Assistive Software - Read&Write Text-To-Speech Chrome Extension & Program
What is Read&Write?
Read&Write is a text-to-speech program accessed as a Chrome extension or used as a desktop app. This program reads text aloud– from documents or from online websites – and works well within Canvas. With Read&Write, readers can access several different formats of documents from Word to Excel, to PowerPoint slides. Read&Write also provides additional tools such as dictation, highlighting (for notetaking), screen masking, etc.
Who can use Read&Write?
Read&Write is available for students enrolled at UWM, as well as any faculty and staff on campus.
Where do I find information on downloading and/or installing Read&Write?
To install either the Chrome extension or the desktop app (or both):
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Visit the TextHelp Academy page specific to Read&Write.
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Choose or download the platform desired, whether installing the extension or the desktop app. A few important notes:
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The extension can only be used with Chrome. It will not work well with any other browser.
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While the desktop app will work with downloaded PDFs, this app does take up a lot of computer memory and energy when running. For any digital text that must be read offline, please keep this in mind.
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Once the extension has been installed, go to the Chrome extension manager to pin Read&Write, which appears as a purple puzzle piece, to the browser search bar. When ready to use for the first time, click the Read&Write icon.
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If you are already logged into your Office365 account or Canvas, Read&Write will register your log in and open a window asking if the extension will be used for Education or Personal purposes. Select Education.
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If you are not logged into any other UWM platform, you will be directed to log in. Choose to log in through Microsoft and use your UWM email and password. When asked whether the extension will be used for Education or Personal, choose Education.
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Once the desktop app has been downloaded, follow the same instructions above to open and log into the desktop app.
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After logging into the extension or the desktop app the first time, the Read&Write menu bar will automatically appear just below the browser search bar (for the extension) or at the top of the computer screen (for the desktop app) as soon as you click the icon to open it.
What are the basic features of Read&Write?
The most commonly used features in Read&Write are:
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Play
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Pause
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Stop
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Screen Masking
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Dictation
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Highlighting
Play: To have text read aloud, simply highlight where you’d like to begin in the document and click the Play icon.
Pause and Stop: These can be used to pause the reading to allow for notetaking (highlighting text, etc.). Click Pause again to pick up where you left off or Stop to go to another section in the document and begin reading.
Screen Masking: This feature (represented by the monitor icon with a line through the middle) grants the reader a more focused read while listening. Clicking the icon will turn on the feature and also bring the settings icon into view. Under Screen Masking settings, you can widen the focus window, make the background darker or lighter, etc. Click the icon again to turn off the feature.
Dictation: This feature can be used when typing is not possible. Place the cursor where you might normally begin typing. Click the microphone and begin speaking. Click the microphone again when done speaking. While dictation does produce the text clearly, it does not format the text with capitalization or punctuation.
Highlighting: Highlighting can be used within Canvas, a PDF, or even on a webpage. First, highlight the text with the cursor, then choose the color of highlighter from the four choices in the menu. When highlighting through the Chrome extension, you must collect the highlights before closing the window where you are highlighting text. Click the recycle-like icon, choose the colors you'd like to collect. Read&Write will open a new Word document in another tab in the browser and paste the highlights -- grouped by color. This Word document is attached to your OneDrive account for automatic saving. However, you may want to edit the title of the document and where it is saved, in order to locate the highlights again later.
Additional Tools
By clicking the three horizontal dots in the menu bar, you can:
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Enter the settings for Read&Write, where you can choose a different speaker’s voice, fine-tune the menu, etc.
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Click Help & Support to read a Support FAQ or contact a Read&Write specialist when in need of more complex technical help. Or go to the Academy for more in-depth learning about the features.
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Go to the Everway (TextHelp) Academy to review video tutorials for more in-depth learning about the different features.
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Send Feedback if you’d like to share your experiences with Read&Write or choose Everway to visit the main website for Everway (where you’ll find a list of other products they offer).
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While OrbitNote is listed in this drop-down menu, only registered ARC students have access to this additional extension from Everway.
Where can students and instructors go for support with Read&Write?
For more information, or to gain a more detailed understanding of Read&Write features, review the tutorials in the Read&Write Academy. ARC’s Assistive Technology Coordinator may be able to provide help as well.
What are some alternatives to Read&Write?
Read&Write is the text-to-speech offered for free by UWM and the Accessibility Resource Center. However, there are many other text-to-speech apps that work as well. Also, many of the MS Office 365 apps (such as Word) available to students and staff at UWM provide access to a text-to-speech feature, sometimes called Immersive Reader. Canvas also provides an Immersive Reader feature.