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My current Mac workflow: I copy the source from my email, use a vim script that removes HTML, leaving the text I wish to have read. For example, this script inserts a 'silence' [slnc 2000] command that helps me identify paragraph markers when I listen to the read text. Therefore, is it possible to back up text messages from an iPhone so it is readable as a text on the PC or Mac? In fact, the answer is YES. And in this article, I am going to show you 4 ways to view iPhone messages on PC or Mac. You can choose anyone you like to have a try. Read&Write for Mac. Read&Write for Mac (latest version) Mojave 10.14 Compatibility. Texthelp Support 2. After 30 days the Toolbar will revert to the Freemium licence, you will then only see the Text to Speech and Tran. Deploying and Licensing Read&Write.
Did you know that your Mac can read text aloud? The feature is called “Text to Speech.” I’ve been using it in three ways: Listen to a relatively long blog post or email while doing something else that allows me to multitask. Just open up System Preferences, go to the Speech pane, and hit the Text to Speech tab. Check the 'Speak selected text when the key is pressed' box, and set the key to something simple (I use. You can use the Text to Speech feature to hear selected text read aloud in a Microsoft Office for Mac file. If you have not already done so, set up the Text to Speech feature. On the Apple menu, click System Preferences.
To read a word, line, sentence, or paragraph at a time, press the Command key while touching a finger on the trackpad; repeat until you hear the setting you want to use. When you use the Down Arrow key to move from one line of text to the next, VoiceOver speaks the line where the insertion point is located.
Your Mac, just like any iOS devices you own, comes with the ability to speak selected text. This comes in handy when you can’t see the text very well and would find it useful to have the text read out loud to you.
In this tutorial, we’ll show you how you can make your Mac speak a selected body of text with ease.
Why to have your Mac speak selected text
If you’re hard at seeing, or you’re trying to multitask, sometimes having your Mac speak a body of text out loud to you, instead of you needing to read it, can be helpful.
I particularly find it useful when I want to listen to something and type at the same time, because rather than having to read and type at the same time, which involves looking back and forth, having the text read aloud to me lets me remain focused on my typing.
I can see this being useful for anyone who can’t see well because when text is too small to make sense of, you can simply select it and press your hotkeys on the keyboard to have your Mac say it aloud. This will ensure you understand what you’re looking at, even if you have to listen to it instead.
How to make your Mac speak text you select
Making your Mac speak selected text is easy. This is an accessibility feature that you have to enable from the System Preferences app on your Mac.
To ensure the feature is enabled on your Mac, follow these steps:
1) Launch the System Preferences app and open the Accessibility preferences pane.
2) Click on the Speech tab in the sidebar and ensure the Speak selected text when the key is pressed option is enabled.
With this feature turned on, you can now use the keyboard shortcut whenever text is selected to have your Mac speak it aloud. The default shortcut is pressing Option + Esc on your keyboard, but you can change it to anything.
To change your keyboard shortcut, simply click on the Change Key… button, and when prompted, press the keyboard shortcut on the Mac you want to use instead and click OK.
Making your Mac speak selected text
After you’ve got the speak selection feature enabled on your Mac, it’s pretty easy to use. Just head over to any body of text that supports text selection, such as on a web page, highlight the text, and hit your keyboard shortcut.
Changing the voice used for speaking text
Your Mac will speak out the text using your system’s selected voice. By default, Alex will be your system’s speaking voice, but you can choose any other voice that comes with your Mac to do the talking if you don’t like the default voice.
To do that, just follow these steps:
1) Launch the System Preferences app and open the Accessibility preferences pane.
2) Make sure you’re in the Speech tab in the sidebar, and click on the System Voice drop-down menu to select any of the available voices in the list.
Wrapping up
Speaking any text selection on your Mac is a quick and easy way to make sense of text that is otherwise too small to see, but it can also help you to type along to something without having to look back and forth between a body of text and your document. Whatever the case, it can also prove to be quite entertaining in some cases – just wait until you hear some of the funny pronunciations of some of those weird words out there!
Related:How to make your Mac speak with Terminal
If you found this tutorial helpful, let us know in the comments below!
Want to know how to get your computer to read to you? Several different approaches are available. Both Windows and Mac have native tools that can read documents and MS Word files aloud, while there are bevies of third-party apps.
Want to know more? Keep reading to learn how to get your computer to read documents out loud.
Can Microsoft Word Read to You?
For many people, the main reason for getting their computer to read to them is so they can listen to an audio output of a Microsoft Word file.
It helps give your eyes a break if you’re reading something that’s dozens of pages long. And it’s also a great way to spot typos and other grammatical errors in your work.
But can Microsoft Word read to you directly? The answer is yes.
The app has its own built-in document reader called Speak; you don’t need to use your operating system’s native narrator. Better yet, you can get Word to read to you on both Windows and Mac versions of the software, leading to a seamless experience across both platforms.
How to Make Word Read to You on Windows
To make Word read to you on your Windows computer, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
- Open the document you want Word to read.
- Place the cursor where you want to the Word reader to begin.
- Go to Review > Speech > Read Aloud.
The narration should start immediately. If not, click the Play button in the upper right corner of the window. You can also use the Speak panel to edit the speech output; both the reading speak and the voice used are customizable.
The voices available are determined by the language setting you are using in the document. To change the language of the text, use the button in the Status Bar at the bottom of the page.
How to Make Word Read to You on Mac
Online Read Text
To get a Mac to read text from a Word file, you can use the same process as Windows:
- Open the document you want Word to read.
- Place the cursor where you want the reading to begin.
- Go to Review > Speech > Read Aloud.
On Mac, the playback controls and settings button appear in floating on-screen widget that you can drag around.
How to Make Your Computer Read to You
We’ve looked at how to make Microsoft Word read aloud, but what about the rest of the Windows or Mac operating system?
Both operating systems have built-in tools, but there are also some third-party apps available.
How to Get Windows to Read to You
In Windows, the native screen tool is called Narrator. It’s one of the Ease of Access tools. You can find it in the Start menu or by using a Cortana search.
When you use Narrator for the first time, Windows will prompt you to work through a 13-stage setup process. You can customize many aspects about the way Narrator works, including startup settings, voice settings, and custom commands. All the settings are available in Narrator’s app window.
When Narrator is running, you can toggle it on and off by pressing Ctrl + Windows + Enter.
How to Get Your Mac to Read to You
A Mac can also read any on-screen text. The Speech tool available in the Accessibility Tools menu. To start it, head to Apple > System Preferences > Speech.
At the top of the window, you can choose various speaking voices. The options available are connected to the language packs you are running on your Mac’s operating system. There are also settings for speaking speed, system/app announcements, and an option to enable an on/off toggle.
Third-Party Apps to Make Your Computer Read Documents to You
If you need an app that’s capable of reading all the text within an operating system, the native tools are your best bet.
However, if you just want another document reader, a PDF audio reader, or choices for similar text-to-speech tool, there are plenty of third-party options available.
1. Balabolka
Balabolka is probably the best third-party document reader thanks to its impressive list of features. However, that also means the app is one of the least accessible for beginners.
The app supports a wide list of document types, including DOC, TXT, PDF, EPUB, and HTML. It even lets you save the audio output voice files in the various formats (including WAV and MP3), so you can share them with other people.
Finally, there’s a bookmark feature. This is handy if you’re listening to a narrator of a long document and don’t want to lose your place.
The app is only available on Windows.
Download: Balabolka (Free)
2. Natural Reader
The other widely-used text-to-speech app is Natural Reader. It has both a free and a premium version.
The free app has unlimited use, a scanner bar that lets you read any text on the screen, a built-in browser that lets you access the web and read websites aloud in a single interface, and support for DOC, PDF, TXT, and EPUB files.
If you want something a bit more powerful, you can buy the full app for $99.50. It includes two natural voices and downloadable audio files. For $199, you get unlimited OCR to read aloud from images and scanned PDFs.
Natural Reader is available on both Windows and Mac.
Download: Natural Reader (Free, premium version available)
3. eSpeak
eSpeak is an open source document reader that’s available for Windows and Linux computers.
The output is synthesized, unlike many larger big-budget apps which now use human voice recordings to sound more realistic. But on the positive side, the app is tiny—its size is less than 2MB, including all the language data. All major world languages are available, though some are still a work in progress.
Download: eSpeak (Free)
Other Ways to Read Text Out Loud
Read Text Aloud
The tools we’ve discussed in this piece should be suitable for the vast majority of users. Make sure you let us know about your favorite document readers in the comments below.
Mac Text To Speech
If you would like to learn more about document readers and accessibility tools in general, read our articles on the best accessibility tools in Office and the best text-to-speech software for WindowsThe Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for WindowsThe Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for WindowsLooking for the best free Windows speech to text software? We compared Dragon Naturally Speaking with free alternatives from Google and Microsoft.Read More.
Read Text Aloud Windows 10
Explore more about: Accessibility, Productivity Tricks, Speech Recognition, Text to Speech.
How To Get Mac To Read Text
I have been using WordTalk for about a year and have been very happy with it. It is free, simple to use, allows you to vary the reading speed, define shortcut keys. Just open your Word doc, click the cursor where you want to start reading, and off you go. No need to highlight text to be read, copy and paste to another program or web site.
Unfortunately, with my upgrade to Windows 10, Office 2016 WordTalk seems to have a little trouble remembering my settings for voice, speed, keys; and this can be a little frustrating.
Otherwise, I highly recommend it
I got the speak thing working - thanks - it's great - I'm writing a sci fi novel so I am enjoying hearing what I wrote - let me think better about rewrites. However, it will only read about 4 paragraphs then stops no matter how much text I highlight and select as I kick it off. Any way to adjust that?
I normally use narrator on windows but it is difficult to navigate through, which can be frustrating. I just needed a reader for Microsoft Word and I was not aware this was offered until now. Thank you very much for this article!
On the first step when you have to click on the arrow, all my arrow is saying is to move it below the ribbon?? Help please!
Thanks so much for this information. I have been trying to do this forever to have my textbooks read to me (I copy and paste them into a doc) Then I added the Speak command. Amazing. I am so happy to be able to do this and even be able to have it talk in the background while I do other things on the computer.
If your Word is an older version Wordtalk a free macro from University of Edinburgh may have greater function for you.
Sorry forgot - Central Access Reader from Central Washington University will also read word documents
my nephew is dyslexic and cant read but would like to play computer games all of which require him to read the instructions. what would you recommend for this?
i have office 2007 and i'm not getting the speak option in the way you said please tell me what should i do
The Wordtalk macro may work for you.
So I have Office 2013... I managed to get the speak command just fine but I'm not sure how to edit the voice settings (the speed, the pitch...etc)
I have office 2016. Why doesn't the speech work for me though?? I have the button but it never really glows if you get what I mean.
dont forget libreoffice, read text extension is the one you seek
what about pdf? is there anything for that because i have alot of pdf books but don't get time to read them completely.
I use Balabolka, have a lot of features and is small. Besides I can have it portable through Liberty key portable applications
Awesome, I never knew about the Microsoft word text to speech option. Thanks guys
The best option that I have found with the highest quality is Ivona. A little bit pricey but makes everything above look like absolute rubbish.
That 'Quick Access Bar' is on 2010.
2007 also has a Quick Access Bar. But I guess 2010 was the one that added speech. Figures :)
When I search for 'text to speech' in Word 2007, it returns that it is only available in Excel.
What version of Word has the 'Speak' command? I have 2007 and it's not there.