www.donjohnston.com Retail Price: $79.99 per computer; $399/site; for 5 or more computers, contact Don Johnston
Don Johnston’s new Snap&Read delivers text-to-speech in a simple package that installs as a two-button toolbar floating over any open desktop or laptop application.
Quality and Effectiveness: Snap&Read is simple, elegant, and compact. When reading text aloud, Snap&Read uses one of two high-quality Acapella voices (one male, the other female) it installs at setup.
Ease of Use: Once launched, the Snap&Read toolbar never gets buried. It floats over the active window, always visible, always within clickable reach. To have it read text aloud, simply click the toolbar’s photo lens button icon, then drag across the desired text so that it appears within the orange guide lines.
Creative Use of Technology: This audio text-to-speech mode helps make text available to English language learners, developing readers, and individuals with vision problems. Writers who need editing help can also use it as a proofreading tool.
Suitability for Use in a School Environment: Schools looking for a simple and affordable way to read screen text aloud will appreciate the user-friendly, customizable, and economically-priced Snap&Read. The program works with all manner of text, including words found in K12 Inc.’s virtual school curriculum, or text that displays on Accelerated Reader, NWEA MAP tests, Study Island, and Discovery Education Web pages.
Overall Rating: Snap&Read scores high points for reading inaccessible text, such as words on Flash Web pages or words embedded in images.
TOP FEATURES
• Two-button floating toolbar will read aloud text embedded in a Flash website, Microsoft Word document, PDF file, picture, or dialog box.
• Comes with two high-quality Acapella speech synthesis voices.
• Preference settings allow users to personalize the program for individual use.
