Comments on: Converting text to and from speech for accessibility and convenience http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/ Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:21:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Josh http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49996 Josh Wed, 12 Mar 2008 11:26:03 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49996 A few pieces, depending on who you're looking to regarding the audio portion, many text to speech engines are not appropriate for visually impaired or blind users because they are mouse driven (rather than by keyboard shortcuts. For those who are not visually impaired but need text to speech, other alternatives which the user controls are Read Please, Hal Reader and Speakonia, each of these is free and can be found via http://mainevrc.googlepages.com/freetexttospeechsoftware. Commercially , Read and Write Gold will create and audio file of a text selection under its Speechmaker function. Though speech to text software programs require training, my understanding is that they're quite accurate for the user once trained. Feature which appears to have been overlooked in Vista is th speech to text feature built in (and is quite good right out of the box). A few pieces, depending on who you’re looking to regarding the audio portion, many text to speech engines are not appropriate for visually impaired or blind users because they are mouse driven (rather than by keyboard shortcuts. For those who are not visually impaired but need text to speech, other alternatives which the user controls are Read Please, Hal Reader and Speakonia, each of these is free and can be found via http://mainevrc.googlepages.com/freetexttospeechsoftware. Commercially , Read and Write Gold will create and audio file of a text selection under its Speechmaker function.
Though speech to text software programs require training, my understanding is that they’re quite accurate for the user once trained. Feature which appears to have been overlooked in Vista is th speech to text feature built in (and is quite good right out of the box).

]]> By: AKA Riptide Furse » My del.icio.us bookmarks for March 7th through March 10th http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49928 AKA Riptide Furse » My del.icio.us bookmarks for March 7th through March 10th Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:34:51 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49928 [...] ToolsConverting text to and from speech for accessibility and convenience » Moving at the Speed of Creat...Educational Uses of Digital StorytellingPurposeGames.com - Create and PlaySecond life : Places to [...] [...] ToolsConverting text to and from speech for accessibility and convenience » Moving at the Speed of Creat…Educational Uses of Digital StorytellingPurposeGames.com - Create and PlaySecond life : Places to [...]

]]> By: Ryan Collins http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49880 Ryan Collins Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:37:24 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49880 1. On the mac to convert text to speech, you can do it form the command line: say -f inputfile.txt -o output.aiff Under Leopard, use the Alex voice and it sounds very good. 2. Also under OS X, in Safari (or any Cocoa application) you can select text, go to the application menu -> Services -> Speech -> Start Speaking Text and it will read it to you. 1. On the mac to convert text to speech, you can do it form the command line:

say -f inputfile.txt -o output.aiff

Under Leopard, use the Alex voice and it sounds very good.

2. Also under OS X, in Safari (or any Cocoa application) you can select text, go to the application menu -> Services -> Speech -> Start Speaking Text and it will read it to you.

]]> By: Wesley Fryer http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49832 Wesley Fryer Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:07:48 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/03/07/converting-text-to-and-from-speech-for-accessibility-and-convenience/#comment-49832 One other tool I learned about from Liz Kolb's K12Online07 presentation on <a href="http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=152" rel="nofollow">"Cell Phones as Classroom Learning Tools"</a> was <a href="http://jott.com" rel="nofollow">Jott.com</a>, which converts voice to text. I haven't used this yet but plan to in upcoming weeks. One other tool I learned about from Liz Kolb’s K12Online07 presentation on “Cell Phones as Classroom Learning Tools” was Jott.com, which converts voice to text. I haven’t used this yet but plan to in upcoming weeks.

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