Since I know nothing beyond what the article said I asked ChatGPT and here is its answer:Here’s how you can use Kindle’s Assistive Reader (new/“Accessible Reader”) to have an eText book read aloud—basically turning it into a sort‐of audiobook using text-to-speech. If you tell me whether you’re on iOS / Android / Kindle device I can give more specific steps. But here are the general instructions + things to check.
What is Assistive Reader?
- It’s a feature in the Kindle app (and on compatible Kindle devices) that uses your device’s built-in text-to-speech (TTS) engine to read aloud the text in a Kindle book, with highlighting of words in real time so you can follow along visually.
- It’s meant to help with accessibility (vision, reading difficulties, etc.).
What you need / what to check
Before you try to use it, make sure:
- Your device supports it
The app (iOS / Android / Mac / Fire tablets etc.) must be updated to a version that includes Assistive Reader.
- The book is compatible
- The publisher must allow text-to-speech (some Kindle books do not have TTS enabled).
- The book may need “Enhanced Typesetting” or some similar formatting/label to work optimally.
- Books composed of images only (scanned PDFs, etc.) often won’t work because the text isn’t selectable/recognizable.
- You have a voice / TTS engine installed
The device’s built-in TTS voices should be available. Sometimes there are options/menus for choosing voice, speed, etc.
How to turn on / use Assistive Reader
Here are the general steps. They may differ slightly depending on your platform (iPhone, Android, Fire tablet, etc.).
- Open the Kindle app and open the eText (Kindle book) you want read aloud.
- Bring up the reading settings
- Usually you tap near the top of the screen or tap in the middle to pull up the toolbar.
- Then tap the “Aa” icon (this is the font / display settings) or “More” / “Additional options” depending on UI.
- Find Assistive Reader / Read-aloud / Text-to-Speech option
- In the menu options, there should now be something like “Assistive Reader,” “Read Aloud,” or “Speak aloud.”
- Toggle it on or activate it.
- Controls
- Once it’s playing, you should see controls for play/pause, skipping forward/back, maybe jumping by paragraph or page.
- Also speed controls are often present.
- Text is typically highlighted in sync with the speech.
- Using with screen off / background
- Depending on the device and OS, this may or may not support reading when the Kindle app is in the background or screen is off. Newer updates might allow this for certain platforms. But it’s not guaranteed.
If you tell me what device you’re on (phone/tablet, iOS or Android, or Kindle e-reader), I can walk you through exactly for your device. Do you want that?
Richard, USA "While striving for perfection, let us do what is possible." -- John Wesley
My web site: https://www.turner42.com
(sent from my iPhone 16 pro)
But how do I make Kindle app to make an audio book out of the ebook that I have? Was it not mentioned in the original article?
Thank you. On Tue, 23 Sept 2025 at 00:52, 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone < [email protected]> wrote: Been there, done that. Richard, USA “Reality is the leading cause of stress for those who are in touch with it.” – Jane Wagner, from The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. My web site: https://www.turner42.com Try force closing Kindle and opening it back up. If that doesn't work I'll have to try it and see if I can get it to work. On 9/22/2025 1:33 PM, 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone wrote: I did that. I tried Eva, and Tom, but Kindle still uses Samantha. Any more detailed instructions? Richard, USA “Reality is the leading cause of stress for those who are in touch with it.” – Jane Wagner, from The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. My web site: https://www.turner42.com Under voices heading, hit voices. On 9/22/2025 10:48 AM, 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone wrote: I do not know if it is limited to the US. I also cannot get the Kindle app to use anything but Samantha. The portion of the settings app in iOS26 that was Speech Content has been renamed to Read and Speak. Under there everything has new names, so I am not clear what needs to be enabled to get Kindle to use something else for this feature. Richard, USA “Reality is the leading cause of stress for those who are in touch with it.” – Jane Wagner, from The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. My web site: https://www.turner42.com Hi, Where is the feature available? Is it restricted to USA alone>? How do I find it on my Iphone if it is available everywhere? Thank you. Actually, as of about a month ago, changing voices in the Kindle Assistive Reader works perfectly. For example, when I enable the reader, the Alex voice TTS is used. The only TTS voices that do not appear to work are the Siri voices. To switch the voice in the Kindle reader, simply select the desired TTS in the spken contents area of the accessability settings of the OS. On Sunday, September 21, 2025 at 3:42:08 PM UTC-7 Richard Turner wrote: It seems to be there, but as for making use of it, not so sure. If I was actually using it, it is stuck on the Samantha voice, which I dislike. It is kind of buried. Richard, USA “Reality is the leading cause of stress for those who are in touch with it.” – Jane Wagner, from The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. My web site: https://www.turner42.com Is the accessible reader function available in the apple kindle ap, or just on kindle devices? On Sun, Sep 21, 2025 at 11:08 AM 'Richard Turner' via VIPhone <[email protected]> wrote: Good e-Reader - Friday, September 19, 2025 at 1:58 AM Amazon is focusing on accessibility for Kindle books![Image removed by sender. - Good e-Reader]()
Amazon has been pushing accessibility hard lately, making Kindle books and Kindle e-readers better suited for people with visual disabilities. They have added a new tab to book description pages, called Accessibility. It has new Accessibility metadata, including Visual Adjustments, Non-Visual Reading, Conformance, and Navigation. Publishers have been prioritizing the submission of e-books to Amazon that include accessibility features. According to Publishers Weekly, “The move comes as publishers face increasing legal pressure to make digital content accessible, positioning accessible publishing as both a competitive advantage and a necessity as new laws such as the European Accessibility Act and expanded digital accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act drive industry momentum toward universal accessibility.” The e-books that publishers submit have to be compliant with Benetech’s Global Certified Accessible (GCA) standards. This is a 3rd non-profit that works with publishers worldwide to integrate accessibility specifications into production workflows and certifies ongoing compliance. Amazon’s decision to display this metadata ensures that readers with vision impairments or dyslexia can easily find titles that meet their needs. Some major publishers submit books that are fully accessible, but this does not necessarily mean they are in an accessible format. The only publisher that is putting a priority on it is Simon & Schuster. “The publisher, which releases some 800 titles per year, is moving from certifying about 60% of its catalogue annually in 2022-2024 to 100% in 2025.” There have been various Kindle software enhancements that will appeal to readers with disabilities. Kindle Assistive Reader is one of them and is fully available in the update that was released a couple of days ago. It will essentially convert any Kindle book into an audiobook, utilizing an advanced text-to-speech system that sounds natural. However, you do need Bluetooth headphones, earbuds, or an external speaker. There is a new system-wide text enlarger that will make all menus and UI elements larger, giving users more control over the text size they want on the entire Kindle. ![Image removed by sender. - Good e-Reader]()
Amazon might be the only company to take accessibility this seriously, but Kobo does too. They also have smaller metadata information that has been available for some time, such as a table of contents and alt text for images. However, most of the features have been there for over s dozen years. There have been no software updates to add more features. Michael Kozlowski has written about audiobooks, e-books and e-readers for the past eighteen years. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-is-focusing-on-accessibility-for-kindle-books --
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