In the past several years, there have been huge advancements in communication technology that have given consumers newer ways to access their favorite content. Media such as books have been particularly difficult for people with visual impairments to access, which is a problem that has recently been given an innovative solution. These are primarily in the form of text to speech services, and they have opened the door to many possibilities.
There are a lot of benefits to text to speech services that you might not be aware of when it comes to media content, such as the ability to instantly deliver media to users with visual disabilities. Enjoying and consuming certain forms of media have always been a major challenge for certain users, and these text to speech services are helping close the gap so everyone can enjoy their favorite content without a struggle.
How Ebooks Benefit from Text to Speech Services
One popular usage of this is through ebooks. Ebooks are often inaccessible for users with visual impairments. Even though they often provide options to change text size, zoom in on words, and adjust brightness, sometimes, these options are not enough to provide the needed accessibility. That’s where the text to speech comes in. More and more Ebook services are integrating text to speech or read aloud modes where a computerized voice is generated to read the given text to a user.
This differs from normal audiobooks because those require human voices and attention to deliver the message, which usually takes a commitment from the part of the publisher to hire a reader, record the entire novel, and deliver to the user. Typically, audiobooks also come as their own products rather than being integrated into the books users already have. While this method delivers a unique and personal experience, it has the downside of not being an option for many books. This is why a universal solution was needed, something that could work for any form of text regardless of other factors.
Why This is a Great Option for Users With Visual Impairments
The advantages of text to speech systems over audiobooks are that they can be done instantaneously without the need to provide attention and resources to each individual book. This service is a part of the Ebook platform as a whole and can be applied to a user’s entire library, no matter how obscure a novel is or what rights are attached to it. There doesn’t even have to be an option in the text reader itself as several third party systems and text to speech online websites all provide the services to get these words narrated to consumers.
For Ebook readers with visual impairments, text to speech services can be a huge game-changer, allowing them to not only access their favorite books or relevant documents but remove any barriers that might impede how they absorb it. Transcription and vocalization can happen nearly instantly, and many services are making huge leaps in audio quality, helping the output voices sound less robotic and more personal. Text to speech services have changed the way content can be absorbed, providing a great option for users who had none before.
