I hope this new post finds you all well! Wow, what a week a MDTAP — we have had a great time supporting our constituents. Today’s post focuses on an iOS based application by the name of ‘Speechify.’ I have used the aforementioned app in my current role and in quite a bit in my former role supporting document accessibility for students in higher education in the state of Maryland.
Ok, I love text-to-speech apps that work well and don’t sound like a 1970’s Dr Who Dalek. I can think of nothing worse than using an app that sound like a Dalek, in my mind I keep thinking about those Daleks chanting ‘Exterminate’ for those that aren’t familiar with Daleks, you missed out on being a kid in the 70s and 80s — head to YouTube to get a quick sample of what I am talking about today. The voices in Speechify are good quality, human-like, great tone, have good cadence and sound very natural.
This app allows you to import a variety of text file formats for text-to-speech output via file upload, paste in your text, and even scan a book using the device’s camera. Regarding file import the common cloud services are all supported which is fantastic such as Dropbox, Google drive and iCloud. A recent feature they have added is the ability to browse preexisting ‘free or open educational resources (OER)’ — OER is the next big thing in the higher education world and something that I can see becoming very mainstream in years to come!
Overall, I love the simplicity of the app; it’s pragmatic and gets the job done for pennies compared to similar apps! A free version is available in the app store but I do believe they sell a more ‘premium’ version of the application, too. Check the app out and let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Thanks for reading!
Andrew
PS.Quick disclaimer: We don’t own the rights to the pictures but I do happen to know Cliff the man behind the app and he’s an individual with a disability that is really trying to make a difference in the accessibility world!
