Text To Speech

Use SIMnet's built-in screen reader to read your SIMbooks, Lessons, Exams and Projects

SIMnet offers a built-in text reader that will read your assignment text without the need to download or install any additional software. The text reader is available in SIMbooks, Lessons, Projects, Exams and the Exam and Lesson portions of SIMpaths. SIMbooks and Lessons also have the added Translation feature.

SIMbooks and Lessons

When you navigate to your SIMbook or Lesson assignment or Library book, the Text To Speech button is available in the upper right corner. You can click on the button directly or press the Tab key once to select it.

The Text To Speech button

Controlling Text To Speech for the Page

Clicking on the button begins the audio at the top of the page, working through the entire page. When the audio player begins

Text To Speech Player

1. The Pause/Resume button starts the text reader and pauses it, holding the current location on the screen.

2. The Stop button stops playing. Upon resuming text, the reader will begin at the top of the screen.

3. The Volume button controls the volume of the audio. Clicking the button brings up the Volume slider which you can click and drag to raise and lower the volume of the speech.
4. The Reading Speed button controls the speed of the text. Clicking the button brings up the Reading Speed slider which you can click and drag to raise and lower the speed of the speech.
5. The Close Player button will stop speech and minimize the player to the top right corner of the page.

Controlling Text To Speech for A Selection

If you would only like to hear audio for an individual portion of the page, you can select the text you would like to conver to speech directly. Select the text you would like to hear by clicking and dragging across all of the desired text. Below the text you will see a mini player popup. Click the Listen to this selection text button in the middle of the player to hear the selected text. The reader will stop at the end of the highlighted selection.

Highlighted text pop up

Translating A Selection

You can use the Translate this selection button to translate the selected text in your SIMbook and Lesson. Select the text you would like to translate and click the Translate this selection button.

The Translate This Selection button

All translations are generated by software powered by Google Translate. As such there may be issues with the translation as compared with a translation prepared by a human translator.

Select the language you would like to translate the selected text into. There are 22 different translation options. Once you have selected your desired language, review the note about automatically generated translations and select I Understand to dismiss the note.

Selected Text Translated to Spanish

Use the controls to Play, Stop, Increase text size, Decrease text size, Change volume of speech, and Change reading speed. You can also increase the size of the window to take up the entire screen and close the window using the controls in the upper right corner.

Projects

Text To Speech is available for all SIMnet Project instructions. Above the instructions, click the Listen to the project instructions button to begin playback of the project instructions.

The Listen to the project instructions button

Once you have clicked the Listen to the project instructions button, the playback controls appear in the upper right corner of your project instructions.

• The Pause/Resume button starts the text reader and pauses it, holding the current location on the screen.

• The Stop button stops playing. Upon resuming text, the reader will begin at the top of the screen.

• The Volume button controls the volume of the audio. Clicking the button brings up the Volume slider which you can click and drag to raise and lower the volume of the speech.
• The Reading Speed button controls the speed of the text. Clicking the button brings up the Reading Speed slider which you can click and drag to raise and lower the speed of the speech.
• The Close Player button will stop speech and minimize the player to the top right corner of the page.

Each instruction also has its own Listen to project step instruction button that you may click to hear just that instruction. The button appears to the right of each project instruction.

Listen to project step instruction buttons

Exams

You can play the text for each Exam question by clicking the Listen to the instructions button to the right of each question. The player will play back the text for each question.