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Text-to-Speech Software for Reading, part 2

Reprinted with permission from the International Dyslexia Association quarterly newsletter, Perspectives, Summer 2007, vol. 33, no. 3, pages 11-16. (It's worth joining IDA just to get Perspectives. Their website is http://www.interdys.org.)

by Kenneth Elkind and Jerome Elkind

... Part 2...

TEXT-TO-SPEECH READING PRODUCTS

The fundamental capability of TTS reading software for readers with learning disabilities and attention disorders is the synchronized auditory-visual representation of documents. This basic capability can be configured and combined with other capabilities in many ways. We divide products into three classes: 1) single-function, 2) multifunction, and 3) comprehensive applications. A description of the types of applications and important attributes to consider in selecting a product is followed by examples of products in each category.
Single-function products are inexpensive (less than $100, or free). Their capabilities are usually limited to reading, and they are easy to use. They are good for reading simply formatted computer documents, and some of these products are very effective for reading Web pages. If an individual's major reading problem is decoding simply formatted text, then a single function product is likely to be of considerable benefit. In a school setting, where students have many different needs, a single function product might not be a good match. However, if the school's purchase decision is driven by a small budget, then a single function product could be the only feasible option. Although not ideal, it can still be far better than not providing any assistance.
Multifunction products cost between $150 and $450. They do several academic tasks, such as providing assistance with reading, study skills, and writing. Even though they are not comprehensive in their coverage of these tasks, they can provide good assistance to a wider range of students than the single function products. Because they have substantial capability, are not too expensive, and are not too hard to learn, they are often a good entry to assistive technology.
Comprehensive products cost between $750 and $1,400 and provide high quality reading, writing, and study-skills support. They use the highest quality voice synthesizers, can accept documents in most formats, and have good capabilities for scanning printed documents and books. They are well-suited to reading secondary school textbooks that have complex layouts and many illustrations and for supporting active reading strategies that enhance comprehension. This, together with their extensive capabilities and options for customization, makes them appropriate for secondary school and college environments where students are likely to have a wide range of needs and read more challenging material.

Important Product Attributes

The following attributes are the most important for determining the suitability of particular TTS software products for different students arid settings.

Embedding-Some reading products are stand-alone applications while others are embedded within a primary or host application, such as Microsoft Word. The embedded products allow the user access to all the functionality of the host application while using the assistive reading software, whereas stand-alone products make available only the (usually) more limited functionality built into the reading application.

Accessible Document Formats-Documents are stored on computers in many formats. TTS products are often limited in the formats that they can directly access and read, and these limitations affect a product's versatility as a reading aid. The most common computer document formats are 1) unformatted text (TXT); 2) formatted text with simple graphics but without layout (RTF); 3) Microsoft Word; 4) formatted text with layout and graphics (PDF); 5) DAISY, a multimedia format for presenting text visually, aurally, and tactilely (e.g., Braille) to individuals who cannot access ordinary printed text; and 6) Web pages (HTML). Printed paper documents and books are also an important source of reading material that the more capable TTS products can scan and convert to a computer format.

Document Presentations-Documents can be presented to the user in several ways: 1) unformatted text taken from the document; 2) text with formatting (font styles, bolding, italics, etc.) and perhaps graphics; or 3) an image of the page from the document with formatting, layout, and graphics. The simple text presentations are good for reading computer documents such as e-mail and documents that are simply formatted and have no graphics; the page image presentations are good for complex textbooks. There are also several ways in which words and text are highlighted for synchronization to focus attention. These include dual highlighting in which the word being spoken is highlighted in one color to provide synchronization and the phrase or sentence is highlighted in a second color to emphasize the context in which that word is used.

Speech Synthesizers-The primary concern is speech quality, which is important for determining a student's willingness to use the software.

Study Skills Tools-These include a variety of tools that aid comprehension and critical reading: highlighters for key ideas, note-taking tools, reference sources, dictionaries, thesaurus, and encyclopedias.

Ease of Use and Training Requirements-These attributes are important for determining how difficult and expensive it will be for individuals and schools to install and become proficient users of the software.

Other Significant Capabilities-Examples are writing aids, test-taking tools, and lesson planning.

Single Function Products

The number of single function TTS reading products is large and growing. Two of these products that have been available for some time: Read Please 2003 and TextAloud. Both of these products open TXT documents and copy text from other types of documents into a reading window. They present documents on the computer screen as unformatted text, so all formatting, layout, and graphics are lost. They both use synchronized word-by-word highlighting; allow the text, background, and highlight colors to be changed; and employ standard Microsoft voices in their speech synthesizers.
ReadPlease 2003 by ReadPlease Corporation (www.read­please.com), a free program, is good for reading short notes and documents from Outlook, Microsoft Word, and the Web. These texts must be copied and pasted into its reading window. Better quality voices can be purchased at a modest cost (under $50), and an upgrade can be purchased to obtain a dictionary and a simple note-taking tool.

TextAloud, from NextUp.com (www.nextup.com). costs $30 for a single license. It can open RTF and Microsoft Word documents, which it converts to unformatted text in its reading win­dow. TextAloud embeds its toolbar within Internet Explorer. All formatting, layout, and graphics are available when reading Web pages, so it is a good, simple program for browsing.

Multifunction Products

AspireReader, Dolphin Tutor, and Read;Outloud are three products, very different from each other, that illustrate the wide range of capabilities available in multifunction products.

AspireReader by Aequus Technologies (www.aequustech­nologies.com) was originally developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) and costs $230 for a single license. AspireReader provides reading support that is well integrated with a set of tools to aid comprehension and writing. It can read documents in TXT, RTF, and DAISY formats. It preserves and presents the formatting and graphics of these documents. AspireReader has a built-in browser for reading Web pages and preserving Web page formatting, layout, and graphics. Individual words are highlighted while the text is spoken to provide synchronization. The TTS uses standard Microsoft voices. With RTF documents (but not other formats), users can highlight important

information in the document and take notes in a separate win­dow. AspireReader provides writing support in the form of speaking what is typed and a talking spell checker. It is simple to use and good for reading Web pages and simple documents.

Dolphin Tutor by Dolphin Computer Access Ltd. (www.your­dolphin.com) operates by embedding its toolbar within any Windows application and costs $450 for a single license. Within Microsoft Word it reads the entire document and in other applications it reads text that has been selected. Because Dolphin Tutor works within applications, all the formatting, lay­out, and graphics normally displayed by these applications are available to the user. Dolphin Tutor has the ability to scan printed documents which it converts to Microsoft Word format but without layout and graphics. The scanning capabilities are appropriate for short documents. It provides synchronization by highlighting individual words or sentences, and it also provides dual highlighting of words within sentences. In writing applications, such as Microsoft Word, the letter, line, and paragraph spacing used in the entire document can be changed to improve readability. Dolphin Tutor uses the highest quality synthetic speech. It has a dictionary, a set of writing tools (spell checker, word predictor, homophone identification), and speaks text that is being typed. Dolphin Tutor has a simple toolbar, is easy to learn, and provides significantly more capability than the previously described products.

Read:OutLoud from Don Johnston Incorporated (www.don­johnston.com) is both a separate application that costs $299 for a single license and the reading component of the SOLO product suite that integrates Read:OutLoud with a set of writing tools. Read:OutLoud allows students to open TXT, RTF, PDF, and DAISY document formats and displays the formatting, layout, and graphics contained within them. It has a built-in browser that allows students to actively read Web documents with the formatting, layout, and graphics preserved. Words can be high­lighted individually as they are spoken when reading RTF and DAISY documents. With PDF documents and Web pages, auditory-visual word-by-word synchronization is not provided. Speech quality is clearer than the Microsoft voices, but it is less than the highest quality available. Read:OutLoud does not pro­vide scanning capability.
Read:OutLoud provides an effective set of study skill strategies including highlighting, outlining, a structured note-taking capability, a dictionary, and a citation tool. Material that is highlighted and notes that are typed automatically appear in a notes window adjacent to the document being read, thereby allowing the student to create a structured outline for studying and writing. The linear outline from the notes window can be transformed into an idea map to help student comprehension.
SOLO is an important augmentation of Read:Outloud. It not only provides a strong suite of writing tools to assist the student with the organization and mechanics of writing, but it gives the teacher tools for guiding and monitoring how Read:Outloud and the writing tools are used by students. The teacher can control the reading material that is made available for a particular assignment, the settings that determine how documents are read, and the study and writing tools that are available for use. SOLO records usage by each student for monitoring progress. In addition, Don Johnston Incorporated offers curriculum material and reading material for use with SOLO. Read:OutLoud offers solid reading support, and together with SOLO it provides superior outlining and writing support. Its teacher-guided approach is unique.

Comprehensive products

There are currently three comprehensive products on the market: Kurzweil 3000, WYNN, and Read & Write GOLD DELUXE. These three products have much in common. They all provide a large set of reading, writing, and study skills tools with extensive options for customizing their operation to the needs of individual users or classrooms. All three can open almost all commonly used document formats, have scanning capability, and use the highest quality speech synthesizers. They all have page image and text presentations, and dual highlighting to provide synchronization. Common study skills tools are dictionaries for children and adults and the ability to highlight text and to extract and place the highlighted text in a separate document for a study or writing outline. Common writing tools include speaking text as it is typed, spell checking, and word prediction.

Kurzweil 3000 version 10, by Kurzweil Educational Systems (www.kurzweiledu.com). emphasizes the use of a page image presentation and costs $1,395 for a single license.1 With all reading functions, the user can see all the formatting, layout, and graphics from the source document. It accurately preserves formatting, layout, and graphics, so it is well-suited for scanning and reading textbooks. Kurzweil 3000 reads DAISY documents and provides access to several image and animation formats. Kurzweil 3000 is embedded in the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers for accessing and reading Web pages. The product also embeds a small application, called the Kurzweil Taskbar, in Windows that allows users to drag and read text from any application.
Kurzweil 3000 provides users and teachers with an extensive set of additional study skills tools. These include additional annotations that can be extracted (sticky notes, footnotes, circling words, voice notes, and bookmarks), and additional reference features (bilingual and image dictionaries; thesaurus; word pronunciations; and encyclopedias). Only highlighting and reference tools are available when reading Web pages.
Kurzweil 3000 also offers test delivery and test-taking options. Word lists are provided (for example, homophones and confusables) or can be created for use in reading and writing instruction. It provides direct access to collections of online books with the ability to search these repositories by title or author. Kurzweil 3000's strengths are its scanning, preservation of formatting, and comprehensive study skills.

WYNN version 5.1 from Freedom Scientific (www.freedom­scientific.com) emphasizes methods for modifying documents to improve readability for students who are confused by complex layout and formatting and costs $995 for a single license. Word, letter, and line spacing of text presentations can be changed and the portion of the document not being read can be de-emphasized by masking to focus attention. Switching back and forth between image and text presentations is easy. WYNN provides access to DAISY documents, as well as to some image formats. Its access to the Internet is through its own browser.
WYNN provides a wide range of study skills tools for use with text documents. Not all of these study skills tools are avail­able with image and Web documents. Reference tools include a thesaurus, pronunciation assistance, and additional annotations (footnotes, voice notes, and bookmarks). Footnotes can be extracted into a separate document and an outline tool is provided for writing support. The strengths of this product are solid scanning, reading, and writing support, with easily changed alternative document presentations and the ability to modify text documents to improve readability.

Read & Write 8.1 GOLD DELUXE by Texthelp Systems Inc. (www.texthelp.com) is an embedded application that provides reading and writing support within other applications and costs $740 for a single license. It works especially well with Microsoft and Adobe applications. Because it works in conjunction with other applications, Read & Write GOLD DELUXE can access all
the document formats used by these applications, including e-mail and Microsoft PowerPoint documents. Compared to other comprehensive products, scanning is slow.
Page images are viewed with Adobe Acrobat and text presentations are viewed with Microsoft Word. DAISY documents are accessed through a separate application. Switching between presentation formats requires changing the application. A notable reading feature allows users to hover the cursor over a text selection to start reading Web and PDF documents. This feature makes reading Web pages especially convenient because reading starts automatically when the cursor is on a fragment of text.

The study skills features of Read & Write GOLD DELUXE include a citation tool for taking research notes. Citations can be placed in a Fact Folder or structured into the Fact Mapper that can be used in conjunction with Microsoft Word. There is no capability to highlight text in PDF documents for note-taking purposes. Extensive additional writing assistance includes homophone identification and vocabulary support. This product offers test-making and delivery tools that allow teachers to create tests in Microsoft Word and deliver them in Web format. Texthelp Systems is working with publishers to develop a method for delivering books that provide reading, note-taking, and writing support through the Internet. Read & Write GOLD DELUXE is the most comprehensive application for Internet access and writing support on the market today.

CONCLUSIONS

Assistive reading technology can benefit many students with learning disabilities or attention disorders. It is important to choose products for these students wisely. If the product is to be used by a single individual, the choice can be driven by the needs of that individual, the types of reading he or she is doing, and the funds available. If the individual only needs assistance with decoding and is reading simply formatted material, a single function product is likely to provide adequate support. If the product is for a school where students have a variety of needs and reading requirements or for a student with complex needs, then a multifunction or comprehensive product is likely to be a better match. With so many products available at a range of costs, it should be possible for individuals or schools to acquire assistive technology software to improve reading speed, endurance, comprehension, and attention.

References
Brown, J., Bennett, J., & Hanna, G. (1981). The Nelson-Denny Reading Test. Geneva, IL: Riverside Publishing Company.

Disseldorp, B. & Chambers, D.P. (2002). Independent access: Which students might benefit from a talking computer? pp14-18. In S. McNamara and E. Stacey (Eds), Untangling the Web: Establishing Learning Links. Proceedings of the Australian Society for Educational Technology Conference 2002. Melbourne.

Elkind, J. (1998). Computer reading machines for poor reader. Perspectives, 24, 9-13.

Elkind, J., Black, M., & Murray, C. (1996). Computer-based compensation of adult reading disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia, 46, 159-186.

Elkind, J., Cohen, K., & Murray, C. (1993). Using computer-based readers to improve reading comprehension of students with dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 42, 238-259.

Heckler, L., Elkind, J., Elkind, K., & Katz, L. (2002). Benefits of assistive reading soft­ware for students with attention disorders. Annals of Dyslexia, 52,243-272.

Higgins, E. & Raskind, M. (1997). The compensatory effectiveness of optical character recognition/speech synthesis on reading comprehension of post-secondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8, 75-87.

Leong, C. K. (1995). Effects of on-line reading and simultaneous DECtalk aiding in helping below-average and poor readers comprehend and summarize text. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 78, 101-11 5.

Montali, J. & Lewandowski, L. (1996) Bimodal reading: benefits of a talking computer for average and less skilled readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(3), 271-279.

Raskind, M. & Higgins, E. (1995). Effects of speech synthesis on the proofreading efficiency of postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 18, 141-158.

Wise, B. & Olson, R. (1995). Computer-based phonological awareness and reading instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 99-122.

Kenneth Elkind, M.S., was with Kurzweil Educational Systems where he contributed to the design, promotion, and support of the Kurzweil 3000 reading system. He has actively advocated for learning disabled individuals for years, giving many presentations on assistive technology to the International Dyslexia Association and other learning disabilities organizations. He is now an assistive technology consultant to individuals, schools, and colleges helping them select and use technology.
Jerome Elkind, Sc.D., co-founded The Lexia Institute, a non­profit company established to develop computer technology for learning disabilities, where he did research on TTS soft­ware. He also co-founded Kurzweil Educational Systems where he contributed to the design of the Kurzweil 3000 reading system.
Send inquiries to Kenneth Elkind at ken@elkind.name