Speech enabled website
Website visitors can now listen to the content by using Browsealoud. The site can be read aloud to you by downloading this free software. It may assist the following:
- people with low literacy and reading skills
- people for whom English is not their first language
- people with dyslexia
- people with a mild visual impairment.
Browsealoud is a Windows browser plug-in designed for use with Internet Explorer 4 upwards or Netscape Navigator. If you install the browsealoud plugin onto your PC, you can have the pages of The Stroke Association website read to you (and other sites that are speech-enabled).
Why speech enable our website?
Speech enabling our website provides an additional way of accessing our content for people who find it hard to read. However, Browsealoud is not designed to replace other screen readers.
What is browsealoud?
Browsealoud is a solution that allows you to have website content read to you. As you move the cursor over text, it is spoken aloud. Browsealoud is free to download and you have control over the voice, word pronunciations and speech highlighting.
How does it work?
Browsealoud is now a zero install solution and can be easily downloaded onto a PC or a USB keydrive and used anywhere. Browsealoud highlights each word as it is spoken to aid comprehension, improve reading and show users where they are on the page.
Does it work on all pages?
Browsealoud will read every webpage on our site. It can also read pdfs in Adobe Reader Version 6.0 onwards. This meets the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) Level A guidelines for accessibility.
Can I customise browsealoud?
Yes. Once plugged in, look for the browsealoud icon in your system tray, which is usually at the bottom right hand corner of your screen (beside the system clock). Right click on the icon and choose 'open browsealoud settings' from the menu. The speech tab on the settings window enables you to choose a male or female voice, and change the speed, pitch and volume of the reader. To read the entire page from where your cursor points, check the 'Continue reading from pointer' box. Otherwise Browsealoud will only read the individual sentences you point to.
For more help and assistance visit the Browsealoud website where you can find:
Browsealoud has recently been updated and now reads websites with a free high quality local voice.
New Browsealoud features:
- instant speech feedback with no delays
- reads secure sites with a high quality voice
- reads Intranets with a high quality voice
- firewall friendly.
Continued Browsealoud functionality:
- dual colour highlighting
- text magnification display
- MP3 output
- talking dictionary
- international languages
- reads PDFs in their original format
- reads accessible Flash and alt tags.
Downloading browsealoud
Once you are ready to download the free software click on the image below and you will be taken to an external site where you will find full instructions to carry out the download and installation. A browsealoud icon will be placed in your system tray which is at the bottom right of your browser.
