Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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problems with reading (self.Blind)
submitted by ilija28
Hey i have retinopathy of prematurity witch makes me half blind (i can't see out of my left eye) my right eye has poor vision. i can functon well enogh but i can't read very wel. i can't read books at all the font is too small i try reading ebooks but i can only read about 4 pages in the span of 1 houer on avrege and i get straind esally so it's very ineficant especaly now where i'm finishing high school and i have to star reading big textbooks faster and longer for college. There aren't menny audio text books there aren't manny audiobooks in general. I am curently using a text-to-speach program called natural reader but it's clunky and dosen't it dosen't read verry wel. Are there better text-to-speech programs that are esier to understand or is there some peace of tech I'm not aware of? if you have this dissabilety or if you are struggleing with something similar tell me how you read or any other programs you use? Thank you.
P.S i am verry sorry for the spelling english isen't my first lanuege
P.S i am verry sorry for the spelling english isen't my first lanuege
Amonwilde 5 points 5y ago
There's definitely better stuff for you out there, and in fact once you get good with screen readers it can actually be superior in many ways to sight reading.
Here's some stuff to look into:
- On Windows, there's a program called TextAloud that's good for people with decent sight. You can set it up to read everything that gets copied to the clipboard, so it's just a matter of copying the stuff you want to read.
- On iOS and Android, there's an app called Voice Dream Reader that can read out an ebook in very natural sounding voices. Just email the book to yourself and open it in Voice Dream Reader. If the book has DRM, you may need to remove the DRM first (PM me for some tips) or use a proprietary app such as Kindle.
- If you have an iPhone, look into using Voiceover, a screen reader that will read what's on the screen when you touch it. It's really great for reading books, I've read probably about 300 or 400 books this way. Just open the book in Kindle or iBooks, activate Voiceover, touch some text, and then swipe down with two fingers to start it reading. Android has a version of this called TalkBack, but it's unfortunately quite inferior.
- On OSX, there's a screen reader that will read highlighted text when you hit a key. Find the setting in Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Speech, and check the Speak Selected Text button after selecting a key.
Hope that helps! Remember, if you want to read fast, there's no reason you can't. I'm 97% blind and am finishing a PhD in English and I read 50-100 books a year, plus (apparently) millions of words in articles. (Just got an email about that habit from the app I use to read, ha.) I can read that much because I can listen while walking around, doing dishes or the laundry, playing with my pets, or working out, which is something you can't do just with sight reading.
Best of luck!
Here's some stuff to look into:
- On Windows, there's a program called TextAloud that's good for people with decent sight. You can set it up to read everything that gets copied to the clipboard, so it's just a matter of copying the stuff you want to read.
- On iOS and Android, there's an app called Voice Dream Reader that can read out an ebook in very natural sounding voices. Just email the book to yourself and open it in Voice Dream Reader. If the book has DRM, you may need to remove the DRM first (PM me for some tips) or use a proprietary app such as Kindle.
- If you have an iPhone, look into using Voiceover, a screen reader that will read what's on the screen when you touch it. It's really great for reading books, I've read probably about 300 or 400 books this way. Just open the book in Kindle or iBooks, activate Voiceover, touch some text, and then swipe down with two fingers to start it reading. Android has a version of this called TalkBack, but it's unfortunately quite inferior.
- On OSX, there's a screen reader that will read highlighted text when you hit a key. Find the setting in Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Speech, and check the Speak Selected Text button after selecting a key.
Hope that helps! Remember, if you want to read fast, there's no reason you can't. I'm 97% blind and am finishing a PhD in English and I read 50-100 books a year, plus (apparently) millions of words in articles. (Just got an email about that habit from the app I use to read, ha.) I can read that much because I can listen while walking around, doing dishes or the laundry, playing with my pets, or working out, which is something you can't do just with sight reading.
Best of luck!
ilija28 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
thank you very much. this was a very helpfull and informitive comment i have windows and android so i will try some of these out. tomorrow and i'm glad you have found ways to read regardless of you're sight god luck with that PhD.
feel free to ask me anything in return thanks again.
feel free to ask me anything in return thanks again.
Amonwilde 1 points 5y ago
If you can get your hands on an older iPhone or iPad, do it. They're great for poor vision, low vision, or blind...the screens are really nice and the magnification and contrast features are excellent, as well as having Voiceover which is hands-down better than Android. Voice Dream Reader might just do it for you, though :) Best of luck!
vwlsmssng 2 points 5y ago
A vote for Voice Dream Reader. It will extract text from documents (PDF, MS-Word) as best it can then displays the text on screen, highlighting words as they are read out. For the user I know, they use their limited vision to listen and see the text at the same time.
Oddly it costs £15 on iOS and £8 on Google play store. I don't know if there are differences in the versions.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/voice-dream-reader/id496177674?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=voicedream.reader&hl=en_GB
http://www.voicedream.com/
Some videos on Youtube and Google finds a few reviews.
Oddly it costs £15 on iOS and £8 on Google play store. I don't know if there are differences in the versions.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/voice-dream-reader/id496177674?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=voicedream.reader&hl=en_GB
http://www.voicedream.com/
Some videos on Youtube and Google finds a few reviews.
pokersnek 1 points 5y ago
There is a free screen reader program called NVDA.
If you live in the US, there are three places to get audio books and text books: the National Library Service, Learning Ally, and Bard. They cost a little bit of money, but are much less expensive than the cost of college text books.
If you live in the US, there are three places to get audio books and text books: the National Library Service, Learning Ally, and Bard. They cost a little bit of money, but are much less expensive than the cost of college text books.
ilija28 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
i do not live in the US but thanks for responding anyway.
vwlsmssng 1 points 5y ago
Try Dolphin Easy Reader
https://yourdolphin.com/products?id=1
Available free for iOS and Android. Costs GBP 40 (£40) for Microsoft Windows.
I've not used this myself but I know a user of other Dolphin text to speech products and they are very good.
https://yourdolphin.com/products?id=1
Available free for iOS and Android. Costs GBP 40 (£40) for Microsoft Windows.
I've not used this myself but I know a user of other Dolphin text to speech products and they are very good.
ilija28 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
i have an android i'll give it a shot thank you.
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