TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics » TTS http://www.teleread.com News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Wed, 22 May 2013 20:45:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Review: Voice Dream Reader e-reading app http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/voice-dream-e-reading-app-stellar-for-text-to-speech-and-promising-as-a-general-reader/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/voice-dream-e-reading-app-stellar-for-text-to-speech-and-promising-as-a-general-reader/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 15:49:23 +0000 David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/?p=84881 Note: An update of this post on LibraryCity.org focuses on education-related issues of read-aloud apps. A Catch-22 dogs those of us who most often read e-books visually but also want to hear them when we’re exercising or driving. The usual e-bookware doesn’t always come with or work with text to speech capabilities. Even if it does, we can’t control [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/voice-dream-e-reading-app-stellar-for-text-to-speech-and-promising-as-a-general-reader/feed/ 3 Bookshare introduces new products for disabled readers http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/ebooksbookshare-introduces-products-for-disabled-readers/ http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/ebooksbookshare-introduces-products-for-disabled-readers/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:44 +0000 Susan Lulgjuraj http://www.teleread.com/?p=78643 Bookshare has developed two new digital products to help those with disabilities. Bookshare’s Web Reader and Bookshelf were announced at the Assistive Technology Industry Association conference, held January 30 through February 2 in Orlando, Fla. The products were created to help those with impairments such as learning disabilities, physical disabilities or low vision. The Web Reader will [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/ebooksbookshare-introduces-products-for-disabled-readers/feed/ 0 Is Amazon’s Acquisition of Ivona good or bad for disabled e-library users? http://www.teleread.com/amazon/is-amazons-acquisition-of-ivona-good-or-bad-for-disabled-e-library-users/ http://www.teleread.com/amazon/is-amazons-acquisition-of-ivona-good-or-bad-for-disabled-e-library-users/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:45:13 +0000 David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/?p=77395 Well, guess which Seattle-based  megaconglomerate has just bought Ivona Software (Web site here, Wikipedia entry here)—perhaps the world’s best provider of text to speech to use with e-books and other texts? That’s right, Amazon. It’s already using an Ivona voice in the Kindle Fire, and Ivona tech is also powering “Voice Guide” and “Explore by Touch.” Too bad those [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/amazon/is-amazons-acquisition-of-ivona-good-or-bad-for-disabled-e-library-users/feed/ 0 Kindle Fire HDs apparently can’t change line spacing … http://www.teleread.com/kindle/kindle-fire-hds-apparently-can%e2%80%99t-change-line-spacing/ http://www.teleread.com/kindle/kindle-fire-hds-apparently-can%e2%80%99t-change-line-spacing/#comments Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:10:45 +0000 David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/?p=70967 Kindle Fire HD tablets apparently can’t change line spacing when you’re reading an e-book. Is this part of a consumer-hostile niching initiative by Amazon to high-pressure my fellow Kindle addicts into buying more than one gizmo? Yes, I suspect—if we consider similar disappointments, such as the omission of sound in the Paperwhite E Ink reader line. Separately, it [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/kindle/kindle-fire-hds-apparently-can%e2%80%99t-change-line-spacing/feed/ 7 How to encourage Amazon to bring TTS to the Paperwhite http://www.teleread.com/kindle/how-to-encourage-amazon-to-bring-tts-to-the-paperwhite/ http://www.teleread.com/kindle/how-to-encourage-amazon-to-bring-tts-to-the-paperwhite/#comments Mon, 17 Sep 2012 02:30:54 +0000 David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/?p=70902 After I raised the issue of the Kindle Paperwhite being developed without a text-to-speech feature, a reader asked how she, too, could get in touch with Amazon to voice her displeasure. Incidentally, I had in mind not just blind people, but also joggers and other sighted folks who enjoy the “Read to me” feature. Beyond that, how about good text to [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/kindle/how-to-encourage-amazon-to-bring-tts-to-the-paperwhite/feed/ 6 How blind-friendly are Amazon’s Kindle apps for the iPhone and iPad? And what about those for other operating systems? http://www.teleread.com/kindle/how-blind-friendly-are-amazon%e2%80%99s-kindle-apps-for-the-iphone-and-ipad-and-what-about-those-for-other-operating-systems/ http://www.teleread.com/kindle/how-blind-friendly-are-amazon%e2%80%99s-kindle-apps-for-the-iphone-and-ipad-and-what-about-those-for-other-operating-systems/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:11:30 +0000 David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/?p=70404 Text to speech is AWOL from Amazon’s beautiful Paperwhite Kindles, and LibraryCity’s complaint made a stir, complete with a link at The Verge, a major tech site. Keep your related comments coming. I especially like those from David Goldfield, a blind Philadelphian who is an accessibility expert and activist. Please sign the Reading Rights Coalition’s petition he pointed me to—one against the loathsome practice of [...]

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]]> http://www.teleread.com/kindle/how-blind-friendly-are-amazon%e2%80%99s-kindle-apps-for-the-iphone-and-ipad-and-what-about-those-for-other-operating-systems/feed/ 9 Follow That Story: Paperwhite’s suspiciously absent TTS http://www.teleread.com/kindle/follow-that-story-paperwhites-suspiciously-absent-tts/ http://www.teleread.com/kindle/follow-that-story-paperwhites-suspiciously-absent-tts/#comments Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:30:25 +0000 Dan Eldridge http://www.teleread.com/?p=70372 Last Friday, we brought you a wonderfully seditious opinion piece written by TeleRead founder David Rothman about the fact that Amazon’s brand-new Kindle Paperwhite models were produced without text to speech (TTS) functionality. It’s an important essay, so click here to give it a read if you haven’t already. David tells us he’s been in [...]

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