Read&Write
Read&Write is an award-winning literacy software designed in line with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. Read&Write has two components:
- A Chrome Extension: provides text-to-speech accommodations for anything within Canvas, as well as for other websites when working online.
- A Desktop App: provides text-to-speech accommodations for any documents downloaded to a computer for reading offline.
UWM faculty, staff, and students can install and use Read&Write software at no personal cost by visiting the TextHelp website, choosing the platform needed (Windows, Mac, iPad, Android, etc.) and when prompted, entering their UWM email address and password.
- Simultaneously read and listen to text being read out loud with dual color highlighting.
- Improve focus with screen masking and tinting.
- Use color highlighters to select text for summarizing and categorizing in a new Word document.
- Record and save short audio files, insert audio files into Word as a comment or directly into the Word document.
- Create vocabulary lists with images and dictionary definitions that can be read out loud.
- Listen to articles and other readings by converting the text into an MP3 audio file.
- Utilize an advanced spellchecker and word prediction.
Once logged in to Read&Write with a UWM email address and password, users will have full access the TextHelp Academy for video tutorials about the different features, tutorials and additional learning materials on accessing and using these features.
OrbitNote PDF Reader
A Chrome extension created by TextHelp.com, OrbitNote is a great program to use in tandem with Read&Write. While Read&Write works well in reading in Canvas or other websites, and in reading while studying offline, OrbitNote provides in-the-moment access to PDFs that are not accessible.
ARC has a limited number of licenses for students who are registered with our office and who are approved for text-to-speech accommodations.
Once you have been added to ARC’s group license for OrbitNote, you can access the site, and add it as a Chrome extension, by going to orbitnote.texthelp.com. Log in, using your UWM email address and password. From the dashboard, you can add OrbitNote as a Chrome extension for faster access.
- Scan and convert inaccessible text to accessible text through the optical character recognition (OCR) process.
- Simultaneously read and listen to text being read out loud.
- Annotate PDFs with notetaking tools, such as colored highlighting, drawing tool, textbox tool, and comment boxes.
- Auto-saves the scanned document and any notes taken on that document, as OrbitNote is tied to a student’s One Drive account.
- Improve focus with screen masking and tinting.
- Annotated document can be downloaded and/or printed.
- Features a math tool that allows student to speak, write, or type mathematical equations onto a PDF.
- Create vocabulary lists with images and dictionary definitions that can be read out loud.
TextHelp.com offers a tour of all the features found in OrbitNote, from annotating a PDF to converting an image to a PDF to using the Math tools.
Tips & Strategies for Better Comprehension when using Read&Write and/or OrbitNote
TextHelp.com provides a YouTube playlist, where students can review tips and strategies that may deepen a student’s understanding of the material. These videos expand on how to create a study guide or a vocabulary list through either extension, as well as how to use pre-reading as a strategy for understanding a required text.
Morphic
Morphic is a free download that works with your computer’s accessibility settings. With Morphic, you can easily access settings to zoom in on text, read short passages aloud, change the screen contrast, and more.
Morphic is installed on computers in all campus computer labs, and can be installed for free on a mac or a PC computer.