[Athen] Texthelp no longer support Post secondary

[kerscher at montana.com]

Hello All,

 

I can pass on a request to the Thorium developer, and Thorium is free for
Windows, Mac, and linux. It has TTS and highlighting as it reads. Also
supports reading of Math, when it is MathML.

 

Using a screen reader you can copy and paste right now, but I think you want
something a non-screen reader person can use.

 

If I understand you, you want to Highlight text and have the TTS read out
what is being selected. Then you want to copy this to the clipboard and
paste it into a Word document or any application that can accept text from
the clipboard.

 

Is this correct?

 

Normally, the Read Aloud function sends it to the TTS engine and highlights
as it sends the text. It seems you want to have an additional function to
say for example, hold down a key while the Read Aloud is going and that
would select this text for the clipboard.

 

I am just trying to describe what is wanted to the Thorium developers. So
other user interface designs are welcome.

 

 

Best

George

 

 

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf
Of Liza Eldred
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2022 3:31 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Texthelp no longer support Post secondary

 

Hi,

The one thing that students really like about Read & Write is the ability to
highlight and extract. 


>From my experience, I have not found a free or inexpensive tool that both

has text-to-speech and the highlight and collect feature (for both Windows
and Mac).

Does anyone know of a program other than RW that can do this? If so, please
let me know. It would be much appreciated!

Thanks and stay well.

Liza

 

Liza Eldred

Assistive Technologist II

MacEwan University

780-497-5826 

 

 

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu
<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> > on behalf of Dan
Comden <danc at uw.edu <mailto:danc at uw.edu> >
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 2:42 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu
<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu> >
Subject: Re: [Athen] Texthelp no longer support Post secondary


EXTERNAL:  Use caution.
<https://myportal.macewan.ca/help.html#external-email> 

 

I agree with Michael on this. TextHelp makes some decent products but in my
experience they repeatedly demonstrate either ignorance or apathy about the
needs of higher education. 

 

This is demonstrated by their license plans for their products, in
particular EquatIO which could be a powerful tool for alt text shops at many
schools, but can't be utilized at many places due to the company's
inflexible license options. It is less expensive to pay for hundreds of
student worker hours to convert a couple of math courses every year than to
purchase a license for EquatIO for even a moderately sized campus.

 

We gave up on TextHelp R&W Gold years ago after experiencing excessive
difficulty rolling out and maintaining that software in our labs. On top of
that, the overwhelming majority of students in my experience want a simple
TTS tool and ignore all the additional features wrapped into the reading
product. So ... we stopped purchasing it. There was zero negative feedback
from students.

 

It shines in a supported environment like K-12. Not so much in higher ed.

 

A student's need to read effectively doesn't change once they complete
college. In my interactions with students over decades, they show no
inclination to purchase expensive TTS tools on their own after they
graduate. I think we serve students more effectively by showing them how to
use free and inexpensive reading software that fit their needs both in
school and after they complete their educational programs. Let TextHelp
concentrate on K-12 and we can ignore their products until they come up with
a better solution for higher education.

 

-*- Dan

 

On Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 9:26 AM Michael Canale <canale at umbc.edu
<mailto:canale at umbc.edu> > wrote:

They recently decided without notification that they will only support K-12
educators with support and free demo licenses. I explained that I have used
the software to demonstrate their product and encourage students and parents
to consider using it. Now with this new policy, I am unable to demo their
product without purchasing my own license. If I worked for a K-12 they would
continue to provide me a free account. Why would I purchase a license to
generate business for them? 

 

In addition, they changed their minimum number of licenses that prohibit
most small to medium size Universities to utilize all they pay for. Whereas
K-12 has an entire district. It's all about money and has nothing to do with
supporting students it's a real shame. 

 

 

 

On Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 12:01 PM Romack, Justin <justinr at disability.tamu.edu
<mailto:justinr at disability.tamu.edu> > wrote:

Howdy!

 

Glad to get your message and hear your perspective!

 

Because I feel out of the loop. What Texthelp policy are you referring to
and how do they demonstrate they don't care about postsecondary
institutions?

 

We're up for renewal and the quote has drastically increased in price. I
have several options to explore in responding, but I wanted more context on
how others have approached changes with Texthelp (and also clarifying if
what you're referring to is related to the concern I have).

 

Hoping you're well,

J

 

 

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Justin Romack  | Assistive Technology Coordinator

Disability Resources | Texas A&M University

1224 TAMU | College Station, TX 77843-1224

 

ph: 979.845.1637 | justinr at disability.tamu.edu
<mailto:justinr at disability.tamu.edu>  | disability.tamu.edu
<http://disability.tamu.edu> 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS | One Division. One Mission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu
<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> > On Behalf Of
Michael Canale
Sent: Wednesday, March 9, 2022 10:01 AM
To: athen-list at u.washington.edu <mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu> 
Subject: Re: [Athen] athen-list Digest, Vol 194, Issue 7

 

For at least 5 years I have had a free account with Read Write in order to
show students and parents how to use AT for their studies.  Texthelp decided
we in post-secondary are not important enough to support. I call all
colleagues to call ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerStart 




This Message Is From an External Sender 


This message came from outside your organization. 

ZjQcmQRYFpfptBannerEnd

For at least 5 years I have had a free account with Read Write in order to
show students and parents how to use AT for their studies. 

 

Texthelp decided we in post-secondary are not important enough to support. I
call all colleagues to call upon Texthelp of this change in policy is
ridiculous. I decided to no longer support or endorse Texthelp products.
Instead, I will endorse Natural Reader. 

 

I know many of you use them, however, we should not support a company that
doesn't support us. 

 

 



Office of Student Disability Services 

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

225 Math/Psychology Building 

 

Desk: 410-455-6358 

Mobile: 410-688-5088 (Text, FaceTime)

VP: 443-410-4773

Email:  canale at umbc.edu <mailto:canale at umbc.edu> 

Web: sds.umbc.edu
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/sss.umbc.edu__;!!KwNVnqRv!RBamRIRg7x6RSJX
PVzuMBERipygOMwlkwbpMC_MQu3T68ULBdl7hkyB-HRu6Ah4w2kNca7lN$>  

 


Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you
look at it right.  - J. Garcia, R Hunter


 


 




 

-- 

Michael Canale

Assistant Director, SDS  

Coordinator Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, 

Sensory Impairment, and ASD

 

 
<https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=11o9m2BMLp7AfTfXgiaWAVxdtMUz_
EEES&revid=0Bw1zQ57rlXp1WXZoYjNZNkwxeFlRbHc2QkorU0J1eXdYa0RnPQ> 

Office of Student Disability Services 

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

225 Math/Psychology Building 

 

Desk: 410-455-6358 

Mobile: 410-688-5088 (Text, FaceTime)

VP: 443-410-4773

Email:  canale at umbc.edu <mailto:canale at umbc.edu> 

Web: sds.umbc.edu <http://sss.umbc.edu>  

 


Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you
look at it right.  - J. Garcia, R Hunter


 






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-- 

-*- Dan Comden                       danc at uw.edu
<mailto:danc at washington.edu> 

    Access Technology Center   www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/
<http://www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/> 

    University of Washington      UW Information Technology

 

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