloadable stand alone option that is included as part of the AccessApps suite that can be run on any PC from a pen drive.

DSpeech is free text-to-speech software for the PC, that offers a set of useful features in an intuitive user interface.  DSpeech is similar im many respects to ReadPlease (2003) and Speakonia, which I wrote about here more than three and a half years ago.   Overall, I think DSpeech would be my top pick of the three.  Of course, the only opinion that really counts is that of the user, so please try all three.

With DSpeech, text can either be typed directly into DSpeech, or it can be pasted in from the clipboard.  A plugin is available for opening pdf files in DSpeech. DSpeech creator Dimio’s website indicates that DSpeech is available in 13 languages besides English.

With DSpeech, it’s easy to change the voice, volume, pitch and reading rate while reading.   I was pleased to note that DSpeech automatically used my default text-to-speech voice. A set of keyboard shortcuts has been pre-programmed.  DSpeech will turn text into audio files (MP3, WAV, or OGG).

I didn’t test this feature, but apparently you can combine voices when text includes dialogue between characters.  A basic voice recognition system has also been built into DSpeech, and this enables the user to construct a dialogue in which he or she participates.

Here’s a view of the DSpeech user interface.

]]> http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2010/01/25/d-speech-text-to-speech-on-access-apps/feed/ 2 http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2008/02/16/accessibar-firefox-add-on/ http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2008/02/16/accessibar-firefox-add-on/#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2008 03:51:38 +0000 Paul Hamilton http://paulhami.edublogs.org/2008/02/16/accessibar-firefox-add-on/ Continue reading →]]> I wish classroom educators were not so stuck on using Internet Explorer. Firefox is a superior web browser in almost every respect, and this is especially true for individuals with special needs. Kate Ahern recently mentioned another add-on for Firefox that offers a set of convenient tools to enhance accessibility.

Accessibar is a toolbar that can be installed as an add-on for the Firefox browser with a set of tools to make the internet more accessible for people with special needs. Accessibar is especially useful for those with low vision. As with all toolbar icons in Firefox, the toolbar shown below can include text that names the function of the icon. All of the Accessibar functions can also be activated with keyboard shortcuts that can be configured by the user.

In the words of the toolbar’s developers, here’s what the Accessibar tools will do for you.

• Web page fonts and background colors can be changed from a selecton of 70 colors on current session
• Icons with configurable shortcut keys to increase and decrease Font size.
• Line spacing can be increased or decreased to five different spacing settings incrementally.
• All images (including Flash) displayed on a web page can be selected as being hiden or shown.
• All changes made to web page display can be restored to original page settings by pressing “Restore Page“.
• Changes made to the currently displayed web page persist until “Restore Page“ is selected.
• Integrated Text To Speech reader. Reads out strings hovered over as well as focused elements.
• Reader settings can be configured allowing the selection of the voice, volume, speaking rate, pitch, and voice range.
• Toolbar functions have configurable Hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts).

I tested Accessibar’s text-to-speech function, and I found it to work reasonably well. It does an especially good job of reading links and buttons. As a sighted reader, however,I much prefer to use CLiCk,Speak for reading passages of text. I wonder if it might be the same for individuals with low vision if they are able to use Accessibar’s tools to enable them to see the web page effectively. I added the CLiCk,Speak buttons to the Accessibar toolbar. The only drawback is that there are no keyboard commands for the CLiCk,Speak buttons.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

About 3 years ago, my son told me I should get with the program and switch to Firefox. Since then, I’ve become a diehard fan and promoter of the browser. Because I work in the field of assistive technology, I especially appreciate the add-ons that have been written for Firefox to make the internet more accessible for people with special challenges. I’ve written here about CLiCkSpeak, FireVox, and Mouse Gestures. Today I’m highlighting a website whose sole focus is the accessiblity features of Firefox.

Access Firefox The raison d’etre for this site is clearly stated in its tagline: “Because the Internet is for everyone.” That resonates with me. The internet has created gateways to the world and facilitated connections that simply had not been available to many people with special needs before.

Access Firefox has catologued a significant list of Firefox extensions and themes that enhance Firefox accessiblity. The site offers assistance for anyone who needs to figure out how to download and install these add-ons. Access Firefox is also doing its bit to promote ongoing development of add-ons that facilitae access.

Ken Saunders, the site’s creator, is legally blind; and the majority of resources listed on Access Firefox are for individuals who are either blind or who have low vision. CLiCkSpeak, however, is an example of an add-on for sighted individuals with reading challenges. Mouse Gestures is an add-on that makes the internet accessible to individuals with physical challenges that keep them from using a typical hand-operated mouse.

The accessibility features that are being written for Firefox illustrate the power of open source software and of communities that form in response to specific needs.

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FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Today I’m featuring a remarkable resource that has been made available to the world by a school in Courtenay, British Columbia. This online library is a tribute to the vision, talent and effort of Stewart Savard, the school’s librarian. It so happens that Courtenay is where I live, and it’s an honour to know Stew, and to get to work with him on occasion.

Courtenay Middle School Library (online resource) The growing collection of digital resources housed on this Vancouver Island middle school’s website is truly remarkable. In addition to some resources that you can download, there’s an extensive and well organized catalogue of links to some of the very best online resources available anywhere.

There is much of value here to middle school learners and their teachers everywhere. By virtue of the multiple ways that users can access material on the site, and because of way the library identifies the reading level of the material, the library is built firmly on UDL principles. (UDL= Universal Design for Learning)

Downhill skiing has provided the model for rating the degree of reading challenge for each catelogued item, as illustrated below:

Material is organized by unit under main subject headings and sub-headings. For example, under Social Studies, there are four main sub-headings: History; Current Events; Geography; Research Topics. Under History, you then find the following units: Ancient China; Ancient Egypt; Ancient Greece; Early Humans; Indian Empires; Mesopotamia; Middle Ages; Mongol Empire; Renaissance; Roman Empire. For each of these units, resources are organized under a helpful Table of Contents.

There’s a terrific Free Audio Book collection, with links to audio files of recorded human readers. There’s also a collection of novels available for “Assisted Reading“. The latter includes text files that can be downloaded for use with e-text reading software, as well as some KESI files that open in Kurzweil 3000. KESI files are available to download for some of the material catalogued under other subject headings as well.

There is much more at Courtenay Middle School’s online library, but no description I offer would do it justice. It needs to be explored and used to be fully appreciated.

PowerTalk (downloadable program) PowerTalk will read aloud the text included in any Windows PowerPoint (2000 or later) presentation, at least through Windows XP. (I haven’t had the opportunity to test it in VISTA yet, but I’ll have even more reason to be offended with VISTA if it does not work there!) PowerTalk is a wonderful tool for anyone who is unable to narrate his or her own presentations.

PowerTalk is straightforward to download and install, and it is just as easy to use. All you do is right-click on the shortcut to a presentation and then select “Narrate with PowerTalk“. PowerTalk reads both the text that appears on the screen as well as hidden text that is attached to images. Helpfully, PowerTalk waits for text to appear and for animations to run their course before speaking the text.

PowerTalk automatically uses your default Windows voice. So, if you use PowerPoint extensively, it might be worth your while to purchase a high quality voice. These readily available downloads normally cost about US$30.

PowerTalk is a completely free open source add-on that has been developed by Fullmeasure Open Source Assistive Technology Software.

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I’m very impressed with the free software I’m featuring today, and I find it hard to believe that I had never heard of it until this week. Many thanks to Kerry Randle for the tip! As I see it, WordTalk is a quintessential UDL tool. Microsoft Word has become ubiquitous in schools around the world, and WordTalk has the potential to improve access to reading and writing for many students. This is a productivity tool with applications across the curriculum.

WordTalk (downloadable program) This free plug-in enables text in any Microsoft Word document to be read aloud. As a useful bonus, WordTalk also comes with a talking spell checker and thesaurus. The simplicity of WordTalk’s toolbar makes it highly accessible, and the toolbar’s functions are easy to configure for individual preferences. To further enhance accessibility, the software comes pre-programmed with keyboard commands.

WordTalk reads by word, sentence, or by paragraph. Or, it will read continuously from wherever you place the cursor in a document. When you ask WordTalk to read, the selected reading unit is highlighted, and then each word within that unit is highlighted in another colour as it is read. By default, WordTalk uses SAPI 5 voices, and these can be downloaded with the program if they are not already on your computer. Other commercially available voices, however, seem to work flawlessly.

The first screenshot below shows WordTalk’s toolbar in the context of the MSWord interface. The second shot shows the functions of the toolbar buttons. The third screenshot shows the interface of the talking spell checker. (Click to enlarge the thumbnail, and use your browser’s back arrow to return to this page.)

WordTalk has been developed by Rod Macaulay of TASSC in Aberdeen, Scotland. The program is promoted by the CALL Centre. The documentation for installing the plug-in is clear and well illustrated. Installation instructions are provided for both standalone and networked computers. Also available from the WordTalk site is a helpful presentation entitled, “WordTalk: Enabling Access to Curriculum Resources for Students with Additional Support Needs”. This presentation is available for download in html, PowerPoint, and PDF formats.

WordTalk installs in any version of Word from Word 97 on. Installation is not difficult, but it is important to follow the instructions carefully. WordTalk runs only in Windows.

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Here’s another powerful Firefox extension from Charles L. Chen, the developer who has also given us Fire Vox (see previous post). This extension is designed to make the web more accessible to sighted individuals who need assistance with reading.

CLiCk, Speak (downloadable Firefox extension) CLiCk, Speak reads aloud any web page that is open in Firefox. The interface is incredibly simple and straightforward. There are just three mouse-activated buttons–one to read selected text, one to begin reading wherever the cursor is placed, and another to stop reading. To facilitate tracking, CLiCk, Speak, highlights each sentence as it is read. I have downloaded and installed this extension, and have found it to work very smoothly indeed.

CLiCk, Speak adds a toolbar to the Firefox browser. Since there are only 3 buttons on the toolbar, these buttons can easily be added to any other Firefox toolbar by using Firefox’s customize toolbar option. This means it isn’t necessary to have the entire CLiCk, Speak toolbar open when you want to have CLiCk, Speak available.

Charles L. Chen, the developer of CLiCk, Speak, is doing a great job of supporting this extension. His website provides an installation guide and a user’s manual. Charles also offers helpful information on purchasing and downloading alternative voices–for reading in English as well as in several other languages.

The code for CLiCk, Speak is open source and made availble free of charge. CLiCk,Speak would not even be possible if Firefox itself were not open source. Open source code is tremendously helpful for those working to make the computer more accessible.

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The reasons for switching from IE to Firefox are too numerous to count. Fire Vox is one more excellent reason. Because Firefox is open source software, developers are encouraged to create extensions to make it more accessible. Fire Vox is a Firefox extension designed to make the web accessible for folks who are visually impaired.

Fire Vox (downloadable Firefox extension) This Firefox extension is essentially a screen reader that works seamlessly when browsing with Firefox so the user always has a live view of the web page. Charles L. Chen, the creator of Fire Vox, sums up what if offers as follows:

“In addition to the basic features that are expected of screen readers, such as being able to identify headings, links, images, etc. and providing navigational assistance, Fire Vox provides support for MathML and CSS speech module properties. It also works on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.”

For those of us who are light dependent, Fire Vox offers a very helpful feature. It highlights text that is being read. This is great for sighted educators. It may also be useful for individuals with low vision.

Charles L. Chen seems to be doing an excellent job of supporting Fire Vox. His accessible website offers an installation guide, tutorials, and a user’s manual. He says he’s also committed to keeping Fire Vox as up to date as possible.

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Here is another free etext reader that works effectively, and it has particularly impressed me. This one is not a demo or partial version. Even if you are already familiar with another etext reader, you may find it worthwhile to have a look at Speakonia. I’ve listed it on my Productivity page.

Speakonia (downloadable program) is a free text-to-speech etext reader built using Microsoft Speech Technology. Speakonia offers considerable flexibility and several useful features. You can copy and paste text into the Speakonia interface and have that text read to you. Or, you can have Speakonia read any highlighted text. Speakonia also offers a “Read the Web” feature, but I find that it works best to highlight text on a webpage and then have the text read. By dragging the bottom of the interace up, Speakonia can be collapsed on your screen to leave a convenient toolbar. This “toolbar” can be positioned wherever you wish on the desktop while highlighted text is read. You then have access to buttons that allow you to pause and resume reading at will. You can choose from standard Microsoft voices and adjust both pitch and reading rate. Speakonia even gives you the option of saving text as audio wav files.

Speakonia can also be used as an invaluable editing tool for your own writing. You can type directly into the Speakonia interface and then hear it read what you have written. You can either save what you have written as a text file or copy and paste it into a document in another program. Speakonia has been developed by CFS Technologies, and you can download the program from their website.

This program runs in Windows only.