Open Source PC Software Solutions

It should be no secret that I'm a fan of free stuff. I also love text to speech solutions for the many students I have struggling with reading. There is a great site that is dedicated to supporting open source software found here: http://fullmeasure.co.uk/

In particular, they highlight a PowerPoint narration program that appears to be quite powerful. It is called PowerTalk:

PowerTalk automatically speaks the text on any PowerPoint presentation making it more accessible. Find out more and get it on the PowerTalk page. It customises Microsoft PowerPoint and SAPI speech software that comes with Windows XP.

Geetesh Bajaj has written a very good review and tutorial of PowerTalk that you can read here.

Touch CD and Clip Talk are also featured at fullmeasure. Clip Talk is a text to speech engine for the PC that reads what is put into the clipboard. Touch CD is a CD player that is usefull for students with limited physical access.

Don Johnston Solo

Last week I got to spend 1.5 days learning SOLO suite with trainer, Kevin Johnston. There are many impressive things I like about this software. Here are some down and dirty comments on my thoughts:

1. The new CoWriter is fantastic! Easily worth the price. I was always hesitant to show teachers how to use topic dictionaries with the old version, but the new one make topic dictionary use FUN and extremely easy. Simply cut and paste from your favorite source, and walla! Of course it comes pre-loaded with a ton of topic dictionaries ready to use.


2. CoWriter also has "word mode", which is another excellent feature. No longer must you force CoWriter to launch a program for you. Now, CoWriter works in the backgroud of any and all applications, including internet and webmail!

3. Read Out Loud is also very cool, but currently limited for the Mac. PC users can browse the internet and have it read outloud, but Macs cannot - Use my Tiger Text To Speech tip if you must, b/c that will make browser text speak on a Mac with OS 10.

4. Write Out Load and Draft Builder are also bundled with SOLO. I'm a bit dissapointed that you can't cut and past text INTO Write Out Loud or save documents without a SOLO suffix and be able to import them into other applications like MS Word. Draft builder, coulpled with Read and Write Out Loud is quite powerful and could be very useful for organizing research, thoughts, and written material. It will take a while and a good attitude to teach yourself this program, so don't just install it and think you are done!

I'm not a speech therapist, but this is cool!

I can't resist commenting about and sharing awesome and FREE technology. If you were ever curious about how our oral anatomy works to create speech, or you needed to teach a student how to make sounds, this website is tough to beat. I just think it's the coolest, and best of all, it's free!

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/about.html#