Make your computer speak - Part 3
Commercial speaking software
What is this about
This is the third post in a 5-part series on making your computer speak using Text-toSpeech technology. The five parts will be:
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Part 1: Getting started
Part 2: Free speaking software
Part 3: Commercial speaking software
Part 4: Text-to-speech voices
Part 5: Text-to-speech on mobile devices
You can get an overview of the whole series, including links in this mind map.
In this third part, we will have a look at some commercial software you can use to
make your computer speak.
Note
This is not a full comparative review. I simply had a look at a number of
commercial packages and noted those features I considered highlights. I’ve tried all
the trial versions but not always extensively. Since I only looked closely at the textto-speech features, I often did not find many differences between the different
software packages. This is because very often, they differentiate with other features
such as text-prediction, scanning and character recognition, etc.
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Also, as part of my work with Dyslexia Action, I have closely worked with different
providers of this software. Therefore, I cannot always claim to be fully impartial.
Try before you buy!
Some of these software packages can be quite costly. This cost is often associated
with the number of features and also the licensing of scanning and character
recognition technologies. Luckily, they all offer a trial period from 2 weeks to 6
months. Definitely use it regularly for at least a few weeks to make sure the cost is
justified for you.
Speech only
In this section, we’ll have a look at the software that only provides text-to-speech
features and not much else.
TextAloud
A very simple text-to-speech app, it is also the cheapest in this overview at $30
(£18).
Find out more and download a trial at the TextAloud website.
Natural Reader
I’ve already recommended the free version of Natural Reader as a great way to start
with text-to-speech. The paid version adds the possibility to save text as MP3 and
toolbar add-ins for common software like Word for $69 (£40). Plus you will get two
professional voices.
There are two more tiers that add extra features including scanning and character
recognition for $199.
Find out more and download a trial at the Natural Reader website.
Ivona Reader
Ivona is best known for making very high quality voices (about which more next
week). But they also sell a cheap speaking software called Ivona Reader for €29
(£23). It has all the basic features, plus an organizer and a speaking reminder.
What’s great is that you can get their mini reader floating bar for free.
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Find out more and download a trial at the Ivona website.
Multifunction software with text-to-speech
The most common function of the multifunction software is scanning paper
documents and converting them to text that can be read out.
All the programs listed here have a trial version, so you can see how well it suits you
before spending any money.
Dolphin SaySo
The standout feature of SaySo is its connection to Dolphin’s bookshelf software that
will also let you discover texts to read. It is also very simple to use with only two
additional features, scanning and sound alike. A single license costs £190.
Find out more and download a trial at the Dolphin website.
Claro Read
Claro Read is one of the stalwarts of this space with current version being 6.5. It
offers many level ranging from £155 to £239 in price for a single licence. Its
additional features range from text-prediction to PDF unlocking. There’s also a
version for the Mac.
Find out more and download a trial at Claro Read website.
Read&Write Gold
Read&Write is another full featured suite with long roots now in version 11. It
contains all the value added features you would expect and more. The version with
text-to-speech related features and text-prediction is £168 but the full featured
version with scanning and many many more features is also the most expensive of
all the software reviewed at £384 for a single licence. Mac version is also available.
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Find out more and download a trial at the Read&Write website.
Sprint Plus
The software maker from Belgium is relatively new to the UK market. I liked the
interface for reviewing Word documents in audio very quickly using a plug in. The
standalone software contains all the features you might expect.
It’s certainly worth a look but the website does not make it easy to try or buy.
Find out more and download a trial at Sprint Plus website.
Online services
More and more software is moving online. This means you don’t have to install
anything. To run online software, you just open a webpage. There are many
websites that will convert text to speech for you. Here are four services worth noting.
Robobraille (free)
Robobraille is a free online service that will convert any text into almost any other
format including speech. You simply upload a file and then get sent an email with the
conversion. You probably don’t want to do that with sensitive documents but it
should be enough for most of your needs.
Azzapt
Azzapt is a great service for managing various formats of your documents stored in
Dropbox. Simply connect it to Dropbox and choose your conversion format (this can
be audio, PDF or ePub). You can then download your documents as audio with a
single click.
Azzapt (developed by IanSyst) is free to use for the moment but may start charging
later.
Natural Reader Cloud
Natural Reader Cloud lets you upload your documents and access them anywhere
via the web or mobile apps. It costs $99 a year but for this you will also get a desktop
version of Natural Reader.
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Read&Write for the Cloud
Read&Write for the Cloud offers two options.
1. Read&Write for Google which works with Google Docs.
2. Read&Write Webapps which recreates much of the Read&Write experience in
web apps you can access anywhere. This can only be purchased by owners
of the desktop version.
You will have to contact TextHelp for pricing.
Try this page in text to speech
Listen to an audio of this post as read by Hazel from Windows 8:
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