The ZoomText Reader Tab

The ZoomText Reader tab can be found in between the Magnifier and Tools tabs.

Using the Reader tab, users can change settings that control how the ZoomText speech sounds, when it talks, and how quickly it talks. The tab is also used to start the various reader functionalities. The tab has three sections: Voice, Echo, and Reading Tools.

Voice

Voice

Activating the Voice button will open a drop-down menu which allows users to disable or enable speech and open the Voice Settings menu.

Keyboard – enable/ disable speech: Caps Lock + Alt + Enter

Rate

Use the up and down arrow buttons to increase or decrease the speech rate.

Keyboard – increase speech rate: Caps Lock + Alt + Up

Keyboard – decrease speech rate: Caps Lock + Alt + Down

The Voice Settings Menu

The Voice Settings Menu allows users to adjust a range of settings relating to the reader output of ZoomText, including: changing the voice profile and synthesizer, how the program should process text, and what extra information about formatting and the document the reader will identify. The Voice Settings menu has three tabs: Voice, Text Processing, and Hints.

Voice Tab – This tab allows users to enable/ disable speech output, select a synthesizer and voice profile, adjust synthesizer settings for speech rate, pitch, and volume, and test out your synthesizer settings with text to speech sampler.

Text Processing – This tab has three sections: Text, Numbers, and Punctuation. In the Text section, users can select whether or not they want the speaker to speak mixed case as separate words and whether or not they want the speaker to filter out repeated word after a customizable amount of repeats. In the Numbers section, users can choose the manner in which the reader deals with numbers. Finally, in the Punctuation section, users can choose how the reader deals with punctuation.

Hints – The Hints tab lets users choose settings about whether or not the reader will give indication of changes in capitalization, the presence of hyperlinks, and the beginning and end of a document.

Echo – This section of the interface allows user to change echo settings. “Echo” refers to the reader speaking the input the program is receiving from the user via the keyboard (typing characters and words) and the mouse (what is clicked on or hovered over).

Keyboard

The Keyboard split button has two functions. The top half of the control will enable/ disable the keyboard echo, and the bottom half of the control will allow you to choose what the reader echoes back from the keyboard input. Users can have the reader repeat every character, every word, both keys and words, or turn keyboard echo off.

By clicking the bottom half of the Keyboard split button and selecting Settings from the dropdown menu, users can open the Echo Settings menu in the Typing tab. This menu can also be used to choose the typing mode. If the user selects for the reader to echo keys or keys and words, this menu will allow them to choose whether to enable or disable echo on different types of keys.

Toggle typing echo mode: Caps Lock + Alt + K

Mouse

The Mouse split button has two functions. The top half of the control will enable/ disable the mouse echo, and the bottom half of the control will open a drop-down menu that lets users select the mouse echo mode. Users can turn mouse echo completely off or have the reader echo whatever the pointer is moved over instantaneously or only after the mouse has hovered over an item for a specific amount of time.

Selecting Settings from the drop-down menu with launch the Echo Settings menu in the Mouse tab. In this menu, users can set how long of a hover will trigger an echo and the extent of reading that will occur.

Toggle Mouse Echo Mode: Caps Lock + Alt + M

Echo Settings: Program

You might notice that there is fourth tab in the Echo Settings menu: the Program tab. This tab allows user to change settings related whether or not items are echoed when they become active (ex. Text cursor, alerts, menus), and what will be echoed as users move to a new line of text (the first word or the entire new line).

AppReader

The AppReader split button has two functions. The top half of the control will launch the AppReader, which is a functionality that allows users to have large amounts of text read to them. The bottom half of the control will open a dropdown menu which allows us to activate the controls that will be discussed below. By default, the AppReader App View tool will launch.

When the AppReader is activated, the underlying application (where the text to be read is) will become active. The pointer will change from simply being an arrow to and arrow with a little page icon to the lower right. Simply click on text in the application and the AppReader will read the page from that point to the end of the document.

You’ll notice that when App View mode is enabled, your mouse pointer no longer functions normally. Left clicking will start the App View, and right clicking will take you back of AppReader mode. You can still move the pointer around in the screen in this mode.

Use the Ctrl button to pause the AppReader.

When paused, press Enter to restart the reader from the current position or click elsewhere in the document to start the reader from a different position.

Press Esc at any time to leave AppReader mode.While the AppReader is reading, you can follow along as the focus moves from word to word. You’ll also notice that while the AppReader is reading you will be unable to do anything else with the computer. Your pointer disappears and the program follows the text to the bottom of the document.From the AppReader dropdown, you can open the App View Settings tab of the AppReader Settings menu. Users can choose whether or not they want to track and highlight words while the App View is running. They can also choose whether or not they want the App View to turn off automatically at the end of the document. Finally, users can use this menu to customize the appearance of the App View highlight.

Keyboard – AppReader App View: Caps Lock + Alt + A

ZoomText Keyboard AppReader App View: F9

Pause AppReader: Ctrl

Continue AppReader (from pause): Enter

Get out of AppReader Mode: Escape