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Clemmons, NC (PRWEB) May 12, 2006 -- Wisconsin's CESA 5 (Cooperative
Educational Service Agency 5,
http://www.cesa5.k12.wi.us ) is the latest among a long list of U.S. schools
and districts nationwide to choose NextUp's TextAloud to help its students
listen and learn. Located in South Central Wisconsin, CESA 5 encompasses major
portions of Adams, Columbia, Juneau, Marquette, Portage, Sauk, Waushara and Wood
Counties, as well as portions of Waupaca, Green Lake, Dane and Dodge. The agency
encompasses 12 counties within Wisconsin and serves thirty-five school districts
representing approximately 50,000 students -- thousands of whom have discovered
TextAloud to help make learning easier than ever.
TextAloud is an award-winning Text to Speech program from NextUp.com that
converts text into spoken audio for listening on a PC, or for easy export to
audio files for playback on portable media players such as the iPod (R) and
more. With its elegantly simple program interface and wide assortment of premium
voices, more educators every day are turning to TextAloud to help students
learn.
Program Support Teacher JoEllen Waddell of CESA 5 is a perfect example. Six
years ago, Waddell wanted to encourage the teachers she worked with to increase
the use of assistive technology for students with disabilities. So she conducted
an extensive search for a solution which had to meet two important criteria: it
had to be easy for teachers, professionals and students to use, and it had to be
cost-effective, within the financial reach of most school districts. She soon
found NextUp's simple and inexpensive software program TextAloud, which fit both
criteria and has since become the cornerstone of her assistive technology
programs at CESA 5.
"TextAloud is definitely the 'on-the-go' program for students with
disabilities," comments Waddell. "Most programs sold to districts with 'screen
readers' are stationary, found only on specific computers in the Special Ed
room, where children many times do not get to spend enough time for quality
reading or study." However, TextAloud's flexibility turns text into an easy to
export sound file for listening anywhere, whether on a laptop, portable music
player, or home PC. "With so many of our kids having iPods and iTunes, their
ability to download and organize such information is truly child's play," adds
Waddell. "Now they can listen to chapters, review daily notes, and review for
tests on their own time and in their own preferred study environments." To
encourage access in as many environments as possible, the agency also gives
parents information on how to get TextAloud for their own computers, as well.
CESA 5 also uses TextAloud for students in its vision program, who are able to
listen to assigned chapters while on the bus. Waddell notes: "Time that used to
be just 'lost' for a blind student can now be put to use." CESA 5 purchased
TextAloud with optional premium voices from AT&T Natural Voices (TM) and also
NeoSpeech (R).
"The active support of students and educators has always been one of our main
goals as software creators," says Rick Ellis, President of NextUp.com. "We're so
pleased when agencies such as Wisconsin's CESA 5 choose our program to help
students, whether visually or learning-disabled, or simply to assist students in
making the most of their study time."
Waddell even uses TextAloud herself, in her own commutes: "As a Program Support
Teacher, I log about 30K miles per year traveling between my rural districts in
central Wisconsin," she comments. "I have stacks of research I should be reading
-- important information for my job -- and little time to sit at my desk and
study. However, thanks to TextAloud, I can scan any important information and
then listen to it during my travels." She also has high praise for NextUp's
technical support staff. "They're wonderful -- kind and understanding, and
professional in the face of even my most knuckleheaded questions."
About TextAloud
TextAloud is a full-featured Text to Speech tool offering direct support for
Word, PDF and HTML formats, as well as advanced pronunciation tools, an Internet
Explorer Plug-In for easy listening of favorite web pages -- and more.
Hailed by critics and users alike, TextAloud is priced at just $29.95, and is
compatible with systems using Windows (R) 98, NT, 2000 and XP. The program is
available for fast, safe and secure purchase via
http://www.NextUp.com. NextUp.com also offers TextAloud with optional
premium voices from AT&T Natural Voices (TM), NeoSpeech (R), Nuance (R) and
Cepstral (R) for the most natural-sounding computer speech anywhere. Available
languages include U.S. English, U.K. English, Indian Accent English, Scottish
Accent English, French, Canadian French, Latin American Spanish, Castilian
(European) Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese,
Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, Korean, Japanese, German, Italian,
Dutch, Belgian Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, and Arabic.
About NextUp.com
NextUp.com, a division of NextUp Technologies, LLC, provides award-winning Text
to Speech software for consumers, business customers, educators, and those with
visual impairment or learning disabilities. In addition to TextAloud, NextUp.com
markets other innovative Windows software including talking personal "news
agent" NewsAloud, WeatherAloud (a weather application that lets users select and
listen to personalized weather forecasts), and stock updates and related news
headlines read aloud thanks to StocksAloud. Most recently, NextUp released
NextUp Talker 1.0, an easy and affordable program that allows people who have
lost their voices to use the latest in high-quality computer voices to
communicate with others.
Evaluation copies of TextAloud are currently available upon request. To receive
a review copy, or for more information on NextUp.com or TextAloud, please
contact Rick Ellis via Nextup.com (www.Nextup.com).
Meanwhile, for images, logos, box shots, or other information or artwork on
TextAloud, please contact publicist Angela Mitchell at (904) 982-8043.
All companies and products referenced in this press release are the trademarks
of their respective owners.
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