This is a life saver for dyslexics, but also helpful to anyone who appreciates a break from reading.
A "read aloud" function is built into many programs you use every day, notably your web browser and Microsoft Word. I will quickly demonstrate reading aloud in each of these programs, pointing out the relevant menu items and shortcut keys, plus a few pitfalls. Hopefully this guide will save you some frustration.
This guide targets people who read well enough to figure out what relevant text to select. It does not cover more complicated topics such as reading aloud mathematical formulas or configuring a screen reader for blind people. The guide is also available in Norwegian: Datamaskinen din kan lese høyt for deg.
To read a web page in Microsoft Edge, select, right-click and choose "Read aloud selection". This brings up a toolbar with a pause/play button. Mouse over the button to learn the shortcut key; here, Control Shift U. The button at right offers different voices and languages. The main language of a website usually works out of the box, like here on the Norwegian Wikipedia. (Japanese works too.)
In Chrome and Firefox you need an add-on called Read Aloud. Select, right-click and "Read aloud selected text". The Chrome version lets you pause and start reading while your focus is in a different program. This can be useful for following instructions. I'll show you the necessary setup later.
Read Aloud used to work well for Google Docs too, but unfortunately not any more. The best workaround is to download a Word or HTML copy and read that. (Example.)
PDF files can be read aloud by Adobe Reader, but unfortunately only from the top of a page. For reading selected text, your best tool is your web browser. Locate the PDF in your file manager, right-click and "Open with" your browser of choice.
Edge offers another reading tool called Immersive Reader. Select, right-click and choose "Open selection in immersive reader". This provides a clutter-free display which can read aloud, but also lets you configure font size, line or word highlighting and so on. The Immersive Reader is available in most Microsoft Office programs.
The Canvas learning management system also recently got an Immersive reader, which works for Pages and hand-in Assignments, but not yet for Quizzes, Discussions or Announcements.
In Microsoft Word, the View tab has a button to enable the Immersive Reader tab. Mousing over the Read Aloud button shows the pause/play key, in this case Alt Control Space. You can control whether the ribbon stays open by double-clicking a menu button.
Many programs let you zoom in and out using Control and the plus and minus keys, or Control + the scroll wheel on your mouse.
Use the "find text" shortcut, usually Control F. It can help you skip to a part you're looking for. In many programs the F3 key will go to the next search hit. (Shift F3 to go back.)
Become fluent in opening web pages in new tabs so it's easier to keep track of where you were. Learn the shortcuts for switching between tabs and between programs.
Get more screen space if possible: An extra monitor, or A3 printouts of important cheatsheets or guides. It is also useful to have an extra device for reading, e.g. your phone or a desktop computer in addition to a laptop.
If you read and write computer code, learn to pay attention to syntax highlighting. Keywords, parentheses and quote marks get coloured as confirmation that your code is valid.
RStudio does not yet support reading aloud. A workaround is to copy text to Word or similar for reading back to you.
Download the Read Aloud Chrome extension. To adjust the voice, speed or shortcut keys, click the megaphone icon. (If reading starts, stop it.) Then click the gear button. The forward and back shortcut keys skip one sentence at a time.
If you want to pause and unpause Read Aloud while working in another program, click "Edit shortcut keys" and find the Read Aloud section. I set the forward, back, and play/pause keys to be Global instead of "In Chrome".
Download the Read Aloud Firefox extension and grant the permissions it asks for. To adjust the voice or speed, click the megaphone icon. (If reading starts, stop it.) Then click the gear button. The shortcut keys are useful, but apparently cannot be changed. The forward and back shortcut keys skip one paragraph at a time.
Please cite this page as:
Vik JO (2022). Your computer can read aloud to you. https://arken.nmbu.no/~jonvi/read_aloud.html