BrowseAloud... Making Websites Talk
BrowseAloud reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online content. Reading large amounts of text on screen can be difficult for those with literacy difficulties,dyslexia, mild visual impairments and those who speak English as a second language.
Almost 3,000 organisations worldwide have implemented BrowseAloud to enhance the accessibility of their websites.
By adding speech to websites, with a natural-sounding voice, BrowseAloud makes using the Internet easier for people who have:
- Literacy Difficulties
- Dyslexia
- Mild Visual Impairments
- English as a second language
Latest Browsealoud features include international high quality voices, text magnification display and the ability to convert text to MP3 output.
Features
Features of BrowseAloud include:
- Ease of use: Simply move the cursor over text for it to be spoken aloud
- Highlights each word as it is spoken to aid comprehension
- Free to the end-user
- High-quality, Australian voice
- Available in nine, international languages
- Reads Alt-Tags, secure webpages, Word and PDF documents.
If you would like to learn more about the advantages of Browsealoud for your organisation, or for a FREE 15-day trial, please
contact us.
Benefits
Letting users have your site read out to them using BrowseAloud will make your site easier to use for large numbers of people
Making your site BrowseAloud-friendly is done remotely, so you don't need to make any changes to your site
In Australia there are:
- 6.2 million people with literacy and reading difficulties(ABS 1997)
- 2 million people with dyslexia or specific learning difficulties(UNESCO 2006)
- 3 million people with English as a second language(ABS 2001)
- 300,000 people who have a mild visual impairment(Vision Australia 2002)
- 4 million people with a registered disability(ABS 2003)
Note also that Australia's older adult population (60 years and older) is expected to double between 1999 and 2031 to over 6 million. In a further 20 years, they will make up a quarter of the Australian population. With this growth in the older population, the proportion of web visitors with low vision problems and other disabilities will increase significantly. (UNSW 1999; Vision Australia Foundation 2002; ABS 2001)
As this growth is being driven by the baby boomer generation entering old age, organisations need to be prepared for their demands for a greater range and higher quality of services. (National Strategy for an Ageing Australia 2005)