Louis Fourie offers the following advice for those with eyesight challenges.
Whilst I eagerly await the latest SAH news and applaud Chris Lezotte for keeping us informed, I admit to NOT reading the last two newsletters. Instead, because of eyesight challenges, I rely on technology to read these newsletters to me. When I informed Helen Hutchings and David Schmidt how I was doing this, they immediately wanted me to let other SAH members be aware of this method.
Encouraged to write a set of how-to instructions, my research soon uncovered there is no common way of doing this across different devices, applications and software operating systems. In some cases, you need to download apps. But it is apparent, this technology is fairly common. So, depending on what device you use to receive your emails, you need to do a quick search, to ask how that device can speak to you and read your emails to you.
If all else fails, ask your child or grandchild! The main takeaway is this technology is readily available. You just need to look for it.
For myself, Microsoft 365, Version 11, Outlook performs this task very easily. By double-clicking the email to have it use the full screen, one then has access to the toolbars at the top. The Read Aloud button has a large A symbol with some half-moons around it. All you do is click on it for your device to start talking to you.
Email attachments can frequently be read aloud as well. Seek out graphic symbol of THREE DOTS lined up horizontally like this … Alternatively, these symbols can be stacked vertically as THREE DOTS or THREE LITTLE LINES. These symbols indicate
“more options.” Again, depending on your device, programs, etc., these symbols are located somewhere around the perimeter of your screen, often in the upper or lower right or along the bottom.
My experience is one usually has to open the MORE TOOLS to reveal the READING MODE. Clicking on this READING MODE results in a split screen. Activating the RUN button starts the reading aloud feature.
My subsequent poking around in search of a shortcut button revealed a rectangular icon. This tiny icon looks like an open book with writing on the right-hand pages. It took up residence near the three dots. Clicking on it immediately opens the split screen. Either Microsoft or Google Chrome were apparently watching over this determinedly curious person (me!) and decided to intervene before I could injure my computer and set up this icon automatically. I welcome this icon’s arrival!
It might also interest you to know that this message has been dictated by simply using the keyboard’s Windows logo’d key plus H which automatically starts recording your dictation. The same method is used in Word and if you want Word or Outlook to play it back to you, go to the Review heading to find the read feature. Try it, you might like it. (lf)