Introduction
I was asked recently about text to speech readers. Until I realised why the person wanted text to speech, I got diverted!
Some years ago, I helped a first year student who is blind and who used a screen reader which spoke at top speed! Her screen reader cost several hundred pounds but nowadays, you can get screen readers free and then they start to charge for extra voices, or conversion into sound files.
Text to speech articles
For more ideas...
here’s article from the Guardian (written January 2013):
How to convert text documents into MP3 audio files
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2013/jan/24/convert-text-documents-mp3-audio
and
19 Free Text To Speech tools for Educators
http://elearningindustry.com/subjects/tools/item/420-19-free-text-to-speech-tools-educators-tts-teachers
dated December 2012 (also cited in the Guardian Article)
Balabolka
I saw an article from the Guardian and picked out Balabolka - see example. This is the default voice.
- You can change speed and tone.
- There are other voices available on the download page.
- You can save the text as a sound file.
- There is a variety of formats available.
- I chose mp3 because Mahara will take mp3 files.
The example that I produced contains a list of contents so that part will sound strange. Otherwise, it picked up the text very well. And it’s free!
http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm
Text to speech for movies
Go!Animate
Go!Animate, has a basic free option. I produced a dialogue (also free) but you have to pay for some more elaborate options.