Reading Supports on the MacBook

Kelly Key’s Top Picks

AT Coordinator, Barrington 220
Last month, I shared valuable features and apps on the iPad to support your students with Reading. This month, I will share my top picks available on the MacBook!

Text to Speech

You can read any text on the computer (with exception of a locked PDF) by turning this feature on in System Preferences (System Preferences > Accessibility > Speech > check Speak selected text...). After turning on this feature, to have the text read out loud, simply highlight the text and press the option key and esc key on your keyboard.

Make Locked PDFs & Scanned Documents Accessible

By adding a Chrome extension called Snap and Read, you can make a locked PDF or scanned document accessible in seconds. This extension not only will read the document out loud to the student, it also has many other incredible features including:

• A graphic organizer 
• Text leveling 
• Translation 
• Remove distractions feature 
• Color overlay reading line guides 
• Picture supported dictionary 
• Bibliographer 
• Readability Analyzer 
• Annotate on PDFs 
• Data Collection 

Click here for videos and information demonstrating these features! This Chrome extension can be downloaded for free. You can sign up for the free trial and if you feel it would benefit your students, or contact Kelly Key to get a registration code.

Re-Wordify

Similar to the text leveling feature in Snap & Read, www.rewordify.com is a free website students and teachers can use to simplify reading material for easier comprehension. Simply type (or copy and paste) the text into the yellow box at the top of the webpage, click Rewordify text and it will create a simplified version! It includes text to speech and highlights the words they have changed.

Mercury Reader

This free Chrome extension will clear up clutter from websites for easier reading with a click of a button. Click here for more information & to add it to Chrome.

Learning Ally

This incredible resource is available on the MacBook as well! We have a district-wide grant to provide students with Learning Ally books if they qualify as having a print disability, a vision impairment, or physical disability. They must have access to digital books written on their IEP or 504 plan as an accommodation in order to qualify. Contact Kelly Key to get your students registered and start using this amazing resource today!