[Athen] Mac apps for reading

Maria Bohn mbohn at bergen.edu
Mon Aug 31 12:55:26 PDT 2015


Thank you so much for this Wink! I could not find anything except the
Natural Reader and I suggested the student try the free version first but
as you suggested wanted him to try different apps to find one that he
feels works best for him. Thank you again

Maria Bohn
Senior Resource Accommodation Specialist
Assistive Technology
Office of Specialized Services
Bergen Community College




On 8/31/15, 3:46 PM, "Wink Harner" <foreigntype at gmail.com> wrote:


>Hi Maria et al ATHENITES,

>

>There are several free text to speech apps for Macs. One is available

>through the accessibility features built into the Mac called just that:

>text-to-speech. Some apps that help with reading disabilities:

> - Ghost Reader: ($24.99 - not free)

>http://www.convenienceware.com/ghostreader

> - Natural Reader: http://www.naturalreaders.com/index.html

> - Text 2 Speech:

>https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/text2speech/id467038962?mt=12

> - Cepstral: http://www.cepstral.com/

>

>I've included links to make it easier to try them out. My suggestion is

>that

>you give the student several to try and let them pick. Also included is

>the

>link for the Cepstral voices. The student should try out both a male & a

>female voice and adjust the speed pitch and volume of several before they

>decide which one sits in the best. If you try this out while the student

>is

>in the office you can watch their faces to determine which one is the best

>fit. They will squinch (technical term) up their face & squeeze their

>eyebrows together on voices that they find difficult to listen to, and

>with

>voices that are pleasant, their faces relax. If you want to improve the

>reading/listening experience, have them try several voices and choose the

>one that is the least "painful" and the most "pleasant." They will be more

>likely to listen and pay attention to the content and not the attention to

>how much the voice may annoy them! If the student tries several of the

>free

>voices and none of them work well, suggest they try some of the voices

>that

>are for purchase. They can try them out for buying them, but the point is

>to

>find one that really works well for their best reading environment.

>

>I'm certain that others on the list will have other recommendations to add

>to this, but this is a place to start.

>

>I hope you find this information helpful. Best of luck!

>

>Regards,

>

>Wink

>

>Wink Harner

>Adaptive Technology Consulting & Training

>Alternative Text & Media Production

>The Foreigntype

>

>foreigntype at gmail.com

>winkharner1113 at gmail.com

>

>(Disclaimer: this email was dictated with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Please

>forgive any quirks, mis-recognitions, or omissions.)

>

>

>

>-----Original Message-----

>From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On

>Behalf Of Maria Bohn

>Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 11:51 AM

>To: Access Technology Higher Education Network

>Subject: [Athen] Mac apps for reading

>

>Can anyone recommend a reading app similar to Voice Dream that is

>compatible

>with a mac? I had thought Voice dream was and just realized that is only

>for

>iOS - back info student is Dyslexic and only has a mac for reading help

>with

>books.

>

>

>Maria Bohn

>Senior Resource Accommodation Specialist Assistive Technology Office of

>Specialized Services Bergen Community College

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