Text to Speech Software: ClaroRead Plus

ClaroRead Plus: the perfect tool for reading text on the screen.

As it is specially integrated for use with Microsoft Office, practically any text can be spoken aloud by this powerful software. With ClaroRead Plus, you can also scan any paper document and have it spoken back with complete clarity. Words can also be spoken back as they are typed, ensuring the accuracy of reports, letters, emails and other documents. When using Microsoft Word an enhanced spellcheck, homophone check, thesaurus and dictionary are available with ClaroRead. ClaroRead can be easily customised to meet the individual needs and abilities of any user.

Speak any text

ClaroRead speaks back text as it is typed, allowing the user to check and proof-read their work quickly and easily. Text can be spoken at any point by highlighting individual sections of text and pressing Play – great for proofreading. A choice of male and female human-sounding voices give clarity and voice choice. Close integration with Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer means you can click and play at any point in a document. Spoken words can be highlighted using a custom colour selection. Any accessible text under the mouse can be spoken if needed.

Simplification of Microsoft Word

ClaroRead provides a single toolbar for use in Microsoft Word that combines a text to speech player, scan and PDF convert function, homophone and tricky word dictionary, font and spacing commands, a thesaurus, spell checker button and a save to audio or video function. All have clear graphic icons for ease of recognition. With just one single click, checking individual words for spelling, meaning and alternatives can be done. Extra spell checking power along with an integrated reference dictionary are available with ClaroRead.

Improving word selection

Users can always be sure of picking the appropriate word when supported by ClaroRead. Homophones (words that sound alike despite differences in their meaning) are automatically underlined and highlighted. Alternative words plus their dictionary definitions and over 2,000 different symbols representing their meaning are provided in order to aid choice.

ClaroRead contains a word predictor that learns as you type and can be tailored to specific topics. You can build multiple prediction dictionaries for different subject areas.

System requirements • Windows XP, Vista • Pentium 1GHz or above • 512MB RAM • Sound Card or Sound Chip, headphones or speakers • 300MB free disk space • 60 - 140MB hard disk space required for each Realspeak Voice required

Converts paper and PDF to text

ClaroRead Plus includes powerful Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology which means that any paper document or PDF file becomes accessible. Through the integration of Omnipage 17 OCR engine, textbooks, photocopies and handouts are easily converted into Word documents. The text can then be spoken out by ClaroRead or edited. PDF files can also be unlocked and edited, opening a wealth of material for accessibility to every user, regardless of the format.

Multi sensory Support

The user can easily convert text to audio or video files. Any text can be saved as an audio or video file for phones or music players. You can also build an audio and video archive on the PC, for revision purposes and future use.

Layout assistance

ClaroRead’s integration with Word and Internet Explorer simplifies changing the look of a document. This allows you to make one-click changes to both spacing and font with the minimum of keyboard and mouse use. ClaroRead allows you to modify the font type to one of three of the most popular user set choices, change the colour of the Word document text or windows background colour, increase or decrease the font size, and expand the character or line spacing with ease making documents easier to read in Word and Internet Explorer.

Close integration with Dragon Speech-to-Text software

ClaroRead works alongside Dragon NaturallySpeaking V8, V9 and V10 to allow for hands-free dictation and proofreading of text. The unique echo back feature of ClaroRead Plus instantly speaks back the text that you have dictated with Dragon. Ideal for identifying the recognition errors and building confidence in Dragon.

Worldwide voices

Users can get listen to any document or web page in over 25 languages, with a high quality human voice, using ClaroRead add-on voices.

A Host of New and updated Features for 2010!

Claro has maintained the ease of use of ClaroRead, whilst extending its performance based on customer feedback. The V5 release includes the following enhancements:

Check Anywhere allows you to spell check any word from any PC application.

The Dictionary Tooltip feature allows you to get a definition for any word anywhere.

Research and capture information Included as a ClaroRead Extra is ClaroCapture V2, the latest version of our research tool. ClaroCapture V2 helps users collect text, images, screenshots, files, recordings and references in a project file. ClaroCapture is ideal for use when planning, reports brochures, assignments, presentations, and other detailed written work.

Support for Open Office 2.4 and 3.0 ClaroRead supports speech in Open Office 2.4 and 3.0. Features supported include: highlighting by word, word trail, sentence or paragraph: background while highlighting. Features not supported: focus sentence, homophone checker.

Updated Voice List All versions of ClaroRead now include eight high quality text to speech voices that read anything from your PC clearly and accurately.

Visual highlighting The focus sentence feature greys or dims out sentences in Microsoft Word not being spoken by the ClaroRead voice. This is helpful for focussing the eye on the text, and also tracking the position in a document. The word trail feature makes words colour progressively as they are spoken by ClaroRead. This mode allows effective word by word highlighting with minimal visual disruption.

Readable font The Tiresias family of fonts have been designed for optimum accessibility and usability. Tiresias PC font is now installed by ClaroRead for use in all your Windows applications. Tiresias was developed by Dr John Gill currently at RNIB Scientific Research Unit.

Scanning paper and converting PDF files ClaroRead Plus V5 uses the updated Omnipage 17 engine, which gives you faster and more accurate scanning, including a rich new Preview function. The Preview function lets you add, delete and re-order scanned areas, alter page orientation and other settings.

Word Check now gives extra definitions, context for the current spelling, and a Google search link within the improved Word Check window. Any corrections you make in the ClaroRead spellcheck window are remembered, and you can review your own spelling corrections later.