Desperately Seeking Text Readers

…but good ones. And free. Not asking for much, eh? ;)

So far I have found a number of free text-to-speech readers, but they all sound VERY computer-y and as such are not really helpful for my students. They find them difficult to understand.

I’m looking for free because, well, we’re in a public school and expensive programs to use with only a few students are not so easy to ask for!

Though…if anyone can recommend a REALLY GOOD text-to-speech reader with multiple functionalities and an easy user interface with a reasonable fee, I’d like to know about that, too.

Here is a collection of what I have found so far (actually, this is a great review site):

Free text-to-speech software downloads 

And here is one I just found and will have to try:

Speak It – Firefox  Addon


Comments

3 responses to “Desperately Seeking Text Readers”

  1. Tracy Avatar
    Tracy

    Thanks for your suggestions, Mark and Ken. I will take some time to explore your programs. On first glance, I see that neither of them support a linux OS, which is unfortunate!

  2. Mark Gladding Avatar

    Hello Tracy,

    I’m not quite sure your exact requirements but you may want to consider Text2Go. You can listen to the voices available at http://www.text2go.com/Voices/tabid/64/Default.aspx

    Text2Go is not free. It costs US$45, which includes a decent sounding voice. If you’re interested, contact me directly and I’ll explain the licensing requirements for an academic environment.

    You’re also most welcome to take advantage of our free 30-day trial.

    Regards,

    Mark.

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