AM561 Speechify

Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing, or other special needs!

Reading and obtaining text and information can be very challenging for individuals with ADHD, dyslexia, or other learning disabilities.  Fortunately, there are tools like Speechify to help out!  Speechify is the “#1” text-to-speech program that turns any written text into spoken words in “natural-sounding language.”

The program is available as a Google Chrome extension, an iOS or Android app, or you can copy and paste text directly on Speechify’s website.  To use it, all you have to do is type, paste, and edit any text in the designated area to convert it to speech.  Or you can even drag and drop your Word or PDF file after you create an account!

According to Speechify’s website:

“With Speechify, reading is no longer a barrier. Speechify also makes reading much more enjoyable and efficient.  It’s easy to see why millions of people across the world trust Speechify to enrich their lives…”

Features of Speechify include:

• Take Speechify with you wherever you go; listen on your desktop or mobile phone
• Available in several different languages
• Adjust the reading speed; "high-quality" AI voices can read up to 9x faster than the average reading speed
• "Natural-sounding" AI voices sound more fluid and human-like than other AI readers
• Use the app to snap a pic of a page in any book or printed material and hear it read out loud to you
• Anything you save to your Speechify library instantly syncs across all devices
• Hundreds of free audiobooks
• And more!

Visit Speechify.com to learn more!

For more information, to read our blog, or to drop us a line, visit EasterSealsTech.com.

I'd like to take a moment to thank InTRAC, the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation for sponsoring our transcript today.  You can find out more about InTRAC at relayindiana.com.

That was your Accessibility Minute for this week! I’m ---- filling in for Laura Medcalf with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads, in Indiana.