In the area of Reading and Language Arts there are numerous websites and apps available to assist students with reading challenges. Below you will find some great places to begin your search in looking for accommodations for your students.
E-books/Digital Text
Dictionary, Thesaurus, Spelling Websites
iPad and Reading Accessibility
- Voice Dream Reader can load and extract text from a variety of file formats and sources. These include formats such as Word, PDF, Google Docs, and EPub to name a few. Font size, color, and reading speed are all adjustable with a natural sounding voice. This is a favorite! Find it in the App Store and it sells for $14.99. Also available on Google Play.
- Your iPad has terrific, built-in tools for reading text. In the Settings go to "General" then "Accessibility", and then "Speech". Under the Speech menu you can turn on "Speak Selection" which will cause a speak button to appear when you select text. You may also want to turn on "Speak Screen". When you swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen you will hear the content on the screen read aloud.
Subscription Based Solutions
- Snap&Read Universal is an all in one power-packed reading tool for reading Google Docs, websites, PDFs, and emails. It also has built in text leveling to make text easier to read and understand as well as translation and study tools. It has a bibliographer and includes templates for outlines that students can use while they are doing research or creating documents. When you buy a license you can also download the Snap&Read Universal app to your iPad. Take pictures of text documents with the iPad’s camera and instantly have that text accessible to you. Subscription based pricing is $3.99 per month for one student. District pricing is available.
- Read&Write is a package of all in one study tools including word prediction, text reader, highlighting tools, and also speech input. This works on PC, Mac, Google, iPad and Android tablets. It can be downloaded free for 30 days and then there is a yearly subscription fee of $145. It could be well worth the price if it helps you to read, write and study smarter! The text to speech feature stays active even after the 30 day trial and it works very well.
- BeeLine Reader is an extension that applies a color gradient to web pages to make them easier to read. Some research shows that students may read faster, easier and with better comprehension by applying the BeeLine Reader color schemes. You can try it out for free. Subscription for a full year is $24 and well worth it if it makes reading online easier for you!
Other Website Tools for Reading