Hello. I have been looking into text to speech programs for some of my students. Some of the voices seem too mechanical. Does anyone use this type of program? How do your students respond? In the past, I used it with one student who was unable to read. He was just happy to get information from the internet and did not see too concerned with the sound of the voice.
Thanks for your help with this. Chris
Yes, I use Text to Speech with both my kids. The trick is that you have to buy the better quality voices. :) Both kids have found that AT&T Mike is easy to listen to. Ms. 14, however, uses Kurzweil 3000 which comes with its own set of voices. On that one she likes VW Paul.
If you are looking for strictly Text to Speech, here are some programs to try:
http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/ - this is so far our favorite.
http://www.bytecool.com/voices.htm
http://www.zero2000.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/default.asp
http://www.readplease.com/
http://www.naturalreaders.com/
http://www.brighteye.com/
If you need programs that do a bit more, look at:
http://www.kurzweiledu.com
http://www.premier-programming.com/TWP/Talking%20Word%20Procesor.htm
http://www.wordq.com/
http://www.freedomscientific.com/LSG/products/index.asp
Some of these programs have free trials available. Please use them as this will help fit the program to the specific student. We had to try many programs before finding the one that fit the best for my dd.