<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Russell,<br><br>You're welcome, of course! Some of the many reasons I particularly like Balabolka is that it works in many languages, is a very reliable text-to-speech tool, and for converting to MP3, we used it at Southern Oregon University to teach students how to take a Microsoft Word document and convert the MP3s on their own on the fly if they needed to.<br><br>Wink<br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Wink Harner<br></div>Accessibility Consultant/Alternative Text Production<br></div>The Foreign Type<br><br></div></div>Portland OR<br><a href="mailto:foreigntype@gmail.com" target="_blank">foreigntype@gmail.com</a><br>480-984-0034<br><br></div><div>This email was dictated using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Please forgive quirks, misrecognitions, or errata .<br></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Oct 31, 2022 at 2:33 PM Russell Solowoniuk <<a href="mailto:solowoniukr@macewan.ca" target="_blank">solowoniukr@macewan.ca</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>
<div lang="EN-US">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Cath and everyone else who responded to my MP3 question,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have a site license for Read and Write, but, as you said, Cath, TextAloud seems to work better for our needs. We may have a look at Balabolka as well.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tristen, we do have OpenBook, so that may also be an option.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wink, thanks for those links to Balabolka. I think we may explore this a bit further.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">George, I read that info about the Microsoft Supported Low-Cost Assistive Technology Project that you mentioned on Friday. It looks interesting, and we will have a look at it when it’s released.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It looks like we have a lot of options, so it’s just a matter of trying them out to see which works best.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you all again for taking the time to respond.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best regards,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Russell<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<div style="border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-top:1pt solid rgb(225,225,225);padding:3pt 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu" target="_blank">athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Stager, Catherine<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, October 31, 2022 11:18 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu" target="_blank">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Revisiting the best program for creating MP3s<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse:collapse">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border:1.5pt solid rgb(210,69,24);background:rgb(255,235,59);padding:1.5pt 11.25pt">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:rgb(210,69,24)">EXTERNAL:</span></b><span style="color:black"> <a href="https://myportal.macewan.ca/help.html#external-email" target="_blank">Use caution.</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Russell,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kurzweil has the functionality within the desktop version of the program.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The reason I prefer TextAloud is the ability to customize the pauses that are associated with the punctuation.
<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, it has a really easy-to-use pronunciation dictionary and the ability to create “play lists”.
<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cath<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<div style="border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-top:1pt solid rgb(225,225,225);padding:3pt 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu" target="_blank">athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b><a href="mailto:tristenbreitenfeldt@gmail.com" target="_blank">tristenbreitenfeldt@gmail.com</a><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, October 29, 2022 2:10 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu" target="_blank">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Revisiting the best program for creating MP3s<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div style="border:1pt solid rgb(156,101,0);padding:2pt">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:12pt;background:rgb(255,235,156)"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(156,101,0)">CAUTION:</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;color:black"> This email originated from outside of the Colorado Community College System. Do
not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Please contact your college IT Help Desk if you have any questions.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Russell,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you already have OpenBook 9.0 (from Freedom Scientific), you can do this quite easily. Simply open the pdf in OpenBook, then open the file menu and select Save as audio. The program will generate an mp3 audio file using the selected
TTS voice and save it in the location you selected. Then, you can play the mp3 using your preferred media player. It is really easy to do.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I do not have Kurzweil, but I’d guess that it has similar functionality for saving pdf files as audio.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hope that helps.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tristen Breitenfeldt<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.freedomscientific.com/Certification" target="_blank"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="87" height="87" style="width: 0.9062in; height: 0.9062in;" id="m_-6883265594303835176m_-7167471041557974367Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:184307d8cb34cff311" alt="JAWS Certified, 2019"></span></a><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
athen-list mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:athen-list@mailman12.u.washington.edu" target="_blank">athen-list@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://mailman12.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list</a><br>
</div></blockquote></div>