Text to speech, abbreviated as TTS, was initially developed to help visually impaired people by offering them a computer-generated spoken voice that reads the text to the user. Text speech is considered an assistive technology that is used in many ways. These tools are aimed at helping people having trouble reading.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a federal law that ensures educational services to children with disabilities, in 2004 advised the educational institutes to use this incredible technology.
A text speech tool allows users to see the text as well as hear it simultaneously. You will find tons of apps on the internet, and all come with their own set of features. Some programs use a computer-generated voice, while others use a recorded human voice.
Although there is not much difference between the two voices, many users still prefer human voices over computer-generated ones. Some programs even offer the choice of gender and accent as well.
The latest tablets and smartphones released in the last few years mostly have built-in text speech features. However, this function has its limitations and does not offer accurate speech conversions. In addition, the software installed on the phone can read text files and certain web pages aloud but cannot read out all languages.
Text speech tools use optical character recognition (OCR) technology that scans printed material onto the system and converts it into digital voice. You will also find portable OCR devices like reading pens that can scan and read back text.
Best Online Text to Speech Converter
When it comes to choosing the best online text speech tool, the options you find online are in thousands or even more. There is a range of tools, with each offering its own set of amazing features. You can opt for the one you feel offers functionalities useful for you.
● DupliChecker
The text to speech converter offered by Duplichecker allows you to convert as much text into speech as you want. Without going through the hassle of installing software, you can operate this text reader online tool directly from the website. The user-friendly website lets you upload the file that you want to process. With a huge range of language selections and the ability to read out loud and control speed and pitch, you will surely get the best user experience with the Duplichecker text reader.
● Balabolka
Balabolka is a free text speech program that lets you either copy-paste text or directly uploads the file. Balabolka offers eight different types of voices that you can choose and adjust its speech, pitch, and volume according to your ease. In addition to text to speech conversion, this incredible tool also saves narrations as an audio file.
● Natural Reader
Natural Reader offers a hassle-free interface to upload documents, manage multiple files, and process text to speech conversions. This powerful tool can even read out the text from a photo or scanned document. Natural Reader also offers a built-in browser that converts a website’s text to speech easily. You don’t have to go through the long task of copy-pasting text.
Benefits of Using Text Speech Tools
The text speech tools have benefits for all types of users, but some specific groups of people gain more advantages than others.
1. Assists People with Learning Disabilities
These special people find it difficult to read large amounts of text due to dyslexia and other problems. However, with a text speech tool, they can listen to all types of text from websites, documents, images, and various other sources.
2. Help People with Literacy Issues
Those who want to learn a new language often get frustrated when they see a lot of new text. Learning a second language is really a difficult job and requires a lot of effort and support. So, if you are one of those who cannot read a new language fluently, then text speech tools will offer them a great help to understand information conveniently.
3. Provides an Opportunity for Content Consumption On the Go
A text speech tool takes you away from the computer screen and lets you listen to the content in an environment that is convenient for you. You do not have to sit in front of the screen for hours to read text that you can actually listen to.
As discussed earlier, the text speech tool is definitely a useful program for people with visual impairment. Their reliance on others to read them something from the internet will reduce.
Reading content on mobile devices is not that easy. The small screen puts a lot of strain on the eyes, especially when you try reading from it. With a text speech tool, you get all the information you want without the inconvenience of scrolling and staring at the screen.
