READ & WRITE GOLD: TEXT
HELP SYSTEMS INC.: TEXT TO
SPEECH SOFTWARE
By: Ashley, Kathryn, Rine, and Samantha
WHAT IS TEXT HELP?
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Text help is an
innovative piece of
software that helps
students with reading
difficulties read more
proficiently
dyslexia,
 mild visual
impairments
 ESL students
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WHAT IS TEXT HELP?
Text help is designed to provide help to computer
users with reading and writing difficulties.
 It is a literacy software solution that allows
students to access any curriculum & complete
reading, writing, & research assignments as well
as take tests independently
 It can read text aloud and help you construct
words and sentences.
 It also has many other features, such as;

advanced spell checking
 document scanning
 internet tools
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Average cost $615.00
WHAT IS TEXT HELP

Texthelp Systems Inc. was formed in January
2000, several versions of this software have been
published since then
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The design philosophy of the company strongly
supports the principles of Universal Design for
Learning
Received several awards
Education Resource Award 2010 in the category
of Best Special Education Resource
 Software Award of the year 2004
 Best Use of Technology in Education and
Training, 2007

WHAT IS TEXT HELP?

It features a customizable easy-to-use toolbar
that integrates with familiar applications such as
Word, Internet Explorer, and Adobe Reader.
Provides students access to reading, writing, and
research support tools
 Easy to use, drop down menus with videos that
demonstrate how each feature works.

KEY FEATURES

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Text-to-Speech
functionality with
natural sounding digital
voices
Phonetic Spell Checker
Homophone Checker
Word Prediction
Dictionary with
definitions
Web Highlighting
Daisy Reader
Word Wizard
TEXT HELP FEATURES
Text to Speech - color highlights and reads the
words, sentences or paragraphs in your document
providing audio-visual reinforcement and helping
to develop recognition of new words and
vocabulary.
 Phonetic Spell Checker- incorporates a fast
advanced spellchecker specifically designed to
solve the most complex of phonetic errors. The
spellchecker can be customized to suit individual
needs and provides audible definitions of
alternative suggestions to help you choose the
correct one.

TEXT HELP FEATURES
Homophone Support - identifies and provides
audible definitions for like sounding words to
improve the accuracy of your work.
 Scanning - Scan any document into MS Word,
PDF or Web based HTML format enabling on
screen editing and text reading. Scanned
material will be incorporated into a familiar
mainstream environment, allowing the document
to be made easily available to other users

TEXT HELP FEATURES
Speech Input - speak into your computer and
have what you say converted to text on the
screen. Help is provided to assist you to train the
software to recognize your voice.
 Word Prediction - This feature will aid in
sentence construction by suggesting and
predicting words. Word predictor will learn as
correct text is typed, dramatically aiding the
development of literacy and increasing accuracy.
 Dictionary - 180,000-word talking dictionary

TEXT HELP FEATURES
Speech Maker - converts selected text into
speech, which can be saved as an audio file
capable of being played on any suitable device.
 Fact Folder - This desk research tool allows you
to capture text from any application, classify it,
attach pictures and bibliography information and
record it’s source. This information can be
converted to a slide show and documented to help
study and revise.
 Fact Finder - this web search tool searches the
web to find relevant information associated with
your research topic. Search engines in 6 different
categories are provided for you to choose from.
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TEXT HELP FEATURES
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Simple and Scientific Calculator - On screen
calculator provides all the main functions of a simple
or scientific calculator with audible feedback and
audit trail.
Word Wizard - Assists in developing creative
sentences by offering solutions for vocabulary. When
you are searching for the word you want to use Word
Wizard takes you though a simple step-by-step
process until you find the word you are looking for.
Pronunciation Tutor - The Pronunciation Tutor
will break words into syllables allowing easy
recognition and pronunciation. Includes a moving
animated mouth and lips, to aid the development of
more accurate speech
BENEFITS FOR READING

Blocks any text that is not being read to provide
valuable concentration aid.
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Other options include: whole screen tinting,
underlining the line being typed to help with tracking
and others.
Simple and accurate way to read text from word
documents, email and from the web.
 Audio-visual reinforcement provided when the
option for words to be highlighted is chosen.
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BENEFITS FOR READING
PDF Aloud: Enables user to read PDF files.
 Scanning: OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
facilities provided which allow the user to scan a
text document such as letter or a page from a
book to convert it into a readable format.
 Screenshot Reader: Makes inaccessible onscreen text accessible; with option to save to MS
Word.
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BENEFITS FOR WRITING
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Translator: Easy access to the Spanish, French,
German or Italian translations of English words.
Works with any digital content, on-screen selections,
accessible applications, website content or digital
textbooks.
Spell Checker: Corrects even more spelling mistakes
than before. Corrections are based on the users own
spelling patterns. Dictionary definitions of the
suggested corrections can be read aloud.
Homophone Checker: Highlights homophones in
the passage of text being written and offers solutions
which can be read aloud. Words such as 'there',
'they're', and 'their' where the sound of the word is
correct but the context maybe wrong.
BENEFITS FOR WRITING
Predictions: Learns the user's vocabulary and
provide dyslexic people the opportunity to have
the correct spelling at their fingertips, as unusual
spelling can be added to the dictionary.
 Talking Dictionary: is a dictionary with
definitions which can be accessed from any
application
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BENEFITS FOR RESEARCH
The Fact Folder will enable the collation of key
facts from websites and other applications with
the date and website address being automatically
saved; ideal for any bibliography that maybe
required.
 Study Skills Toolbar: Toolbar that enables to
highlight and collect marked text from MS Word
and web pages in Internet Explorer.
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