Read Aloud Selected Text

Pesala

As in PDF-XChange Editor and Old Opera, read the selected text aloud. This can be on the context menu for selected text, but a shortcut makes it easier to use.

Those with impaired vision or dyslexia, and those for whom the selected text is not in their mother tongue, would find it useful.

LonM

I didn't realise that classic opera had that capability. Would be nice for feature parity, as well as a help for accessibility.

Pesala

@lonm It did, but only up until 11.64 or so IIRC. Then IBM withdrew support for the voice libraries, so it stopped working.

Pesala

I went looking for answers on the Tracker Software forum, and found that the PDF-XChange read-aloud feature for selected text uses the libraries provided by Windows.

Only Common Languages are Supported, all you need to do is download and install a suitable language pack.

One can choose between UK and US English. Some have a male voice, while others use a female voice. Pronunciation of unrecognised words is poor. PDF-XChange has controls for speed, pitch, and volume.

PDF-XChange Speech Options.png

Pesala

There is a read aloud feature called Narrator built in to Windows, Ease of Access.

Unfortunately, instead of reading the selected text it narrates a whole lot of other stuff. Try the shortcut, Windows Key + Ctrl + Enter to see what the issues are.

Raindrops1

There is a Chrome extension called Read Aloud.

This can read aloud entire page or just the selected text.

It has a toolbar button to read the whole page. For reading selected text, use context menu.

g_bartsch

@Raindrops1 said in Read Aloud Selected Text:

There is a Chrome extension called Read Aloud.

An excellent extension but these days I must grant permission each time I restart Vivaldi and try reading text.

admorgan

@g_bartsch I can't get the extension to read the text on the tab I have open. I have to explicit click the extension icon to cause it to read from the current tab. Also can't get the quick keys to work as I would expect. Have you found a better option yet?

g_bartsch

@admorgan I haven't. I keep doing as you describe.