Text Resources

Read and Write is a literacy support tool that offers help with everyday tasks like reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching assignments and proofing written work.

Install Read and Write

Equatio is an advanced equation editor used by millions of K-12 teachers and students. It makes math digital and accessible. Students can speak, draw or type problems and equations directly onto their devices. Teachers can use Equatio to save time when it comes to creating accessible math lessons and assessments.

Install Equatio

Orbitnote has all the familiar functionalities of Read and Write, yet is specifically for PDF documents. Since it’s a web application, OrbitNote can work on any web browser.

Select the letter "A" in the address bar or right-click and select Read Aloud for “Read Aloud” functionality. Occasionally the book-looking icon will appear next to it for “Immersive Reader” mode. Additionally, you can highlight a section, right click and select “Read Aloud”. You can open PDF files in Microsoft Edge for text-to-speech.

Select the Review tab, and then "Read Aloud", reading will start at the cursor. For more advanced reading options, select the View tab and then "Immersive Reader". Immersive reader includes line focus, page background color, spacing and other options to make reading easier.

Dictation lets you use speech-to-text to author content in Microsoft 365 with a microphone and reliable internet connection. It's a quick and easy way to get your thoughts out, create drafts or outlines and capture notes. Open a new or existing document and go to Home > Dictate Office Dictate Button while signed into Microsoft 365 on a mic-enabled device.

Voice access is a feature in Windows 11 that enables everyone to control their PC and author text using only their voice and without an internet connection. For example, you can open and switch between apps, browse the web and read and author email using your voice.

Dictation on a Mac allows you to enter text by speaking, wherever you can normally type. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences, click on Keyboard in the sidebar, under the Dictation tab, turn it on and choose Edit > Start Dictation in the menu bar.

NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a free and open-source screen reader designed for Microsoft Windows operating systems. NVDA enables blind and vision-impaired individuals to use computers by reading the text displayed on the screen aloud. It provides access to various applications and web content.

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a computer screen reader program for Microsoft Windows that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a refreshable Braille display.