Speaking of Voice Dream Reader, did anyone see the following from Access
World?
A Review of the Voice Dream Reader for iOS: A One-Stop Solution
Bill Holton
For several decades people who are visually impaired have used
text-to-speech (TTS)
software to access electronic text documents. Synthesized speech has evolved
and
improved markedlyover the years, and its use has spread to the point that,
these
days, you'll hear it chattering away everywhere from flight announcements at
the
airport to a host of apps designed to give sighted tablet and smartphone
users the
ability to multitask or take a break from eye strain.
In this article we'll take an in-depth look at a self-voicing app foriOS
devices
the called
Voice Dream Reader
. This mainstream app has been aptly described as a Swiss Army knife for
opening
and reading aloud a wide variety of file formats, ranging from PDF files to
PowerPoint
presentations. It also does an excellent job organizing and voicing
Microsoft WordDOC
and DOCX files, web articles, and various e-book formats, including works
from
Project Gutenberg
and
Bookshare
.
Overview
Voice Dream Reader costs $9.99 in the US App Store and comes standard with
the Acapela
Heather voice. It is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and
requires
iOS 5 or later. During the brief setup process, you're taken to the Voice
Store where
you can sample and purchase other Acapela and NeoSpeech voices for $1.99 and
$2.99,respectively.
There are 78 voices in 20 languages to choose from.
You can also try out the app before you buy it with the
Voice Dream Reader Lite app
. This free version is nearly complete with all of the features, but it will
only
read the first 300 characters of any book or document.
The app interface is extremely speech friendly. All of the buttons are
labeled, and
there are several features and controls specifically for VoiceOver users.
Four features
(full-screen reading mode, text highlighting, dictionary lookups, and the
ability
to create and embed notes) do not currently work with VoiceOver, but the
developeris
actively working on changing that.
Quick Start
The home screen contains the Documents list and comes preloaded with three
files:
Welcome, Help, and Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice
. Each title is followed by an approximate total listening time, which is
updated
whenever you change the voice or voice speed.
When you double tap any title, the reading pane will appear. Near the middle
of this
screen you'll find a text box containing the first few lines of text of the
selected
title. At thetop and bottom of the box are a number of button controls. The
"Play"
button is located at the center of the screen about three-quarters of the
way down.
Double tapping this button will begin to voice the document. To pause the
document,
tap the button again. You can use VoiceOver to find this or any other
control without
interrupting the reading, but once your document starts voicing, you can
also use
the familiar two-finger double tap to stop and restart listening.
Double tapping the "Home" button at the top left of the screen saves your
place,
closes the active document, and returns you to themain screen. The next time
you
open the document, reading will pick up right where you left off.
More Documents, Please
Voice Dream Reader can access a wide range of document types, including:
Plain text (TXT)
Rich Text Format (RTF)
Microsoft Word (DOC and DOCX)
Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT and PPTX)
Portable Document Format (PDF)
Apple Pages (PAGE)
Apple Keynote (KEY)
Web (HTM and HTML)
eBook (ePUB)
Adding Files
To add files to Voice Dream Reader, use the "Add" button on the home screen.
There
you are presented with several options:
Cut and Paste
The "Clipboard" option in the Add menu turns the contents of your clipboard
into
a readable document. It will show up in your Documents list as "Untitled,"
but if
you open the file and double tap the "Edit" button, you can name the file
and even
add text to it. The "Edit" button in the Add menu is a great way to build
your own
document via multiple cutand pastes and a bit of touch typing.
Share or "Open With"
Many iOS apps that create text offer the option to share a document with
another
app. Double tap the "Tools" button in Pages, and you'll be given the chance
to send
the current document to a number of other apps, including Voice Dream
Reader. You
can also use the double-tap-and-hold gesture onan attachment you receive in
an e-mail
and send the document directly to the app for voicing and file management.
Web Browser
Voice Dream Reader includes an embeddedbrowser that you can use to open
webpages.
The "Smart Save" option transforms the page into a Voice Dream Reader
accessible
document. The app tries to remove as many ads as possible. In my testing it
did a
fairly good job, but it takes several steps to save a page whereas Safari
Reader
will do the same (or better) with a single double-tap.
More Ways to Add Files
You can add files directly to Voice Dream Reader via the iTunes app folder.
You can
also import directly from
DropBox
,
GoogleDrive
,
Pocket
,
Instapaper
, and
Evernote
.
E-books
Use the home screen Settings menu to log into your Bookshare account and
download
books directly into Voice Dream reader. You'll get the same search, browse,
and book
summary information that's available in
Bookshare's Read2Go
app. The same is true for the Project Gutenberg option except that Gutenberg
does
not require a log-in name and password. Unfortunately, due to Digital Rights
Management
(DRM) protection, you cannot use Voice Dream Reader to open books from the
iBook,
Kindle, or Nook bookstores.
Reading Options
The reading pane offers a number of VoiceOver-friendly navigation controls.
You can
see how much reading time has elapsed and how much remains. You can also
monitor
percent completed and quickly navigate through the book with one-finger
swipes upward
on the percent slider or by entering a number in the adjacent edit box.
Additionally,
if your document has page markers, you can use the "Page" control to
navigate directly
to any page.
The "Fast Forward" and "Rewind" buttons are user-definable. Double tap the
"Navigation
Unit" control at the extreme lower right of the screen, and you can set
these buttons
to advance by sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, bookmark, highlighted
text, or
15-, 30-, or 60-second intervals. You can also double-tap-and-hold either
the "Fast
Forward" or "Rewind" button to call up the same options.
Unfortunately, the two-finger swipe left and right gestures,which usually
move you
quickly through the text, are hijacked by VoiceOver, so you'll have to find
and use
the buttons. If you're using headphones, you can use the Settings control
found on
the home screen to set the double and triple press of the "Play/Stop" button
to move
back and forth by the designated unit. As is the case when you are playing
music,
you can use these controls even when the device is locked, which allowed me
to easily
listen to a large PDF file while walking my dogs. Setting the navigation to
advance
by paragraph also enabled me to quickly skip the annoying header information
repeated
at the top of each page. (Note: These remote controls are not enabled in the
Voice
Dream Reader Lite version.)
Along with creating a VoiceOver-friendly gesture to move forward and
backward, my
wish list for this app also includes the ability to set the "Fast Forward"
and "Rewind"
navigation units separately. When I want to skip ahead, it's usually by
paragraph
or page, when I want to rewind it's usually to replay the last sentence or
two.
The "Previous" and "Next" buttons near the top of the reading pane move you
from
one file to the next. By default Voice Dream Reader moves one by one up and
down
the titles in your main list. However, you can add titles to the playlist
folders
and arrange them in any order you like.
Bookmarks and Searching
The "Add Bookmark" button does just that. Press the button labeled
"Bookmarks" to
call up a list of your place settings. The app presents each with a bit of
identifying
textand the percent marker along with a "Play" button to start reading at
that point.
If your document is structured with chapters, you can also navigate quickly
ahead
and back. Additionally, the Bookmarks pane also includes an option to
navigate by
highlighted text, but as mentioned, it is currently not possible to create
highlights
using VoiceOver.The "Search" button also presents results with text, a
percent marker,
and a "Play" button. The "Play/Pause" button also doubles as a sleep timer.
Double
tap and hold to call up the various settings.
Editing and Sharing
The "Editor" option allows you to add and remove text from documents small
enough
to fit in your device's memory. After you save your changes, they will
appear in
your document from then on. You can also translate a document via
Google Translate
, which is free on the Google website, but to do this from within the app,
you need
to purchase credits because Google charges developers for this service.
The "Action" button allows you to share the title of the e-book or other
documents
you are reading via Twitter or text message. The "Export" option lets you
e-mail
the text (subject to length restrictions) or send the text to an
iDevice-ready printer,
your clipboard, other apps on your device,or to an external source, such as
your
DropBox account.
With these features I was easily able to import a PDF file, make changes and
additions,
save my revisions, print the document, and e-mail it as a TXT attachment.
This could
be an excellent solution for students who want to take and turn in a test
during
class with a Word document or PDF file using their iPad or iPhone (with or
without
a Bluetooth keyboard).
Voice Settings
In Voice Settings you'll find the Voice Store where you can purchase
additional TTS
engines in English and other dialects and languages. I purchased a German
voice,
and when I opened a German language document, Voice Dream Reader began
speaking with
the correct voice. A mixed language document did not fare so well. When the
text
changed from English to German, I had to use the Voice Settings to switch
voices
manually.
You can change the language at any time along with the speed, pitch, and
volume.
Each document is automatically associated with the voice you use, so I was
able to
use an amped-up Acapela Heather voice to breeze through a light mystery
novel and
a slowed-down Acapela Will for some Excel documentation. I could flip back
and forth
between the two without having to fiddle with voice controls.
Each language also includes its own pronunciation dictionary into which you
can enter
exceptions and phonetic pronunciations. Technologically sophisticated users
will
be pleased to note that the app supports
regex
search strings.
Text Settings
Voice Dream Reader also offers several features of interest to partially
sighted
and reading disabled users. It works with Zoom, but after you learn the
layout, you
may wish to turn off magnification while using the app because the Text
Settings
menu offers eight font choices, including Open Dyslexic, in sizes from 10 to
40 points.
You can select custom foreground, background, and highlighting colors. There
are
also options to have the current line and/or word highlighted in the color
of your
choice.
A single tap toggles the text window from partial to full screen mode with
all controls
hidden for undistracted reading. The tap-and-hold gesture calls up a context
menu
that allows you to highlight and copy a block of text, look up a word in the
dictionary,
create a bookmark or a note, or add a new pronunciation on the fly.
Zoom users who don't wish to have the app speak the text can still benefit
from Voice
Dream Reader. Do a two finger pinch inward from any direction, and the text
window
will shrink all the way down to a single line. Use the Voice Settings menu
to slow
the voice and set the volume to zero, and voilĂ , you get a document that
displays
one line at a time in your choice of font and font size and that scrolls
automatically
at an adjustable speed.
The Bottom Line
At half the price of Read2Go,Voice Dream Reader is an absolute must buy for
new users
of Bookshare who want to download and read books on their iPhone, iPad, or
iPod touch.
Even seasoned Bookshare users will enjoy the larger set of features. For me,
the
ability to set different voices and reading speeds to start automatically
with different
books was a delightful surprise. I also enjoyed the ability to read Word,
PDF, and
PowerPoint files on the go, and to keep them stored in various folders.
Zoom users and the reading disabled will also find a lot to like about this
app.
I envy their ability to highlight text, use the dictionary, and create
embedded notes.
However, considering all the work the developer has done thus far to make
the app
accessible, my guess is it's just a short matter of time before these
features make
it into the Voice Dream Reader.
-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Hodges
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2013 11:18 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: A Voice Dream navigation question
I have just installed Voice Dream Reader and I'm quite pleased. I do
have a question however.
Is there a method to navigate the heading structure of a Bookshare book?
I have explored the Fast Forward and Rewind functions.
Please feel free to send any responses directly, to avoid cluttering the
list. [email protected]
Thanks,
Brad
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