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What is assistive technology? Essentially, it is computer equipment that makes usage easier for people with some kind of disability. This can range from keyboards with larger keys to software that helps with reading and writing. With the help of assistive technology, more people can benefit from computers - and in education, this can be invaluable.
TextAloud is the assistive technology software that has proven especially helpful for children and students with a visual impairment. This powerful text to speech tool is used in classrooms across the world, because it turns what is essentially a text-based medium into something that can be enjoyed even if you can't read the screen. With the help of assistive technology, everyone can reap the benefits of the Internet, email and textual information. In today's world, students everywhere depend on online sources for homework and academic projects - and when all text is read out loud in a clear, human-like voice, anyone with a visual disability can do the same.
Enjoyable as well as affordable, TextAloud has been making a difference to countless numbers of users. It has also received glowing praise from technology reviewers and assistive technology educators alike. In one review, Janet Hopkins (a RESNA certified Assistive Technology Practitioner) described it as remarkable, flexible and cost-effective. Please
click here for the full review.
We've also received a lot of praise from users of TextAloud.
One of them provided us with the following testimonial:
"I'm a 40-year-old blind woman and scholar. Before getting TextAloud, I had to pay people to read texts I needed, either aloud to me or onto tape. The tapes were bulky and easily damaged, and the process was time-consuming and extremely expensive. The sheer number of cassettes (as well as bulky recorder) I would have to carry meant that I could not read on campus or when I traveled. While proud of being accepted into a graduate program, these kinds of hurdles made me begin to dread what it would take for me to attain my Ph.D.
"However, not long after starting graduate work, a friend recommended NextUp.com's TextAloud, and it was an effective and inexpensive solution to what is normally a costly endeavor for blind people. Now I'm finally able to read when I'm on campus as well as when I travel (with several books' worth of text easily fitting on my MP3 player at one time). In addition, unlike taped texts, TextAloud can change the speed at which the text is read without distorting the voice or words. And unlike many adaptive software packages that blind people are told they should buy, TextAloud doesn't cost thousands of dollars -- something any college student can appreciate!
"Although I originally purchased TextAloud to read books for school, I also use it to read over my own work, grade my students' papers, and access articles and email on-line. TextAloud has become invaluable to me, and it's one of the few tools that I've consistently recommended to my students, faculty, and associates when asked about alternatives to ink-based texts." Janet T.
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