“I use an Electronic Dictionary for foreign languages such as Russian. It is a Franklin handheld dictionary and it is easier to use than a paper based dictionary also less scary than my Latin dictionary!”
Becky – Medieval Renaissance Culture.
“I use Gtalk or Google talk as a way to chat with friends and collaborate – sharing files with those who also have Google accounts. It is possible to see entire conversations and to ‘sync’ them with a Google account on your PC. I am also on a Google Group about hearing discussions.
Rajaram
“I would like to see a strip highlighter for text with and without TTS. It would highlight a line but the user needs to have the choice of how many lines can be highlighted. I don’t use any strategies like this at the moment but I have worked with individuals who are VI [visually impaired] and use similar strategies for reading.”
ClaroRead and TextHelp Read and Write can be used with the text to speech turned off and just use the settings for highlighted words, phrases and sentences.
However, if you do not need text to speech then there is the option to use an overlay such as the Claro screen ruler separate from ClaroRead or the free FX software T-bar, which is also available in Arabic.
Anirban – Computer Science
“I use Inspiration for mapping out topics then add keywords and explanations, perhaps with the different verb endings – Then I have a paper based colour coding system when I am revising that highlights those endings.”
Becky – Medieval Renaissance Culture.
“I use Zoomtext a lot for reading and assignments when the screen reader is the most useful thing. I use the printer and scanner, although now I do not use the scanner so much as most of it is on line – I have large fonts and mouse pointer but usually read things with a screen reader as it saves my eyes.”
Amber – Nursing
YouTube Video link to ZoomText Tips and Tricks #10 – Using the SpeakIt Tool
You can personalise your mouse pointer in Zoomtext and there are several free downloads such as ‘Philip’s Large Coloured Cursors‘ that allow you use a colour and size of pointer that makes it easier to see and Dolphin Computer Access offer Windows High Visibility Mouse Pointers.
“I have discovered that the Kobo e-reader can open protected (DRM’d) epubs from libraries. They are synced by connecting the device to a PC with Adobe Digital Editions installed. But as far as I know it has no TTS.”
The Kobo wifi has adjustable fonts and views but these can depend on the book that has been downloaded.
Using the free Calibre ebook management service is another alternative when documents need to be converted to an accessible format
Neil – Psychology