Chromebooks have multiple options for Text-to-Speech. Some people prefer to use the built in options on a chromebook, while others prefer the "Read Aloud" chrome extensions. These two options work better with different programs, so we recommend trying both. Follow the guides below for how to enable them.

• Enabling the Accessibility menu
• Listening to only selected text
• Enabling text to speech system wide
• Enabling and using the Read Aloud extension:
• Enabling for webpage use
• Using Sora with a screen reader
• Further Support

Enabling the Accessibility menu

First, let's make sure that the Accessibility menu is visible:

1. In the lower right corner, select the time in order to bring up the system menu.
2. From here, select the Gear icon to go to your settings
3. Scroll to the bottom of the new screen and choose Advanced
4. From the Advanced menu, scroll down to the Accessibility section and choose "Always show accessibility option in the system menu".
5. You're now ready to enable text to speech! You can now continue on with the steps in "Listening to only selected text" or "Enabling text-to-speech system wide"

Listening to only selected text

If you would only like certain text to be read aloud instead of enabling Chrome's ability to read all text aloud on a given page, enable the Select-To-Speak option in the accessibility menu by performing the following steps:

NOTE: This is the option that students should use whenever they want to have their Sora books read aloud with the screen reader.

1. In the lower right corner, select the Time menu and choose the Accessibility option
2. Select ChromeVox (spoken feedback)
3. Select Enable select-to-speak from the menu

Once enabled, Select-to-Speak offers a few ways to select which text you want to hear:

• Press and hold the Search key + select a line of text.
• Press and hold the Search key + drag the pointer over an area of the screen.
• Highlight the text and press Search+S.
• Select the Select-to-speak icon from the taskbar, then select a line of text or drag the pointer over an area of the screen.
• On a touchscreen: Tap Select-to-speak. Then tap a line of text or drag your finger over an area of the screen.

Select-to-Speak surrounds the selected text in a pink border and highlights the word currently being read so that you can follow along easily with the voice.

For further information on customizing the voice as well as shortcuts, please refer to this support article by Google: Hear text read aloud

Enabling text to speech system wide

Chromebooks have a built in screen-reader called ChromeVox which allows you to have text-to-speech on any screen. To enable this, select the ChromeVox option from the accessibility menu by following the below steps:

1. In the lower right corner, select the Time menu and choose the Accessibility option
2. Select ChromeVox (spoken feedback)
   
3. Select Enable ChromeVox (spoken feedback) from the menu
4. You can now have ChromeVox enabled for any page by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Z on your keyboard. 

For further information on customizing the voice as well as shortcuts, please refer to this support article by Google: Use the built-in screen reader

Enabling and using the Read Aloud extension:

Separate from your Chromebook's built in text to speech tools, the "Read Aloud" extension is also available for students to install. Some people find this extension works better than the built in text to speech tools, so we recommend installing it as well.

1. To install Read Aloud, go to the following link, and click "Add to Chrome"
   Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader
   
2. Once the extension is added, it can be accessed through the puzzle piece icon in the upper right corner of chrome. Then, select Read Aloud from the drop-down menu. (Click the pin icon to pin Read Aloud in the upper right corner of chrome)
3. To have an entire page read aloud, click the play button in the Read Aloud menu.
   
4. To read specific text within a page, highlight the text, and tap with two fingers on your touchpad. Then, from the menu that appears, click "Read aloud selected text." 
   

Enabling for webpages like CK-12 or Canvas Inbox

1. Click on the bottom right of your Chromebook to access the Accessibility settings.
   
   
   
   
2. Make sure that ChromeVox and Select-to-speak is enabled/checked off.
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the webpage you need select-to-speak to work on.
4. While on the webpage, hold down the Search key (has icon of magnifying glass located above the "shift" key, on the left-side of the keyboard) + Spacebar for the ChromeVox search screen to pop up on top.
5. Click on the gear icon on the top right of the pop up.
   
   
   
   
6. Make sure that all four of the ChromeVox options are checked off and are blue.
   
   
   
   
7. From there, go back to the webpage and click on a paragraph or a sentence.
   
   The ChromeVox should be reading off the paragraph aloud to you through your Chromebook device.

Using Sora with a screen reader

To enter "Read From Here" mode in Sora with a keyboard shortcut, press Shift + " when you have an ebook open in Sora.

If you don't have a keyboard or don't want to use the shortcut:

1. Open a borrowed ebook in Sora.
2. Dismiss the navigation.
3. While in "Page" mode, tab or swipe until you hear "Read From Here button," then activate the button.

While in "Read From Here" mode, use the Read Aloud extension from earlier in this guide to have the page read.

To exit "Read From Here" mode, tab or touch the top-right corner of the screen to access the Exit button.

Still not working correctly?

If your Chromebook's screen reader doesn't seem to be working properly or the menu options don't appear the same on your screen as they do above, don't hesitate to get in touch with us!

How do I get technical support?