We’ve been getting many requests from our ReadSpeaker proReader customers in the past months for PDF support meaning reading out loud PDF files on their web sites. We have now added this new functionality to our ReadSpeaker proReader product. This new feature enables web site owners to expand to PDFs the audio channel of their online content. The PDF reading comes with a set of controls to be used for navigating in the PDF (previous page, next page, first page, last page) as well as a drop-down list where the user can go directly to a selected page within the PDF.

Screenshot of ReadSpeaker proReader

The PDF reading feature nicely complements the existing features that end users can enjoy, namely:

•    Activate the highlighting of the text being spoken and customise how this highlighting should be presented (by word, by phrase, a mix of both or none)
•    Pre-select the part of the text on the web page that should be read out loud
•    Choose the reading speed
•    Show or hide the text as it is being read
•    Change the text size and colour as well as the font face
•    Give feedback notably on any pronunciation improvements

What amazes me in our ReadSpeaker webReader product is its language scope. Here we are every day getting new blogs and web sites signing up in different languages ranging from Italian to Dutch as well as American English, in all 9 languages and 18 voices so far. What is also interesting is the variety of subjects that are covered and that bloggers make available in audio as well.  This ranges from cooking in French to chess playing in Dutch to information on the Appennine region in Italian. One of the reasons for speech-enabling web sites and blogs is also to help foreign-born users listen to text that is not written in their mother-tongue language. Listening to a foreign language is a great way to learn more about the different sounds that make it up and a good learning tool to become more comfortable with it.