Listen to Lnu.se with BrowseAloud
BrowseAloud is a tool which makes the Internet speak. The BrowseAloud facility reads web pages and PDF files, marks the text that is read out, saves the spoken text as an MP3 file and allows you to use an "electronic ruler" or screen masking to keep focus on what you are reading. BrowseAlound is free of charge for the end user.
To get started with BrowseAloud you begin by downloading the BrowseAloud application. This takes only a few minutes and you will not need to install anything. Just save the application where you prefer and run it to get started.
When the application is active, a blue, round icon is displayed on the right-hand bottom of your screen, next to the clock:
When you enter a BrowseAloud-enabled website, the application's toolbar will also appear:
If you wish to access the application's settings, you can click on the blue icon at the right end of the toolbar. You can also double-click the blue circle on the right-hand bottom of your screen, next to the clock.
Personalize your settings
In BrowseAloud's settings, you can indicate how the application will function. For example, you can:
- change the reading speed
- indicate how the spoken text is marked on your screen
- change the colour of the text and the background
- indicate the text size
- indicate how focus should work: with an electronic ruler or with highlighting
Your preferences will be applied to all the websites you visit, so you will not need to change the settings for each website separately.
How do I know if a website is BrowseAloud-enabled?
The application automatically checks which websites are enabled for using BrowseAloud. The appearance of the mouse pointer changes, the toolbar pops up and the application icon is displayed with a yellow tick.
This is what the mouse pointer looks like when you enter a BrowseAloud-enabled website:
And this is what the application icon will look like:
This is what the toolbar looks like when you enter a BrowseAloud-enabled website:
All you need to do is to point and let BrowseAloud read the text out loud for you.