Relevant to: faculty, staff, and students
This article contains information considered accurate at the time of publishing. Technology updates, changes in University security practices, policies and procedures may effect the information in this article - updates to articles are scheduled on a periodic basis and will address any required changes.
Introduction
ReadSpeaker is a text to speech product that is integrated into Brightspace for all users. Users can listen to text in Brightspace by either clicking the Listen/play button that appears in the toolbar, or by selecting specific text and then clicking on Listen. ReadSpeaker has a synchronized highlighting function to help users follow along while the text is read. Users can change the reading speed or highlighting color, translate text into various languages, download audio files to listen to offline, and adjust font styles and sizes in Text Mode (ReadSpeaker, n.d.).
ReadSpeaker Features
You can try out ReadSpeaker here or in Brightspace following the steps below:
- Locate the toolbar
- Click the Listen/play button to hear the text read.
- For additional features, click the three lines to the left of Listen to expand the menu.
- Access Settings if you want to turn off highlighting, change text size or color, or change reading speed.
- Toggle on Click and Listen if you want to have text read wherever you click on screen, where ReadSpeaker is available.
- Turn on Text Mode to make additional changes to font size, style, or text and background color. The example below shows yellow text on a black background.
- Turn on Page Mask if you want focus assistance when reading text.
- To translate text to various languages, select the text, click translate, and then select a language. You can also look up words and phrases by selecting text and clicking on dictionary. In addition, you can highlight text and then click the listen button.
Using ReadSpeaker in Discussions
There are a few things to be aware of when trying to use ReadSpeaker in Discussions in Brightspace.
- You must navigate to Discussions through the Course Menu tab.
Note: If you open Discussions from Content, the ReadSpeaker button will not be there.
- After navigating to Discussions through the Course Menu tab, you must open the Discussion Topic for the Read Speaker button to appear.
Note: ReadSpeaker is not available if you are just in the Discussions List and not viewing a topic.
- The Listen button may not automatically appear for Discussion post replies. You may need to first highlight the text of the reply and then select Listen.
Using ReadSpeaker in Module Description
Please be aware that the ReadSpeaker player will not appear when viewing the module description/overview, but will appear when navigating to specific components within the module.
Resources
Access ReadSpeaker Training for Brightspace for a series of videos to help understand the functions of ReadSpeaker in Brightspace. For a quick tutorial, consider watching the following:
Reference
D2L Brightspace Accessibility by ReadSpeaker. (n.d.). ReadSpeaker. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.readspeaker.com/education/brightspace/.