SPE 545 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE EVALUATION NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS VS. READPLEASE 2003/PLUS BY FAYVELLE V BUIE

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS NAME OF SOFTWARE IS NATURALSOFT READER 6.5 DEVELOPER IS AT&T HAS PROFESSIONAL BASIC ($39.50) AND ENTERPRISE VALUE ($99.50) VERSIONS. HAS A FREE VERSION WHICH CAN BE EASILY DOWNLOADED TO WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS OR MCINTOSH. NEED FOR THE INTERNET AFTER DOWNLOAD IS OPTIONAL. USES MICROSOFT VOICE TO CONVERT TEXT TO SPEECH. CONVERTS ALL WRITTEN TEXT ( S, MS WORD, PDF FILES) INTO SPOKEN WORD.

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS SOFTWARE IS DESIGNED TO CONVERT ANY TEXT ON YOUR COMPUTER INTO SPOKEN WORD WITHOUT CUTTING AND PASTING. USES A MINIBOARD WHICH ALLOWS EASY VIEWING OF TEXT BECAUSE THE SMALL ICON TAKES UP LITTLE SPACE ON HE TEXT THAT YOU ARE READING. PROMOTES DEMONSTRATION AND INSTRUCTION ON THE COMPANY WEBSITE. CLEAR INSTRUCTION AND EASE OF USE PROMOTES STUDENT INDEPENDENCE. TECHNICAL QUALITY IS VERY GOOD BECAUSE INSTALLATION AND SETUP ARE VERY SIMPLE.

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS TECHNICAL SUPPORT IS OFFERED THROUGH THE WEBSITE INSTRUCTION MANUAL ON WEBSITE HAS OBJECTIVES, SAMPLE SCREENS, DEMOS, VOICE INSTRUCTION, AND RESOURCE INFORMATION. APPROPRIATE SPEECH TO TEXT CONVERSION FOR ALL AGES. SMALL CHILDRENS’ BEDTIME STORIES. PERSONS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES. GREAT FOR STUDYING. PERSONS WITH VISUAL PROBLEMS. EXCELLENT FOR LISTENING WHILE DRIVING.

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS PROMOTES DIVERSITY: THROUGH THE USE OF MIXED GENDER VOICES LIKE MIKE, CRYSTAL, MEL, JULIA, RAY, AND CLAIRE. THROUGH A VARIETY OF LANGUAGES SUCH AS SPANISH, FRENCH, BRITISH ENGLISH, US ENGLISH, AND GERMAN.

HELLO, I AM REGGIE’S TWIN JULIA COBURN

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS EVALUATION BY JULIA COBURN I AM 7 YEARS OLD, IN FIRST GRADE, AND I READ VERY WELL BUT NATURALREADER IS GREAT BECAUSE IT READS BETTER. SOMETIMES, I CANNOT READ BIG WORDS SO I AM GLAD THAT MY GRANDMOTHER (MEEMAW) GOT NATURALREADER FOR ME. I LOVE IT AT BEDTIME WHEN MY PARENTS DO NOT HAVE TIME TO READ ME A BEDTIME STORY.

I FIRST TRIED READPLEASE AND I DID NOT LIKE IT BECAUSE THE PEOPLE DID NOT SOUND REAL

ALSO, WITH READPLEASE, I HAD TO CUT AND PASTE THE PARTS THAT I WANTED TO READ AND THAT IS VERY HARD FOR A LITTLE KID. THEN MY MEEMAW LOADED IN NATURALREADER

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS EVALUATION BY JULIA COBURN I CAN USE IT ANYWHERE I HAVE ACCESS TO A COMPUTER. MY BROTHER AND I FIGHT OVER IT SOMETIMES BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN. I LOVE TO MAKE UP FUNNY WORDS AND LET NATURAL READER SAY THEM FOR ME. I WANT IT ON EVERY COMPUTER IN THE WORLD.

HELLO, I AM JULIA’S TWIN REGINALD COBURN

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS EVALUATION BY REGINALD COBURN I AGREE WITH MY SISTER THAT NATURALREADER IS BETTER THAN READPLEASE. READPLEASE IS BETTER FOR BABIES LIKE MY COUSIN WINTER. SHE IS ONLY 3 YEARS OLD SO SHE DOES NOT CARE IF THE PEOPLE DO NOT SOUND REAL. I USED TO JUST LIKE VIDEO GAMES BUT NOW I WANT TO USE NATURALREADER TO READ EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET.

HERE WE ARE TAKING TURNS AND NOT FIGHTING OVER OUR NEW TOY

NATURALSOFT NATURALREADERS VERSUS READPLEASE NATURALREADER NATURAL VOICES NO CUTTING AND PASTING A VARIETY OF VOICES AND LANGUAGES NO TYPED COMMANDS NEEDED, JUST PUSH A BUTTON TO LISTEN TO TEXT EASY TO DOWNLOAD ONTO DESKTOP INTERNET IS OPTION AFTER DOWNLOAD EASY TO CHANGE SPEED AND SPEAKER’S VOICE READPLEASE VOICES SOUND SYNTHETIC HAVE TO CUT AND PASTE FEWER VOICES AND LANGUAGES TYPED COMMANDS NEEDED TO LISTEN TO TEXT BUT CAN PROGRAM THEM INTO A FILE EASY TO DOWNLOAD ONTO DESKTOP INTERNET IS OPTION AFTER DOWNLOAD EASY TO CHANGE SPEED AND SPEAKER’S VOICE

RECOMMENDATIONS I RECOMMEND NATURALSOFT NATURAL READERS FOR ITS UDL DESIGN AND ITS EASE OF USE FOR ALL LEARNERS: SMALL CHILDREN WITH BUSY PARENTS WHO CAN PROGRAM BEDTIME STORES FOR THEM PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WHO NEED AUDIO ASSISTANCE PERSONS WITH VISUAL PROBLEMS REDUCES EYE STRAIN FILES CAN BE COPIED TO CD OR DVD TO LISTEN TO WHILE DRIVING OR WHILE RELAXING.