Generally, we read a lot of things such as news, blogs, articles, etc. on our devices.
This may require reading a lot of texts, which can be a barrier for people with visual impairment or reading difficulties. The feature of read aloud in the Webpages has made the process of gaining or collecting information regarding various topics, easier for everyone. This not only saves time but also prevents putting a strain on the eyes of the readers. Plus this is very advantageous for people who find it difficult to read English.
Steps to Read Webpage Aloud
Below, we are going to discuss how to read web pages aloud.
1. Using Narrator on Windows
Microsoft Narrator, commonly known as ‘Narrator’, is a free screen reader feature that is included in Microsoft Windows. It can read web pages, text documents, dialogue boxes, window controls, and other files aloud, as well as speak every action you take in Windows.
This tool ‘Narrator’, is specifically designed for the visually impaired but can be accessed by anyone.
Let’s see how it works in Windows 10 and how can you customize this feature.
~ Turning Narrator on
To use the Narrator, you first need to turn it on.
For turning on the ‘Narrator’ feature on Windows, you need to click on the ‘Start button’ and open ‘Settings’. In settings, you first need to find the option of ‘Ease of Access’, then click on ‘Narrator’ to view the ‘Narrator panel’.
Turn on the Narrator button once you find it and a message may prompt on your screen, explaining how the Narrator keyboard layout has been updated to closely match your experience with other screen readers.
You need to click on the ‘OK’ option and tick the box next to the ‘Don’t show again’ option if you don’t want to see this message each time the Narrator starts.
~ Using Narrator
Once the Narrator has been turned on, you can use it to read your screen.
All you have to do is, move your cursor to the area of the text you want Narrator to start reading and press ‘Caps Lock key’ + ‘R’.
To stop the Narrator from speaking, you will need to press the ‘Ctrl key’.
~ Narrator Settings
To change any settings of the Narrator, you first need to open ‘Narrator Home’.
This will lead you to the ‘Welcome to Narrator’ screen, where you can learn how to use and customize the feature.
~ Start-up options
- You will have to allow the shortcut key to start the Narrator. If this box is ticked, you can use the ‘Win key+Ctrl+Enter’ keys to turn the Narrator on and off.
- If there is a tick on the ‘Start Narrator after sign-in for me’ option, this will enable you to start the Narrator immediately after signing in to Windows with your account.
- If the ‘Show Narrator Home when the Narrator starts’ option is ticked, you will automatically be taken to the ‘Welcome to Narrator screen’ when it starts.
- If you select the ‘Minimize Narrator Home to the system tray’ option, this will minimize the ‘Welcome to Narrator’ screen to your screen’s taskbar.
~ Personalizing the Narrator’s Voice
You can even change the Narrator’s voice in several ways. Firstly, you will have to go to the narrator’s settings screen and use the drop-down menu to choose which voice would you
want to use for the Narrator, for your windows. You can also change the speed, pitch, and
volume of the selected voice through the various sliders that are present on the settings
screen. Certain keys can also be used to bring about such changes. Additional voices can also be added to Windows, by first going to ‘Settings’, then to ‘Time and Languages’, then to ‘Language’. After this, you will need to click on the ‘Add more voices’ link, and after that
click on the ‘Add voices button’. From there, choose any language that you wish to add.
After selecting your preferred language, just click on the ‘Add’ option.
2. Using Google Assistant on your android device
With the help of Google Assistant, your browser can easily read webpages out loud.
Whenever a web article is displayed on your browser on your Android phone, you just need to say, “Hey Google, read it” or “Hey Google, read this page” and it will immediately read aloud the content of the web page.
To help you follow along, your browser will automatically keep on scrolling the page and highlight the words as they’re read aloud. You can also change the reading speed and select multiple voices.
Google Assistant helps in reading the web pages aloud, with the same modulation and flow that you would use if you were reading it.
Google Assistant is so much more than a voice-enabled search assistant and to prove that, Google is now releasing out a new ‘Article-reading’ feature. If you’ve ever wondered how you can read webpages aloud on Android devices, Google Assistant has got a solution. It’s like using a text-to-speech mode on a webpage.
Google Assistant comes in 42 different languages, so if the original content is not in your native language, you can select your language from the list of languages available. The feature has been made available on every Android phone. This will first translate the webpage to your preferred language, then it will read it out loud to you. All you have to do to change your language is, use the translation menu to select the desired language, and all the pages will automatically be translated and read out in your desired language.
This feature removes language barriers and helps a wide variety of people to access information from the web more easily.
Also read: Android 10 Best Features: Everything You Need To Know
To make your google assistant work:
- The first step is to launch the Google Assistant. For launching it, you just have to say ‘Hey Google’ or ‘OK Google’.
- Then you will have to load the Webpage you want to read, on your Android device.
- Once your webpage has loaded, you can bring the Google Assistant pop-up on top of it.
- Once the Google Assistant pop has been activated, you will need to command the Google Assistant to read webpage aloud.
- In this case, there are two commands you can use to make it read a webpage aloud. You can either say ‘Read it Google’ or ‘Read this page Google’.
Google Assistant also lets you change the reading speed.
You can even skip to a different section of the webpage, while the Google Assistant is reading, by tapping on your device’s screen. Since the texts get highlighted while being read aloud, this allows users to follow along with the page as it is being read aloud.
We hope this was helpful and you understood how to read webpages aloud.
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