Library Assist: Answers

Students occasionally ask the Library about the availability of read aloud functions, particularly in conjunction with eBooks, online resources and assignment documents. Exactly what a student has access to will depend on the device they are using, the software at their disposal, and their own personal preferences for what works best for them, so this FAQ is intended as a general starting point rather than providing in-depth instructions. 

Text to Speech software can be used to take a document (or an extract from a document), and read it aloud through speakers or headphones. This can be useful for anyone with visual impairments, or find it straining to look at a screen or page for long periods of time. Some Text to Speech packages can even give you the option to store recordings as MP3s, allowing you to listen when away from the screen. The list below covers some of the free tools we are aware of, and you may also wish to visit the Digital Services page on Assistive Applications using the link at the bottom of the page. 

Windows Magnifier  (for use with Windows 10, October 2020 Update or later) 

1. In the bottom-left of the screen, type “Magnifier” into the search box. 

2. Under “best match”, click the Magnifier app. 

3. A small control box will appear.  

4. For short passages: Highlight some text and click the “play” symbol. 

5. For longer passages, click the arrow/speaker icon, then click where you want to begin reading. 

Read Aloud – Microsoft Edge (Windows) 

1. When using the Edge browser, highlight the text to be read.

2. Right click, select “Read Aloud Section” (or press ctrl+shift+u). 

3. Reading will begin, and Edge will highlight the text as it is read. 

4. The Read Aloud bar will appear at the top of the window, with playing controls (pause, rewind etc.), and speed control. 

Speech – Apple Safari (Mac) 

1. When using the Safari browser on a Mac, highlight text to be read aloud.  

2. Right click, select “Speech”, then “Start speaking”. 

Read Aloud – Google Chrome extension 

1. Go to the Chrome Web Store page for Read Aloud.

2. Click “Add to Chrome”. 

3. In any Chrome tab, highlight text, right click, and select “Read Aloud Selected Text”. 

4. To change the voice, reading speed, pitch or volume, right click the Read Aloud icon on the Chrome toolbar, and select options. 

Read Aloud – Microsoft Word 

(Windows or Mac, Word 2019 or later, or Microsoft Word 365. Office 365 available for free from Digital Services) 

1. Highlight text to be read. 

2. Click “Review” on ribbon. 

3. Read Aloud appears near the left hand edge of the ribbon. 

Read Out Loud - Adobe Reader

(Available for free Adobe) 

1. Click “view” in menu. 

2. Select “Read Out Loud”, then “Enable Read Out Loud”. 

3. Click “view” and “Read Out Loud” again and select an option for which part do the file to read. 

VitalSource

VitalSource apps are available from the VitalSource website.

Web version or Windows app:

1. Open a book, either from a link in your Reading List, from LibrarySearch , or your VitalSource Bookshelf

2. Click the three-dot icon (top-right) and select “Read Aloud”, OR double click a word where you want Read Aloud to begin.

3. Select “Read Aloud” or “Read Aloud from here”.

4. Reading will begin, and a control bar will appear at the top of the screen, with buttons for pause/play, and skip forward/back. Click the cog icon for options to change reading speed and voice.

Android or iOS app

1. Open a book from the main Bookshelf menu.

2. Press and hold when you want the reading to begin.

3. Select “Read from here”.(on smaller screens, you may need to press the arrow to extend the options menu).

4. Reading begins, and the Read Aloud panel appears at the bottom of the screen, with buttons for pause/play, skip forward/back, and speed control.

5. For more options, including to change the voice, press and swipe up anywhere on the Read Aloud panel.