Category Archives: Accessibility

Accessibility, Email, Outlook

Accessibility Features in Outlook

This article describes assistive technology features that you can turn on when using Outlook to make reading and writing email easier. For guidelines on how to create e-mails that are accessible to others, see Creating Accessible Emails in Outlook.

Outlook is part of Office 365/Microsoft 365, which all current students and employees can access online through a web browser and install on personal devices. The desktop version is installed on all college-owned computers.

Contents

Use Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use key combinations to navigate in Outlook and perform common menu operations such as opening, creating, replying to, forwarding and sending messages; creating meetings and tasks; switching between the Calendar, Mail and Tasks windows, and moving messages to folders. Keyboard shortcuts can be easier than using a mouse or trackpad for individuals with mobility or vision disabilities. Learning keyboard shortcuts for common tasks can help all user work more efficiently.

See Microsoft’s Keyboard shortcuts in Outlook for the most up-to-date information on shortcuts available in Outlook online (Office365) and the Outlook for Windows, Mac and iOS.

Dark Mode (Office 365 Only)

  1. Open Outlook in your browser and log in.
  2. Click Settings
  3. Toggle Dark Mode on.
  4. While Dark Mode is on you can use the Sun(View with light background) Moon (view with dark background) icons in the tool bar beneath a message to see only text for that message in a light background.

See Dark Mode in Outlook for details.

Read E-Mail in Immersive Reader

With both the web version and Outlook desktop apps you can read email in Microsoft’s Immersive Reader to take advantage of accessibility features such as font and spacing adjustments, line focus, and color overlays.

In the desktop version (recommended):

  • Open the Immersive Reader within the Reading Pane by clicking View > Immersive Reader.
  • Any email you highlight in your mailbox will now open in Immersive Reader.

In the web/Microsoft 365 version of Outlook:

  • You can only open one email at a time in Immersive Reader.
  • With the Mail tab open, click (ellipsis) in the top menu bar, and choose Show in immersive reader.
  • Click the arrow in the top left to return to your mailbox.

See Open Immersive Reader for Outlook for instructions on using its features.

 

Listen to Your E-Mail

The Read Aloud feature of Immersive Reader can also read email messages to you using text-to-speech. See Listen to Your Outlook Email Messages with Read Aloud.

Text Prediction (Office 365 only)

Outlook can speed or ease typing by predicting the next word or phrase as you type — press Tab or the right arrow to accept it’s suggestions, keep typing to ignore them. See Editor text predictions for more information, including how disable or re-enable this feature on and off.

Request Accessible Content (Office 365)

Turn this setting on at your account level to show other Bryn Mawr Outlook users a notice that “A recipient has requested accessible content” when they send email to you or copy you on an email. Depending the email composer’s settings, this may also turn on accessibility checking for that message, alerting them to issues like a lack of alternative text or problematic font settings..

  1. Log in to your Bryn Mawr webmail.
  2. Click (Settings) in the top left corner.
  3. Start typing “accessible content” in the search bar of the settings pane, then choose that option when it pops up.
  4. Check the Ask users to send accessible content box
  5. Close the settings window.

Support for Screen Reader Users

See Microsoft’s Screen Reader Support for Outlook provides detailed, device-specific information on how to navigate, perform tasks, and read content in Outlook when using a screen reader.

Accessibility, Basics (Students), Moodle

Accessibility Block in Moodle

The Accessibility Block allows you to customize the font size and color scheme of Moodle pages to better meet your accessibility needs.

 

screen shot of accessibility block

Hover your cursor over the buttons for an pop-up label of what each does.

  • Buttons in the top row increase and decrease the font size. If you change the font settings, the Reset Font Size button becomes active; click to reset to the site’s default font size.
  • Buttons in the bottom row change the color scheme to lower contrast or dark (high contrast) modes. If you change the color settings, the button to reset to the Default Color Scheme (black text on white background) becomes active.
  • If you want to keep the font size and color scheme changes you’ve made for the next time you open Moodle, click the Save Settings button.

The Launch ATbar buttons opens an Assistive Technology toolbar developed by the Mada Center which includes additional style customization options and assistive technologies like a text-to-speech reader.

  • Click (Help and Instructions) on the right end of the toolbar for details on the different features.
  • By default the toolbar disappears when you open a new Moodle page, check the (always?) box next Launch ATbar to automatically relaunch it instead.
  • Note that any style and color change will be reset when the tool relaunches however; if you need them to persist consider downloading Mada’s Chrome browser extension, which can apply style settings persistently across all webpages you visit.
  • We also recommend checking out the Read and Write Chrome extension, which has more robust text-to-speech and text prediction functionality and additional accessibility features like screen masking.
Accessibility, Basics (Students)

Convert Documents with the Sensus Access Activity in a Moodle Course

The Sensus Access activity enables Moodle course participants to upload documents directly from the course into Sensus Access for conversion to file formats that meet their accessibility needs. (If you have a brynmawr.edu email address, you can also use Sensus Access outside of Moodle; see Convert Documents to More Accessible Formats with Sensus Access.)

Before you begin:

  1. Click on the  Sensus Access Document Converter activity.
  2. Click the File Selection drop-down menu and choose a file from the list.
Note: This menu should list all course documents that Sensus Access can convert, including those attached to forum posts or assignments. If you aren’t seeing the file you want, however, you can save or download it from Moodle to your computer and follow Convert Documents instructions to manually upload it to Sensus Access instead. Check the input file types listed in that guide to see if your document’s type is listed; if not, you will need to convert the file to a type that is listed before uploading it. If you need help, please contact the Help Desk (7440, help@brynmawr.edu).
  1. Under Requested Conversion, click the target format for this document (not all will be available for every type of file):
    • Accessibility conversion — converts image files or image-only PDFs into files with screen-readable text
    • MP3 — uses text-to-speech software to create an audio file of text in a document
    • E-book — reflowable-text (with or without synchronized audio) formats used by e-book reader devices and software, e.g., Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, Bluefire, etc.
    • DAISY — creates a Daisy talking book file; note that fewer languages are supported than for other conversions
    • Braille
  2. Depending on the format you chose, you may prompted to set Conversion Parameters:
    • Accessibility conversion parameters
      • Target format: Select a file format for the converted file. If you are uncertain, choose TXT file if you do not need to preserve any visual formatting and a PDF, RTF or DOC if you do.
    • MP3 parameters
      • Language: Select the language the file is written in. For some languages, you may also have a choice of recording voices.
      • Speed: Choose the speed at which you would like the text read.
    • E-book parameters
      • Format: Choose MOBI if you will read the e-book on a Kindle or Kindle app; otherwise choose EPUB3 with media overlay (for a e-book with a synchronized text-to-speech audio recording), EPUB3 (no audio) or EPUB (for very old devices)
      • Base font size: Set a default font size
    • Braille parameters — see the Producing Braille with SensusAccess guide for information.
  3. Under Delivery method, choose Campus email (recommended) or Download. 
We STRONGLY recommend having files delivered to your campus email! The conversion and download process can take awhile, especially for long documents and/or more complex conversions. If a download hangs or never completes, repeat the steps above using the campus email option.
Accessibility, Building and Managing Courses, Integrations

Add the Sensus Access Document Converter to a Moodle Course

The Moodle Sensus Access Document Converter activity makes it easier for course participants to convert course documents (including files attached to forum posts and assignments) into the alternative file formats that work with their assistive technology devices.

Before you begin:

  • You must have a Teacher role in the Moodle course to add activities.
  1. Log on to Moodle and open the course.
  2. Click Turn editing on if it isn’t already on.

Turn Editing On

  1. Navigate to the section where you want to put the activity — we recommend either the top (General) section or the section that contains your course readings if you use a single section for this.
  2. Click +Add an Activity or Resource.
  3. Click the Sensus Access Document Converter activity.

  1. Type “Sensus Access Document Converter” in the Activity name box, then scroll down and click Save and return to course.

See Convert Documents with the Sensus Access Activity in a Moodle Course for instructions for course participants on how to use this activity to convert documents.

Accessibility, Scanning

Use ABBYY Fine Reader for Complex OCR

Librarians, archivists, and academic researchers use ABBYY Fine Reader to digitize and analyze archival collections. It is installed on the computers in the Digital Media and Collaboration Lab in Carpenter Library and available when this lab is open.

ABBYY Fine Reader’s advanced OCR Editor has features that make it possible to successfully OCR documents that more widely available tools* cannot:

ABBYY Fine Reader also has a Compare Documents tool that can help researchers and archivists analyze the textual differences among multiple PDFs.

See the ABBYY Fine Reader User Guide for detailed instructions.

Note: Most documents written in English or other widely spoken languages can be successfully OCRed by more widely available campus tools:

You only need to use ABBYY Fine Reader if these tools don’t support the language your document is written in or they fail to successfully OCR text due to issues that ABBYY Fine Reader was designed to address.

Accessibility, WeVideo

WeVideo: Creating Captions

WeVideo allows for the creation of captions in videos. Prior to opening your assignment, you will want to make sure to create an account under the Bryn Mawr license. Note that unlike typical captions that can be toggled on and off, WeVideo embeds the text into the video.

  1. Login to your WeVideo account.
  2. Start by creating a new video or choose an already pre-existing video.
  3. Go into the Text tab on the upper toolbar, and then choose the Static folder.
  4. Choose the Subtitle text box. Grab and drop the text box onto the Text track. Be default, there should be a track labeled Text when you create a new video. For already-existing projects, you can add another video track for your text, but be aware that the default name will be “Video 3”. You can rename the track to Text, but this is optional. The tracks are intentionally layered so make sure that the subtitles are placed in the top track, otherwise they will not be visible in your video.
  5. To change the layout and size of the text, find the Subtitle text box in the track. Double click on the text box within the track or click once and choose the pencil icon that says Open Clip Editor.
  6.  You can change the text properties by using the toolbar on the left or by maneuvering the text box in the preview window on the right.
  7. Make sure to click the blue button labeled Save Changes when you’re finished.
  8. Repeat the process for each section of speech in the video.
Accessibility, Email, Outlook

Create Accessible E-Mails in Outlook

Following the guidelines below helps ensure that all recipients will be able to read e-mails you send. For information on features that can make it easier for you to read and write e-mail when using Outlook, please see Accessibility Features in Outlook.

  1. Add Alt Text to Images
  2. Add Meaningful Hyperlinks
  3. Use Accessible Font Formatting
  4. Avoid Animated GIFs
  5. Use the Accessibility Checker

For more detailed information, see Microsoft documentation for making email accessible.

Prefer video? See Microsoft video tutorials on creating accessible content in Outlook.

1. Add Alt Text to Images

Alt text (or alternative text) provides a concise description of an image for screen reader users. The alt text will also appear in place of an image when the image cannot be loaded or rendered properly.

On a Windows device and in Outlook online
  1. In an email draft, click an image in the message body.
  2. To display the formatting toolbar, click Show Formatting Options
  3. In the toolbar, click Add alternate text or image
  4. Type a description for the image and click OK
On a macOS computer
  1. In an email draft, click an image in the message body
  2. In the menu bar at the top of the screen click Format
  3. From the Format menu, click Edit Alt Text…
  4. Type a description for the image and close the Alt text menu.
On a mobile device
  1. In an email draft, double tap an image. This opens the context menu.
  2. Tap Alt Text
  3. Type a description for the image and press OK or SAVE.

 

3. Use Accessible Font Formatting

Color should not the only means of conveying information.
People who are colorblind may not be able to distinguish text in different colors. Add other formatting (such as bold or italics) when using color to call out or distinguish text instead of relying only on color.

There is sufficient contrast between text and background colors.
For greatest accessibility, use the default font color setting — Automatic, as this will work best when recipients are using high contrast or dark viewing modes to read email. If you do customize the color, check that the contrast between the text and the background meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

Use sans serif fonts that are at least 11pt or larger.
Sans serif fonts and larger font sizes are easier for people with dyslexia or low vision to read.

 

4. Avoid Animated GIFs

Blinking or flashing content can trigger seizures for individuals with photosensitive seizure disorders. Animated GIFs can be accessible if the animation is no longer than five seconds and only plays once or if viewers manually start and stop it. They are most problematic when the animation loops continuously. If you cannot guarantee an animation won’t loop, it is safest to leave it out or replace it with a still image.

 

5. Use the Accessibility Checker

Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker can check your email drafts for certain issues that could cause access problems and suggest ways to fix them. See Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker documentation for details about what it does and doesn’t check, troubleshooting information, and advice on interpreting results and fixing issues.

Note: The Accessibility Checker is not available in Office apps for iOS or Android devices.

Check an email before sending it:

In Outlook online (Office 365)
  1. Click (More options) in menu bar above the email.
  2. Choose Check for accessibility issues.

  1. Results will appear in a Accessibility pane to the right of your draft. If issues are found, click Fix This to access the settings you need to fix them.
In Outlook for MacOS
  1. Click the Options ribbon, then Check Accessibility.

Screenshot of UI in Outlook to open Accessibility Checker

  1. Results will appear in a pane to the right of your draft. If issues are found, click Fix This for more information and to access the settings you need to fix them.
In Outlook for Windows
  1. Click Check Accessibility in the Message or Review ribbon.

  1. Results will appear in a pane to the right of your draft. If issues are found, click Fix This for more information and to access the settings you need to fix them.

(Windows only) Run Accessibility Checker while you write and display warnings as MailTips:

  1. Click File
  2. Select Options in the bottom of the right sidebar.
  3. Click Ease of Access

  1. Change the Accessibility checker options to:
    • Show me accessibility warnings while I work — the Accessibility Checker always runs
    • Show me accessibility options when — the Accessibility Checker runs only when the conditions you select are met.
Note: In Outlook for Mac, the Accessibility Checker always runs in the background if you are drafting an email to one or more recipients who prefers accessible content.

 

Accessibility

Convert Documents to More Accessible Formats with Sensus Access

The Sensus Access Document Converter is an automated, self-service system that converts documents into alternative file formats that work with different assistive technologies.

Prefer video? See this demo from Sensus Access.

File types that can be imported (click to expand)
  • PDFs
  • Microsoft Office documents (.doc, .docx, .ppt, .pptx)
  • Text files (.txt, .rtf, .asc),
  • LaTeX files (.tex)
  • Web pages (.xml, .htm, .html)
  • E-books (.epub, .mobi)
  • Images (.tiff, .tif, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .bmp, .png, .pcx, .dcx, .j2k, .jp2, .jpx, .djv)
Output file formats (click to expand)
  • Text or Word files
  • Tagged (accessible PDFs)
  • E-books (with or without synchronized audio)
  • MP3 audio files
  • DAISY talking books
  • Braille

Converted files will be emailed to your brynmawr.edu address when the process is complete. Turnaround times range from a few minutes to several hours depending on the length of the document and the type of conversion.

Note: The Document Converter is designed to convert accessible documents into alternative file types. Although it can improve the accessibility of a scanned PDF or image file, it can’t make them fully accessible. A human must check the accessibility of the output file and fix any issues before posting it to Moodle or a College website. (See Create Accessible PDFs with Adobe Acrobat and Create Accessible Documents in Microsoft Word for how-to instructions.)

How to Use the Document Converter

  1. Go to the Bryn Mawr College Document Converter page.
  2. Scroll down until you see the Document Converter window under Getting Started.
  3. Choose your Source:
    • File — upload a file that needs to be converted
    • URL — provide a direct link to a file that needs to be converted
    • Text — paste text to be converted into a text box
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions; see sections below for detailed instructions for each source type.

File or URL as Source

  • Step 1-Upload your document:
    • If you chose File as your source, click Choose File to browse for and select the file, then click Upload.
    • If you chose URL, enter it in the URL box and click Fetch and Upload.
    • In both cases there is a file size limit of 50MB. If your file is larger, see if you can split it up into multiple files. If it is an image or a scan, check whether it was saved at a higher than necessary resolution and reduce to 300-600 dpi.
Note: Fetch and Upload will fail if the Document Converter cannot access or download the file (for example, if a login is required). If this happens, download the file to a computer and use the Upload source option instead.
  • Step 2- Select Output Format — choose the format for the converted document from the drop-down menu.
    • MP3 — text-to-speech conversion to an audio file; more languages supported than for Daisy formats
    • DAISY full text and audio — Daisy talking book file; fewer languages supported than
    • DAISY full math and audio — improved handling of math content, but only available in a few languages
    • Braille
    • E-book — reflowable-text (with or without synchronized audio) formats used by e-book reader devices and software, e.g., Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, Bluefire, etc.
    • Accessibility conversion — converts image files or image-only PDFs into files with screen-readable text
  • Step 3-Specify Auto Options — choose settings for the different options available for that format:
MP3 options
  • Language: Select the language that your file is written in. For some languages, you may also have a choice of recording voices.
  • Speed: Choose the speed at which you would like the text read.
DAISY full text and audio options
  • Language: Select the language your file is written in. (If it isn’t listed, check whether it is an available language for MP3 conversions.)
DAISY full math and audio options
  • Language: Select the language your file is written in. (If it isn’t listed, check whether it is an available language for Daisy without math or MP3 conversions.)
Braille options
  • Language: Choose the language the file is written in. (If a language is not listed, Sensus Access does not currently support conversion to Braille for that language.)
  • Contraction Level: Choose the Braille contraction level for the conversion.
  • Target Format: Choose a format.
 E-book 
  • Format: Choose MOBI (Kindle) if the e-book will be read with Kindle; otherwise, choose EPUB3 with media overlay (includes a synchronized text-to-speech audio recording), EPUB3 (no audio), or EPUB (for old devices).
  • Baseline font size: Choose a default font size.
Accessibility conversion 
Note: If an output format above isn’t listed, it means that the Document Converter cannot convert the source file type you uploaded into that format. Choose a different output format or save your input file as a type that the Document Converter can convert to the format you want. For example, the Document Converter cannot create a Daisy file from a PDF; you could either convert it to MP3 instead or open the PDF file and save as a Word document (.doc or .docx), which the Document Converter can convert to Daisy.
  • Step 4: Enter Email Address and Submit Request, type in your brynmawr.edu email address in the text box and click Submit.

Text as the Source

  • Step 1- Enter Text: click inside the text box, type or paste in copied text, and click Upload.
  • Step 2- Select Output Format, select the format for the converted tex:
    • MP3 — text-to-speech conversion to an audio file
    • Braille
    • E-book — reflowable-text (with or without synchronized audio) formats used by e-book reader devices and software, e.g., Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, Kobo, Bluefire, etc.
  • Specify details for that format under Step 3-Specify Auto Options:
MP3 options
  • Language: Select the language that your file is written in. For some languages, you may also have a choice of recording voices.
  • Speed: Choose the speed at which you would like the text read.
Braille options
  • Language: Choose the language the file is written in. (If a language is not listed, The Document Converter does not currently support conversion to Braille for that language.)
  • Contraction Level: Choose the Braille contraction level for the conversion.
  • Target Format: Choose a format.
 E-book options
  • Choose MOBI (Kindle) if the e-book will be read with Kindle; otherwise, choose EPUB3 with media overlay (includes a synchronized text-to-speech audio recording), EPUB3 (no audio), or EPUB (for old devices).
  • Baseline font size: Choose a default font size.
  1. Step 4: Enter Email Address and Submit Request, type your brynmawr.edu email address in the text box and click Submit.
Note: Text input cannot be converted directly to Daisy or MP3 files. If you need these formats, paste the text into a word processing program like Word or Google docs and save it as a .docx, .rtf, or .txt file, then choose Upload as a source and upload that file to convert it.

More Resources

Accessibility, Microsoft Office 2016

Accessiblity Features in Office365: Immersive Reader

Table of Contents

  • What is Immersive Reader?
  • How to Open Immersive Reader
  • Features
  • Text Preferences
  • Grammar Options
  • Reading Preferences
  • Voice Settings
  • Questions?

What is Immersive Reader?

Immersive Reader is an inbuilt feature now available among a variety of Microsoft platforms. Immersive Reader provides a variety of tools to support reading and comprehension. Without altering the original text, Immersive Reader allows you to change how the text appears to you so you can read it more comfortably. Microsoft continues to expand its list of platforms on which Immersive Reader is offered and updating their Immersive Reader site with the most current information.

Learn how to access Immersive Reader in Outlook

Learn how to access Immersive Reader in Teams, Word, Edge, PowerPoint, and Forms.

Features

When you open Immersive Reader your screen will transform to fill the screen. On the upper right corner, you will see icons for Text Preferences, Grammar Options, and Reading Preferences.

Text Preference

In this panel of the menu, you can make changes to the way text appears on your screen.

  • Text Size: Move the slider to change the text size.
  • Increase Spacing: Toggle the switch to increase both the spacing between letters and the spacing between lines of text.
  • Font: Choose whichever font is easier for you to read (options include Calibri, Sitka, or Comic Sans).
  • Theme: Choose the background color that is most comfortable for you. To see more options, click More colors.
  • Show Source Formatting: Toggle this switch to view the text with or without its original formatting.

Image of the text preferences menu in Immersive Reader

Grammar Options:

  • Syllables: Toggle this switch to have each word broken up into syllables.
  • Parts of Speech: With this tool, you can identify words by their part of speech. Toggle on which parts of speech you would like to be identified. The parts of speech you have selected will appear in a different color now. If you would like to change the color of each part of speech, click (the drop-down menu) before each part of speech on the menu and select your preferred color.

Image of grammar options menu in Immersive Reader

Reading Preferences:

  • Line Focus: Turning this on will provide screen masking. You can select to have one line, three lines, or five lines of text shown at a time.
  • Picture Dictionary: When this feature is toggled on, you can click words in your text to show a picture depicting the word.
  • Translate: Using the drop-down menu indicating to Choose a language to select the language you would like to read the text in. Next, choose whether you would like the text to be translated by word or the entire document by toggling the corresponding toggles.
    • By word: When you click a word, a box will appear with a translation in the language of your selection.
    • Document: The entire document will be translated into the language you selected. However, the original text will still appear in its original language once you exit the Immersive Reader.

image of reading preferences in immersive reader

Voice Settings:

To read the text aloud, click the blue arrow at the bottom middle of the Immersive Reader screen. To pause the reading, click this arrow again.

To change the voice settings, click the Voice Settings button.

  • Voice Speed: Move the slider to make the reading speed faster or slower.
  • Voice Selection: Select either a female or male voice to read your text aloud.

image of voice settings menu in Immersive Reader

Questions?

If you have any additional questions or problems, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!

Phone: 610-526-7440
Email: help@brynmawr.edu
Location: Canaday Library 1st Floor

Accessibility

Read&Write Features

Read&Write is a tool that helps with reading, writing, researching, and organization. This article explains the features in the Read&Write extension for the Chrome web browser. Some features may not be available in other versions of Read&Write.

The headings below list the features on the Read&Write toolbar from left to right.

Read and Write toolbar

Adjust the Toolbar

  • Click (Adjust the toolbar) and drag the toolbar to reposition it on screen.

Prediction

  • Click the text Prediction icon, then begin typing anywhere on a web page — for example, in a search bar, in a Google Doc or online Word doc, or an email — to see a list of suggested words as you type, as pictured below.

word prediction feature

  • Click on a suggested word or press CTRL and its number in the list to insert it at the text cursor.
  • Hover the cursor over a word in the list to hear it spoken.

 

 

Hover Speech

  • Click the Hover Speech icon to turn on Hover Speech mode on and off. When this mode is on, Read&Write will read words aloud as you move your cursor over them in your web browser.
  • Click (Pause) to pause and resume reading aloud.
  • Click (stop) to end reading aloud for the current paragraph, but continue reading aloud when you move the cursor over other paragraphs. (If you want to turn Hover Speech mode off completely, click the Hover Speech icon instead.)

Dictionary

  • To see the definitions of a word, double-click on it to select it, then click the Dictionary icon.
  • The definitions will appear in a pop-window, as pictured below. (You can click and drag the pop-up window to move it if needed.)

dictionary feature

  • Click (arrow) next to a definition to have it read aloud.
  • Click (Exit) at the top of the pop-up window to close it.

 

Picture Dictionary

  • To see a visual depiction of a word, double-click the word to select it then click the Picture Dictionary icon.
  • Pictures related to the word will appear in a pop-up window, as pictured below.  (You can click and drag the pop-up window to move it if needed.)
  • Click (Exit) at the top of the pop-up window to close it.

picture dictionary

Play

  • Click to have Read&Write begin reading an entire page aloud, starting at the currently selected word. (You do not need to move your cursor over the words as you do with Hover Speech.)

Pause

  • Click (pause) to pause and resume reading aloud.

Stop

  • If Hover Speech mode is on, clicking (stop) ends reading aloud for the current paragraph only. Other paragraphs will be read aloud as you move the cursor over them. If you want to turn Hover Speech mode off completely, click the Hover Speech icon instead.
  • If Hover Speech mode is off, clicking (stop) ends reading aloud.

Screenshot Reader

  • If Read&Write fails to read text on a page, it is probably part of an image or graphic that contains only pixels, rather than readable characters.
  • If this happens, click on the Screenshot Reader icon, then use your cursor to click and drag a box around the part of the page containing the text that wasn’t read. Read&Write will take a screenshot of that area, use a process called optical character recognition (OCR) to identify letters and turn them into characters, then read those characters aloud.

Audio Maker

  • Highlight onscreen text, then click the Audio Maker icon to create an MP3 file of it read aloud using text-to-speech. This file will download automatically; you can move, copy and play it as you would any other MP3 audio files.

Web Search

  • Double-click on a word to select it, then click the Web Search to do a Google search for that word.

Screen Mask

  • Click the Screen Mask icon to turn screen masking on and off. Screen masking darkens everything except a horizontal band of your screen to help you visually focus on the line of text you are currently reading.

screen masking

  • Move your cursor up and down to move the line of focus; scroll as usual to advance through the webpage.
  • Click (Options) to adjust the appearance of the screen mask.
  • Click (move) to reposition the mask control icons.

Talk & Type

Talk & Type allows you to dictate what you want written. To use this feature, click the Talk & Type icon. You may be prompted to allow permission to your microphone. Click Allow to continue. Click the area where you would like to type. Then, speak aloud the words you would like typed. The Talk & Type feature will automatically transcribe what you have said.

Translator

To use the translator feature, double click on a word you would like to translate into another language. Then click the Translator icon . A pop-up window providing a translation will appear.

translator feature

Highlight

To highlight your text on screen, use your mouse to highlight the text you want, and then click one of the following highlight buttons in the toolbar: Yellow, Green, Blue, and Pink. You can highlight with all of these colors on the same screen.

hihglights on webpage

Clear Highlights

Click the Clear Highlights icon to clear the highlights from your web page. First, select the highlighted text that from which you want to clear the color. Second, click the clear highlight button. The highlight will disappear.

Collect Highlights

This feature allows you to collect all of the text you have highlighted into a Word doc along with a link back to the original source.  To use this feature, click the Collect Highlight icon. A menu will pop up. Click the checkbox next to each color you would like to have exported to your Word doc. Then click OK. The Word doc will generate and appear on your screen.

menu to select which highlights to collect

word doc with all the highlights

Vocabulary

This feature creates a vocabulary list with definitions from the words you have highlighted on screen. First, highlight individual words you would like to include in your vocabulary list. Second, click the Vocabulary icon. A Word doc will automatically generate which will include the vocabulary you highlighted, along with a definition, a picture description, and a blank space for you to add notes and change the font style and line spacing.

word doc vocabulary list

Simplify Page

The simplify page feature allows you to transform the look of the webpage to show only meaningful text and images. To use this feature, click the Simplify Page icon. The screen will transform and you will see a menu appear at the top of the webpage. This menu provides options for your to choose how much or little simplification you want on the screen, as well as the color contrast of the text and background, font style, and line spacing.

page in a simplified format

Practice Reading Aloud

This feature allows you to record yourself reading a passage of text from the website you are visiting aloud and then listen to the playback. When you click the Practice Reading Aloud icon, instructions will appear on your screen prompting you through the recording process.

practice reading aloud screenshot

More

Click the More icon … to access additional features. The features under the More menu are: Options, Help & Support, Send Feedback, or Navigate to texthelp.com.

  • Options: Click Options to customize the appearance of your Read&Write tool bar, to adjust the language features, speech, screen masking, and other features.

options menu

  • Help & Support: Click Help & Support to access Texthelp’s help documentation.
  • Send Feedback: Click Send Feedback to offer feedback to Texthelp about your experience with Read&Write.
  • Texthelp.com: Click Texthelp.com to go to that website.