The Speak Selected Text method no longer works.

Unfortunately, the Kindle App for the Mac is quite limited for people with reading difficulties - there is only one, unfriendly, font available, though text size and spacing can be varied, and there is no built-in Text to Speech facility. What can you do if the book you want is only available for the Amazon Kindle, or if you have a Kindle account and prefer to use that, rather than set up an iBooks account? There is a free Kindle app, available through the Apple App Store, which can be used to read Kindle books that have been purchased, or downloaded from the Amazon Kindle Store. See the Support page on the Books for All web site.

If the book is available as a PDF, then the text to speech options in Adobe Reader can be used. Select the text you want read, then click on Edit, Speech and Start Speaking. There are over 2 million books available and a basic Text to Speech facility is built into the program. Most Mac users would think of Books as their first option for reading electronic books.

What about Reading an Electronic Book? Apple Books Choose something that you will remember, and which is not already used by something else. People with an auditory processing difficulty may benefit from a slower speed, while people with a visual impairment might prefer a faster speed, particularly if they are used to Text to Speech.įinally, choose a key or key combination to ' Speak Selected Text'. Speaking Rate can also be adjusted at this point to suit the user. Note that there are also Mac versions of the Scottish computer voices, available through the Scottish Voice web site, or can be purchased through the CALL Scotland shop.Īfter you have chosen the voices you want to have available, click on System Voice again and choose the voice you want to use. The additional voices include a good quality Scottish voice, Fiona, which you can use free. Simply tick the voices you want to have available and 'untick' the ones you don't want. The Mac defaults to using one of six American voices, but you can access many more by clicking on Customize. Click on the Apple icon in the Menu bar ,.The built-in Text to Speech on a Mac is accessed through the Dictation and Speech System Preferences:

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