Hi Tim, There are two types of audio with Kindle books, synthetic speech and human narrated, and I think the person you spoke to at Amazon was confusing the two.
For reading with synthetic speech, all Kindle eBooks have a text-to-speech setting within the product details heading on the page about that book. The setting governs whether they will read with synthetic speech on a kindle device like the kindle keyboard, and it has two options, "enabled" or "not enabled". All Kindle eBooks can be read with synthetic speech in software apps, which means Kindle for PC with accessibility, or the Kindle apps for iOS and Android, or the Kindle Fire. So long as you have the Kindle for PC with accessibility version, you should be able to open the app and pick a book with JAWS, and read the book with the built in speech synthesiser. This should work for any book you buy from the Kindle Store. In the UK this autumn, but maybe earlier in the US, Amazon introduced the "Whispersync for Voice" feature. This is where a Kindle eBook has an audio companion. These are two separate purchases, but if you have both, you can switch between reading the eBook with synthetic speech and the audio book with human narration. Not all Kindle eBooks have an audio companion, in fact at the moment in the UK very few do. It sounds to me as if the person you spoke to was thinking of the Whispersync audio version rather than the ability to read with synthetic speech, which does not require a separate button to acquire. There are a couple of free books you can use to check out Whispersync for voice, one of which is Dracula. I found this particularly good for demonstrating the potential, because it contains a number of words of East European origin that I was unfamiliar with. I could use the audio version to hear how a word is pronounced, and then switch to the synthetic speech version on my iPhone to check its spelling. Very neat. But I don't know if I would want to buy two versions of a book to get that feature! By the way, the RNIB have some good information about eBooks, although their page on kindle apps doesn't include anything about Whispersync for voice: http://www.rnib.org.uk/information-everyday-living-reading-ebook-app-reviews/kindle-ebook-apps Steve -----Original Message----- From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Guerra Access Technology Training via Jfw Sent: 19 December 2014 06:00 To: 'Tim Ford'; 'The Jaws for Windows support list.' Subject: RE: Kindle Books, not all have audio! Their was a movement several years ago about a rally against the Authors Gild since they were mandating that not all authors should be made to make their books with Audio. Hence this is the result of the authors guild still not fixing it Respectfully, Guerra Access Technology Training LLC An Authorized state of Minnesota Vendor for Technology Training Call Guerra Access Technology Training LLC guerra Access Technology Training LLC Visit Guerra Access Technology Training on the Web -----Original Message----- From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim Ford via Jfw Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 10:56 PM To: Adrian Spratt; The Jaws for Windows support list. Subject: Kindle Books, not all have audio! I was very excited when I successfully installed and used the Kindle P PC software. I read some of the three books that come pre-loaded. I was able to do that just fine. I then bought a Kindle book, a 2014 copyright date. It showed up on my Kindle software. I went to read it, and got no speech. I called Amazon, and found that not all Kindle books, even new ones, have the audio. There is nothing to warn a blind purchaser that they are buying a print only version. When I called Amazon, they confirmed the book I had purchased had no audio. The rep said the only way to tell is that when you are in your shopping cart, there is apparently a separate button to buy the version with audio included. I told him Amazon should put up a warning, since the absence of an audio version button would not warn someone like me who assumed all new Kindle books came with the audio included. So, excitement is all gone. Amazon did of course refund my money, and said to check back every couple of weeks to see if the seller had responded yet to Amazon's request to add an audio version. Oh well. Tim Ford -----Original Message----- From: Adrian Spratt via Jfw Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 7:59 PM To: The Jaws for Windows support list. Subject: RE: Accessible method of converting Kindle book? Thanks for posting this useful information, but it leaves a question. If this Kindle comes with its own two voices, why is JAWS needed? Or put another way, are you saying we can ignore Amazon's voices and work just with JAWS? That's what I'd want. -----Original Message----- From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Andre Jarreau via Jfw Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 9:11 PM To: 'Nicole Massey'; 'The Jaws for Windows support list.' Subject: RE: Accessible method of converting Kindle book? Yes there is a Kindle version with built in JAWS accessibility. It's called Kindle_for_PC with JAWS screenreader plug-in already installed in it. JAWS works pretty well with it. Call Amazon Cust Support and ask for the Kindle_for_PC with JAWS screenreader plug-in download. They will assist with getting everything onto your computer and stay with you until you get it up and running. Be ware the Kindle speech synthesizer has only two voices, Male and female. Neither is very good and understanding what is written sometimes takes a little time. But overall it does work fairly well with JAWS. -----Original Message----- From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Nicole Massey via Jfw Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 7:49 PM To: 'Tim Ford'; 'The Jaws for Windows support list.' Subject: RE: Accessible method of converting Kindle book? Well, the Kindle player for Windows should let you access it, though I don't know how accessible that application is. Anyone got any experience with it? > -----Original Message----- > From: Jfw [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim Ford > via Jfw > Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 6:46 PM > To: The Jaws for Windows support list. > Subject: Accessible method of converting Kindle book? > > I want to read a book that so far as I can tell, is available only in > print or Kindle. It is a 2014 copyright date. Is there any method, > accessible with JAWS, by which I can purchase the Kindle version, and > convert it to some file I can access? > > Tim Ford > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was > scrubbed... > URL: <http://lists.the-jdh.com/pipermail/jfw_lists.the- > jdh.com/attachments/20141218/9504746f/attachment.html> > _______________________________________________ > Jfw mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com Don't miss Text Santa: Friday 19 December, 8.00pm on ITV1. A galaxy of stars will entertain viewers in a three-hour extravaganza. Guide Dogs is one of six beneficiary charities and our amazing work will be showcased by famous faces, involving viewers with our vital services. Find out more at www.guidedogs.org.uk/textsanta The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Registered Office: Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 3YG. A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (291646) and a charity registered in England and Wales (209617) and Scotland (SC038979). Tel: 0118 9835555 Website: www.guidedogs.org.uk Email: [email protected] _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com
