e-Books on iPad as opposed to the Kindle.

iPad settings“I tend to set up the screen resolution and brightness [on the iPad] to suit my eyes depending on the time of day and lighting. My first job was working in sales but then I took a degree and from then on have really made the most of computer skills to see me through work and any further studies.

I use the iPad as a third monitor (to hold my notes, whilst I write), as a fantastic desktop calculator, to watch the BBC iPlayer in bed, to check and send emails, I use it in front of the television if I am watching a video to check up on facts etc!

The ONLY downside of the iPad is …weight.I wouldn’t want to stand on the tube reading The Times on it for 40 minutes.It has colour, which is missing on the Kindle, and you can browse the ‘real’ Amazon with iPad and read Kindle books [via the Kindle app]. I also do not like the page transform on the Kindle (the page goes black for a second and then refreshes with your new page). Very annoying to my eyesight.

On the iPad you can adjust colour from bright white to beige – I like beige and you have 6 font sizes – finally I run the actual brightness at around 20% but the glossy screen means that it can be difficult to read in direct sunlight whereas the Kindle will work quite happily on the beach!For me the Kindle screen is too small (6″) as opposed to iPad (9.7″)”

Richard – Computer Science

 

Strip Highlighter for text with or without text to speech

“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.

Tbar overlay

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

Free Balabolka will open unprotected ePub files (and PDFs)

Balabolka logo

Balabolka logo

“Free Balabolka will open unprotected ePub files (and pdfs), but not protected ones like library books. Balabolka has options for changing font style, colour, size and background colour.  It can use the free MS voices or any voices you have with other programs, and speaks with highlighting. It does not preserve presentation or images.”

The on-screen text can be saved as a WAV, MP3, MP4, OGG or WMA file. The program can read the clipboard content, view the text from CHM, DjVu, DOC, EPUB, FB2, HTML, ODT, PDF and RTF files.

Here is a video with Craig Mill showing the use of Balabolka being used with MyStudyBar

Direct YouTube video link 

Jean – Dyslexia support

Speak Selection – built in iPhone Text to Speech to read aloud.

screen grab of speak selection

Speak selection from text on an iPhone

“My workaround may be a little complicated to include.[…] It’s a million times better than VoiceOver for dyslexic users – it’s designed for dyslexics rather than VI [Visual impairment].  It’s a built in accessibility feature for iOS5, so works everywhere.

Apple say: Speak Selection

Want to select text from websites, email, messages, and more? Speak Selection lets you highlight text in any application by double tapping it. Even if you don’t have VoiceOver enabled, Speak Selection will read you the highlighted text and give you formatting options like cut, copy, and paste. Turn on Speak Selection in Settings.

 

A video:

Link to the YouTube video

Neil – Psychnology