Office of Instructional and Research Technology
Text-to-Speech Software
Text-to-speech software (TTS) comes in many different forms. There are screenreaders, which read all of the elements on a screen, including window titles, buttons, and image captions. There are also programs that allow the user to cut and paste text into a window, and the software reads the pasted text aloud. Windows and Mac computers have text-to-speech software built in. One of the goals of these reading applications is to help auditory learners grasp information better.
College students are given a lot of material to read during the course of a semester. Auditory learners typically retain and synthesize information better by hearing it than by reading it. These programs give auditory learners the ability to learn more effectively. When students are able to grasp out-of-class material more confidently, they have a better chance of doing well in the classroom.
To learn more about text-to-speech software, check out OIRT’s information page about TextAloud, a popular TTS program.