Speech enabling with Browsealoud

The free software is called Browsealoud (opens in a new window) , and is used on over 2000 websites in the UK and USA.

Browsealoud is a Windows browser plug-in designed for use with Internet Explorer 4 upwards or Netscape Navigator.

If you install the browsealoud plugin onto your PC, you can have the web pages on our website read to you (and other sites that are speech-enabled such as www.google.co.uk (opens in a new window), http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ (opens in a new window), http://www.direct.gov.uk/ (opens in a new window) or http://www.bbc.co.uk/. (opens in a new window)

Why speech enable our website?

Speech enabling our website provides an additional way of accessing our content for people who find it hard to read.

This includes those with dyslexia or learning difficulties, those for whom English is not their first language, or anyone with a mild visual impairment.

It is not designed to replace other screen readers.

Browsealoud also provides an option for the text being read to be boldly displayed at the same time, in a way that best suits user.

What is browsealoud?

Browsealoud is a solution that allows you to have website content read to you. As you move the cursor over text, it is spoken aloud.

Browsealoud is free to download and you have control over the voice, word pronunciations and speech highlighting.

How does it work?

You download a free, small browser plug-in. Once the plug-in has been installed, content on this site can be spoken aloud.

Does it work on all pages?

Browsealoud will read every webpage on our site. It can also read pdfs in Adobe Reader Version 6.0 onwards.

This meets the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) Level A guidelines for accessibility.

Can I customise browsealoud?

Yes. Once plugged in, look for the browsealoud icon in your system tray, which is usually at the bottom right hand corner of your screen (beside the system clock).

Right click on the icon and choose 'open browsealoud settings' from the menu.

The speech tab on the settings window enables you to choose a male or female voice, and change the speed, pitch and volume of the reader.

You can choose to read just a individual sentences you have pointed or the entire page from where your cursor points.

Further options let you save speech selections or even whole documents as mp3 files for repeated listening.

For further help and assistance with the Browsealoud product take a look at the Browsealoud FAQs on their website (opens in a new window).

Downloading browsealoud

Visit the Browsealoud website (opens in a new window) where you will find full instructions to carry out the download and installation.

A browsealoud icon will be placed in your system tray which is at the bottom right of your browser.